Firá (Thíra)

From the landing place at Santorini in the little port of Skala, where passengers are landed in small boats, the island's chief town Firá (or Thíra) is reached either by walking or riding (by mule or donkey) up the steep and winding stepped path (587 steps) or by taking the new cableway. Large passenger ships now regularly put in at the new port of Athiniós, to the south, from which there is a road (17km/10.5mi) to Firá.

With its whitewashed houses, many of them built into the rim of the crater, its winding lanes and little squares, which continually open up new views, and the turquoise-blue domes of its churches and chapels, Firá is a charming little town. With the development of the tourist trade numbers of new shops of all kinds have been established, including several jewelers.