I first cruised to the Greek island of Santorini nearly 20 years ago after seeing travel magazine photo spreads of the place and thinking, "No, this can't be real."

Oh, it's real. And it's barely changed since then. The same whitewashed sugar-cube houses and churches in Cycladic colors that complement the sea. The same dramatic volcanic crater that blew its top some 25 centuries ago before the waters rushed into the caldera, creating one of the planet's natural wonders. 

We visited during a voyage aboard Viking Star (here's my writeup) for only a few hours, taking in the capital of Fira and the shopping mecca of Oia, on the northwest side of the island. (If you go, make sure you see Oia, but don't make the same mistake I did two decades ago when I tried to hoof it from Fira.)

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for the sunset, when the twilight makes for some of the best photography. 

The food is subpar if you stay on the tourist trails — get off the beaten track if you can — and the prices are high. But the views! You have to see them to believe them.