T

here's no place anywhere I've been quite like it — stark rock cliffs, and postcard-perfect houses and buildings on endless bluffs, the deep, blue Aegean Sea, and fiery sunsets, cobblestone streets, and long, winding steps, quaint shops, and donkey carts, even several beer labels named after a donkey — this must be Santorini Splendor.

Santorini (classically known as Thera and officially as Thira), a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea about 120 miles (200 km) southeast of Athens, is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago bearing the same name.

With an area of about 28 mi² (73 km²) — just slightly bigger than half of San Francisco — Santorini is a remnant of a volcanic eruption that destroyed what used to be a single island, in the process creating the present-day caldera. Steep, high cliffs (rising up to 980 feet or 300 meters) surround a semi-rectangular central lagoon measuring roughly 7.5 by 4.3 miles (12 by 7 km) on three sides, with the main island gradually sloping downward to the Aegean Sea. Its capital, Fira, perches atop of the cliff looking down on the bay, where cruise ships and smaller boats are now a common sight. (Not a particularly unpleasant setup, especially when you're soaking comfortably in a pool, watching the Greek day go by.)

After the 1956 quake and ensuing tsunami that destroyed hundreds of structures and killed 53, Santorini's recovery was hastened by the expansion of tourism, particularly in the summer months, in turn prompting the growth of the economy and population. Santorini was ranked the world's top island for many magazines and travel sites, including the BBC, Travel+Leisure Magazine, and US News. Around two million tourists visit annually, nearly half of that arriving on cruise ships.