Is Santorini expensive?

Yes, and the reason is a single item you can itemise: the view. Santorini charges for caldera frontage — in a room, at a table, on a terrace — and almost every other cost on the island is ordinary Greek island pricing wearing the same postcode. Work out how much of the view you want to own rather than visit, and the rest of the bill falls into place.

What the premium is attached to

The cliff is a fixed and very short piece of ground. There is no way to build more of it, demand for it arrives from everywhere at once, and the result is that two rooms of identical size and quality can sit a few streets apart at completely different prices because one of them faces the water. The same logic runs through dinner: a kitchen with a caldera terrace is charging partly for the terrace, and the food is often no better than the same food served facing inland.

That is the good news buried in an expensive reputation. Nothing about the view is enclosed. The clifftop path is public the whole way, the sunset costs nothing wherever you stand for it, and the walk between the villages is free.

The three tiers

Splurge

This is where the island's money goes, and it is spent on position and privacy rather than on square metres. Pegasus Suites & Spa at Imerovigli buys an unobstructed stretch of rim, a spa with a hammam and steam room, and a pool held open beyond the end of the summer. Paired with a Santorini Private Catamaran Cruise with BBQ, Open Bar & Transfers, the whole holiday becomes a private one — the caldera from above in the morning, from the water in the afternoon, without sharing either.

Mid-range

The tier that removes the premium and keeps the substance. Anemoessa Villa puts you in Oia on the Finikia lane rather than on the cliff edge, with a pool set to the view, and the village a short walk away in the evening. Spend what the edge would have cost on the Santorini Wine Adventure with 12 Wine Tastings, Tapas and Sunset instead: the island's volcanic-soil whites are a good reason to be here, and a winery afternoon is a Santorini experience that is not competing with a crowd.

Good value

Altea Apartments in the middle of Fira are plain, soundproofed and viewless, and they put the bus hub and the clifftop path within a few minutes' walk. Self-catering takes an inflated line — breakfast and lunch with a view — straight off the bill. Add the Santorini Classic Catamaran Cruise with BBQ, Drinks and Transfers, a shared departure along the same volcanic coast the private charters run, and a day that defines a stay here is the one thing you have not economised on.

Comparing current stay and experience options carefully is worth the hour, because on this island the gap between two versions of the same day is wide. When to come, and what each month does to all of the above, is the season page's subject.