Perissa lies on the south east coast of Santorini, fifteen kilometres from Fira and with a transfer time from the airport of forty minutes. It is a purpose built resort with a long black sandy beach offering good bathing and a range of water sports. There are restaurants and tavernas catering for most tastes and shops for holiday essentials and souvenirs. It is a lively resort by both day and night with a wide range of recreational facilities. A Perissa holiday offers a guarantee of summer sun in a resort that was built for pleasure and leisure.
Perissa offers a beach based holiday with guaranteed summer sunshine, warm clear water and a range of recreational activities on land and sea. A choice of nightlife is available from romantic meals beside the beach to lively bars and clubs. Shopping is limited but Fira with its huge variety of shops is only a short bus ride away.
Perissa is popular with a wide range of holidaymakers, from families to couples young and old and to young singles groups. Water sports enthusiasts will find a variety of activities to occupy their days.
The Perissa holiday season lasts from April until October when the temperature ranges from twenty to thirty degrees. Summer is the most popular time to visit the island.
Perissa, on the south east coast of Santorini, claims to have the best beach on the island. The long stretch of volcanic sand is protected from northerly breezes by the Mesa Vouno, the lower reaches of the Profitis Ilias Mountain. The cliffs look spectacular when illuminated after night fall. The beach is lapped by warm clear water ideal for swimming and water sports and there are many bars, cafés and tavernas lining the beach providing daylong refreshments. There are many small restaurants serving a wide choice of menu from fast foods to traditional cuisine. The eateries are interspersed with small beach and gift shop selling the usual variety of holiday mementoes including things you wouldn’t dream of buying at home.
Perissa has one of the largest churches on Santorini, the Holy Cross Church, rebuilt in 1956 after the earthquake. There is also a nineteenth century monastery close to Perissa that is worth visiting. Since Perissa is a purpose built resort and lacks the atmosphere of a traditional village, holidaymakers may wish to take a short walk inland to the charming village of Emporio where they can enjoy a taste of Greek authenticity.
A local bus will take you to Fira where you will find a labyrinth of stepped, cobbled streets filled with shops of every description. The town is built on a hillside and the stepped streets are difficult for those with problems of mobility. Most visitors also take a trip to Oia, a beautiful town in the daylight but truly glorious when the setting sun transforms it, basking as it does in a warm orange glow.
Perissa nightlife has something for everyone. A peaceful evening in a restaurant or in a taverna overlooking the sea, lively bars with music and discos, cafes and nightclubs, the choice is yours.
Perissa shopping is limited to supermarkets providing holiday essentials, as well as the usual number of gift and souvenir shops. Fira, the capital, is only a fifteen kilometre bus ride to the north-west. Here you will find hundreds of small shops in its narrow cobbled and stepped streets including an amazing number of jewellers at the top of the town near the Church and the Dominican Convent.
Perissa has numerous tavernas, cafes, bars and restaurants which provide a wide range of food to accommodate most tastes. Traditional Greek food relies heavily on fish simply cooked and is quite delicious. Moussaka is another Greek favourite made from minced lamb and aubergines. International cuisine is also available in the larger restaurants. Fast food stalls such as Souvlatzidiki sell takeaway souvlakis, a type of kebab. For a more substantial snack these are sometimes wrapped in pita bread and called gyros. The Santorini wines are inexpensive and very palatable.
