5 Nights Luxury Santorini Escape W/Flts & Meals

Aelia Luxury Suites is a small boutique hotel in the old village of Karterados, and it has just 30 suites. It is almost exactly in the centre of the island, making it fairly quick to reach almost anywhere.

Each suite is inspired by the traditional style of the island, with chic furnishings and views across the swimming pool. You'll get daily buffet breakfast served on a terrace by the pool, plus dinner at the hotel's Mediterranean restaurant.

Karterados village offers a more authentic, cultural experience than the big resorts on the southern coast, with lots of family-owned restaurants, winding streets filled with bougainvillea, and a much-loved traditional Greek bakery that sells fresh bread, savoury pastries, and sweet treats.

You can walk to Fira in 25 minutes, so you could wander down every day if you feel like it (or hop in a taxi, which takes just five minutes). A free shuttle runs to the capital in the evenings, so you can watch the famous sunset. There's also a foot path that leads down to Exo Gialos, a remote black-sand beach with impressive basalt rock formations. This is a slightly longer 40-minute walk, and is best reached in a taxi, which takes under 10 minutes.