"Santorini - The lost city of Atlantis" Santorini Island by profuselycool

I've been to Santorini twice, and it's certainly my favorite island in the Greek chain. Approaching it by ferry offers such an incredible view, i'm sure observing it by plane would be incredible as well. I went first with a travel group, and brought my family here the next summer to show them all that I had been up to the previous year. Santorini is a worldwide vacation destination and very tourism driven, but it lives up to the hype more than I could possibly have imagined!

The locals leading the hike from Thira to Ia!

My family and I took a great hike from Thira to Ia along the rim of the island. Its about 8-9km and took almost 3 hours moving slowly on rocky terrain. A bunch of local dogs (below) followed us for almost 3km and provided some companionship, very memorable!

I had done this hike once before a year prior with a teen travel group, so it was fun to get to return to familiar territory and show my family what I had been doing the previous summer.

While all of the main island of Thira (Santorini) is cool and plenty to do - the half-day trip to the center of the island chain (the volcano) was definitely worth it. We also got to stop by the "hot baths" on the way, which are actually luke warm Aegean waters but supposedly have mystical healing properties. Either way, it was memorable.

Similarly, the trail up to the top of the volcanic crater is right next to the "hot baths." My sister was really tired, so my dad and I blazed the trail and laughed as my mom and sister gave up and followed suit. I really enjoyed this quick and simple hike, only takes about 15 or 20 minutes and that's if you're taking in the scenery. It was really nice to look over the backside and see the rest of the island chain, and any chance to admire the massive cliffs of the main island makes it worth it!

• Pros:sweeping vistas, sunsets, hikes, food, wine