Emporio Santorini

Emporio Santorini by Adam Sabic

Emporio is inland towards the south of Thira island just west of Perissa. It lies at the base of Mount Prophet Elias and is the largest settlement in Santorini with close to 2000 permanent residents. It’s around 20 minutes from both the airport and the capital Fira.

Emporio, which is sometimes also known as Nimborios is a traditional Cycladic village with whitewashed houses, blue doors and shutters as well as churches with Blue domed roofs. The narrow cobbled streets make Emporio a wonderful place to come for a look around, explore the streets of the town, find yourself at one of the local tavernas for lunch and carry on wandering about until your hearts content.

The majority of people who visit Santorini would not want to base their holiday in Emporio as it’s not the most tourist focused place on the island, there are a few hotels, apartments and villas available to rent if you are one of those that would rather stay in a genuine Greek town than the tourist hot spots.

If you'd like to stay in the area then have a look at the Emporio page of booking.com here. Alternatively find a great package holiday through Tui here.

The nightlife in Emporio  is pretty basic, there's some restaurants dotted about around the town and handful more in the middle of the town as well as a few places to get a drink or two so you can have a decent night out. The problem is that it's not a tourist focused town so you wont find the bulk of bars and restaurants that you would in the more popular towns and villages.

Emporio is home to one of the oldest churches on the island Palia Panagia decorated in the traditional colours with a famous ornate carved bell tower it’s well worth a visit. Also in the village is the Goulas of Nimporio, a square structure dating back to the 15th century and used by the monks of the Abbey of Agios Ioannis in Patmos.

As Emporio is so close to Perissa you can check out both places in a single trip and with Perissa beach being one of the best on the island and a popular tourist destination the two towns couldn't be more different.

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