South Aegean

South Aegean

A **Santorini** road trip is all about driving along the rim of a giant volcano in South Aegean. You cruise along the caldera edge with the sea a thousand feet below your wheels. The white houses of **Oia** look like fallen snow on top of the bright red cliffs. It is a short drive from end to end but every single inch is a world class postcard. You see the blue domes of churches popping out against the sea. It is worth driving to the lighthouse at the southern tip for the best view of the whole island. Take a ferry to **Naxos** for long, open roads through fertile green valleys. You find giant marble statues from the ancient world lying right in the grass. The drive to the mountain village of Apeiranthos is full of marble streets and local grit. The **Cyclades** light is so bright it makes the white buildings look like they are glowing. It is a land made for explorers who love the sun and wide-open spaces. You can drive from the beach to a mountain peak in thirty minutes. Milos offers a drive to **Sarakiniko** where the white volcanic rocks look like the surface of the moon. You park the car and walk into a world of bone white stone and bright blue water. Each island in this group has its own road and its own secret to tell. The ferry system is your bridge between these floating mountain peaks. You will find that island hopping with a car is the best way to see the real Aegean.

South Aegean highlights

Part of these road trips

Follow the routes that cross this destination

The Scenic Route
The Heritage Drive
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History of South Aegean

The South Aegean islands are the remains of a volcanic arc shaped by tectonic activity over millions of years. Your Santorini road trip follows the edge of a caldera formed by **the Thera eruption** in 1613 BC. This event was four times more powerful than the Krakatoa explosion and buried the city of Akrotiri under meters of ash. The discovery of preserved multi-story houses and frescoes at Akrotiri has led many to link the site to the legend of Atlantis. The island of **Rhodes** was the headquarters of the Knights of Saint John from 1309 to 1522. They built a medieval walled city that remains one of the best-preserved in Europe, featuring the grand Palace of the Grand Master. The knights defended the island against the Ottoman fleet of Suleiman the Magnificent for six months before surrendering. Further south, the island of Delos was the most sacred site of the ancient world and the birthplace of Apollo. In the 19th century, the island of **Syros** became the industrial and commercial heart of Greece. Its port, Ermoupoli, was the largest in the country before the rise of Piraeus and featured the first shipyard in modern Greece. The unique white-and-blue architecture of the Cyclades was actually standardized by a government decree in 1938 to combat cholera and reflect heat. The region is a mix of volcanic drama and crusader fortresses.
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