Greece
Nisyros
Walk into a live volcanic caldera where sulphur vents hiss through cracked earth.
The crater floor is cracked and hissing — yellow sulphur crusts around the vents, and the air tastes of rotten eggs and brimstone. You are standing inside a live volcano, the 330-metre-wide Stefanos crater, and the ground beneath your feet is hot enough to feel through the soles of your shoes.
Nisyros is one of the few places in Europe where visitors can walk into an active volcanic caldera. The Stefanos crater is 330 metres wide and 30 metres deep, with surface temperatures reaching 98°C around the sulphur dioxide vents. The main village of Mandraki is built on the ancient Polyvotis crater, its whitewashed houses standing on volcanic deposits from eruptions 161,000 years ago. The island produces souma — a grape-must spirit distilled only on Nisyros — along with island honey and wine, all served in tavernas perched above the caldera in Nikia village.
Couple
Walking into the crater together in the morning cool, souma tasting in Nikia village, and the surreal experience of dining above an active volcano.
Family
The volcano is safe and accessible for older children who will remember the hissing vents for years, and the village of Mandraki has a harbour beach.
Friends
Hiking the caldera rim trail, the geological museum in Mandraki, and the novelty of a bar built on volcanic deposits 161,000 years old.
Solo
Dawn in the crater alone with the steam, the geological detail of the vents and deposits, and Nikia village at sunset when the day-trippers have left.
- The Stefanos crater — 330 metres wide and 30 metres deep — is one of the few active volcanic craters in Europe that visitors can walk into and explore.
- Sulphur dioxide vents in the crater floor maintain a surface temperature of 98°C — the smell of hydrogen sulphide is noticeable from the crater rim.
- The main village of Mandraki is built on the ancient Polyvotis crater, its whitewashed houses standing on volcanic deposits from eruptions 161,000 years ago.
- Local tavernas in Nikia village, above the caldera, serve island-produced honey, wine, and souma (a grape-must spirit distilled only on Nisyros).
Pitia chickpea croquettes fried in olive oil — Nisyros's answer to the falafel, but better.
Soumada almond drink served ice-cold in the shade of Mandraki's volcanic-stone village square.
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Sete Cidades
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Silverton
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Monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars 300 metres above the plain, reached by rope and faith.
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Stone terraces climb a sacred mountainside where the ancient world came to hear the oracle speak.