Bronze age city preserved in ash

[Imperial Dave]

https://greekreporter.com/2024/01/21/akrotiri-santorini-the-bronze-age-city-preserved-in-volcanic-ash/

Not one I'd heard of

[Erpingham]

Not one I'd heard of

Really?  Obviously not an Atlantis fan.

[Ian61]

we've stayed on Santorini, the caldera is very impressive. The rocks around the outer coast are a mix of brick red, light grey and very dark grey as you move about so you see some old walls made of red white and black stone. The archaeology is facinating. Also have spent time in Crete and had an hour watching some archaeologists brushing at surfaces just beyond the usual tourist areas of Knossos. (We were after the end of the tourist season in late October and the site was almost deserted, in peak season you can't get a good feel for the place because of the crowds.)

[Imperial Dave]

The event in general but not the place

[Jon Freitag]

we've stayed on Santorini, the caldera is very impressive. The rocks around the outer coast are a mix of brick red, light grey and very dark grey as you move about so you see some old walls made of red white and black stone. The archaeology is facinating. Also have spent time in Crete and had an hour watching some archaeologists brushing at surfaces just beyond the usual tourist areas of Knossos. (We were after the end of the tourist season in late October and the site was almost deserted, in peak season you can't get a good feel for the place because of the crowds.)

That's a good tip for when to visit Crete.  How is the weather in late October?

[Martin Smith]

we've stayed on Santorini, the caldera is very impressive. The rocks around the outer coast are a mix of brick red, light grey and very dark grey as you move about so you see some old walls made of red white and black stone. The archaeology is facinating. Also have spent time in Crete and had an hour watching some archaeologists brushing at surfaces just beyond the usual tourist areas of Knossos. (We were after the end of the tourist season in late October and the site was almost deserted, in peak season you can't get a good feel for the place because of the crowds.)

That's a good tip for when to visit Crete.  How is the weather in late October?

'Hard to predict' might sum it up, Jon... I was in that part of the med. last autumn, and we had lovely weather, +/- 20C (or about 68F for those in the US 🙂)..but the locals were remarking that this was unusual - they'd expect cooler and more rain (so we were lucky). Spring, April-May can be good for Crete, and outside of the main skool holidays.

[We went to Santorini in October '23, and visited Akrotiri, the city from under the ash. Early through the doors, no crowds - quite an unreal experience. Well worth a look ✔️. A lot of it still under ash, work in progress. Santorini in general - FAR too crowded. Museum of the archaeology site wall frescos, in Thira town, well worth a visit].

[Ian61]

Knossos. (We were after the end of the tourist season in late October and the site was almost deserted, in peak season you can't get a good feel for the place because of the crowds.)

That's a good tip for when to visit Crete.  How is the weather in late October?

Take care there. There are downsides, Crete as much of Greece virtually closes up shop so it depends what you want to do. Plus it can be very windy. We spent several days driving about to sites in a hire car. Would also agree Santorini very busy when we were there but that was earlier in the year.

[Jim Webster]

Not one I'd heard of

Really?  Obviously not an Atlantis fan.

not enough to travel to their home games

[Imperial Dave]

Not one I'd heard of

Really?  Obviously not an Atlantis fan.

not enough to travel to their home games

 

[Adrian Nayler]

For me, the Minoan site at Akrotiri and the archaeological museum in Thira town should rate very highly on anyone's archaeology bucket list. Akrotiri is preserved to a level comparable with Herculaneum and nowhere in the Mediterranean world can you walk Bronze Age streets with buildings standing to the roof level of the first floor. You just have to adjust to the monochrome grey of the volcanic dust that covers everything.

Following a series of earth tremors the population seems to have abandoned the site before the destructive eruption, literally leaving the majority of their possessions in situ. Having fled the island whether many, or indeed any, survived the later tsunami is a sobering thought. Recently the museum in Thira opened a new basement gallery displaying for the first time, as I understand it, many more of the frescoes recovered from Akrotiri.

We visited in April 2023 and the weather was fine and clear though very windy. In my view, you will need a car on Santorini unless you use an organised tour. I would advise that the site was open daily until seven in the evening. We deliberately arrived at four in the afternoon and almost literally had the large site to ourselves for three hours - most if not all organised tours and day trippers have apparently gone by four in the afternoon.

I would caution that even in April Thira town itself was busy with visitors, the majority seeming to come from a couple of cruise ships anchored in the bay, though this did not make the museum too crowded. Talking to the locals revealed that during the 'season' multiple very large cruise ships visit daily disgorging thousands of visitors into the town and many of them will inevitably visit the museum.

Bearing that in mind you'll not regret making the effort.

[Jon Freitag]

Adrian, thanks for adding more useful information into the discussion of travel planning to Santorini and Crete.