Santorini

Santorini is one of the most striking of the Greek Islands. As you approach the island by boat, the view is Greek theater. There isn’t a more dramatic entrance. White sugar-cube buildings dangle off the soaring multi-hued cliffs with pops of royal blue peeking out from the domed churches with their white crucifixes planted on top. In the middle is the steamy caldera, the island’s volcano sunken below after one of the largest eruptions in human history. The event wiped out the Minoan civilization (and some say it inspired the legend of the lost city of Atlantis) and fashioned the island’s iconic black and red beaches. Its volcanic history and lost-city mystique is what gives Santorini such a smoldering, almost spiritual quality, but what really sets the mood, as in any good stage production, is the lighting. The majestic scene is bathed in the most magical pink glow; it’s this pure, perfect light that makes Greece so beautiful. Each night, visitors to the island take their seats in cafes hugging the cliffs to watch one of the world’s best sunsets. It’s a scene only nature could produce.