Santorini is the supermodel of the Greek islands, a head-turner whose face is instantly recognizable around the world: multicolored cliffs soar out of a sea-drowned volcanic crater, topped by whitewashed buildings. Santorini is a dazzling star of the Greek Islands, and it’s extremely popular with tourists.

With its reputation for dazzling panoramas, romantic sunsets and volcanic-sand beaches, it’s hardly surprising Santorini features on so many travelers’ bucket lists. If you’re planning to join the crowd, here’s what you need to know for your first trip to Santorini. If you approach Santorini from the water, it’s hard not to be awed by the sheer cliffs that soar above a turquoise sea, by the fact that you’re sailing in an immense crater of a drowned volcano and that before you lies an island shaped by an ancient eruption cataclysmic beyond imagining.