SPAA 2010 Local Information


Santorini   SPAA 2010 will take place at Santorini. Santorini is a beautiful circular archipelago of volcanic islands located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km (120 mi) southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.

Detailed Information:


Conference Location

The SPAA 2010 Conference will take place at the Petros M. Nomikos Conference Center in Fira, the capital of Santorini:

Conference Center           Conference Center           Conference Center


Visa Requests

If you need a visa to attend SPAA, please send your request for a letter in support of a visa application to the ACM headquarters at supportletters@acm.org and include your name, affiliation (if this is not a university or research institution, be sure to contact the SPAA secretary first, or your request may be ignored), mailing address, and fax number. Indicate that you plan to attend SPAA (authors of regular papers, brief announcements and posters should also include the title).


Room Reservation

The local organizers have reserved blocks of rooms at special rates in some hotels in Fira, Santorini. Please use the following link in order to book a room in one of these hotels. Since Santorini is a very popular destination in the summer, please make your reservations as soon as possible.


Finding a Roommate

In order for us to match you with some roommate(s), please send an email to scheideler@upb.de containing the following information:


Travel Information

The most common way for international travellers to reach Santorini is by first flying to Athens and then continuing by air or sea to Santorini. However, there are also many international flights directly to Santorini airport from several European cities such as London and Frankfurt. In addition to the information on this page, there are many travel guides and web sites on Santorini, such as www.santorini.com and www.santorini-island.biz.

Getting to Athens (ATH) by air

Air transportation to Athens International Airport (ATH) is available on a regular basis through nearly all major international airlines and many discount or charter companies.

Getting to Santorini (JTR) from Athens (ATH) by air

Many flights to Santorini take place daily from Athens and the trip lasts around 45 to 50 minutes. The Santorini airport (JTR) is about 6 km away from the central town of Fira which can be reached by taxi, public bus, or hotel shuttle service. Airlines servicing Santorini (JTR) from Athens include Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines.

Getting to Santorini from Athens by sea

Ships to Santorini leave mainly from the port of Piraeus (TZE) located about an hour's drive away from the Athens airport. There is public transportation (which lasts slightly longer) from the airport and other parts of Athens to Piraeus. The metro station in Piraeus is directly across the street from the port itself. For more details on how to reach the port from the airport, please refer to http://www.aia.gr/pages.asp?langid=2&pageid=1157.

Sea tickets can be arranged beforehand or purchased as late as the day of travel. If you fly to Athens and want to take a ferry the same day, we recommend arranging the sea tickets beforehand. If you are planning a few days' stay in Athens before going by ferry to Santorini, then it is possible to purchase tickets in Athens. Time schedules are available on line through www.gtp.gr.

There are two broad classes of ships which serve the Aegean islands: traditional ferries, and high-speed vessels. Traditional ferries are slower, have open decks, make more stops, and are less expensive. The high-speed vessels are faster, enclosed, and are more costly. Be sure to check the transit time in addition to the departure time for any ship you are considering, as some ships make many stops on the way to Santorini. Slower ships can take up to 10 hours, and high-speed vessels as little as 4.5 hours, depending on schedule and number of stops.

There is only one seaport in Santorini (ATI) located about 10 km from Fira. Transportation from the port of Santorini to the center of Fira is available either by taxi or by public bus (tickets are purchased on the bus). Some hotels have pickup service from the port if you arrange the details beforehand.


Activities

Santorini offers many activities that will be posted here later.

Santorini           Santorini           Santorini



Questions and Comments: If you have any questions or comments, please send an email to Christian Scheideler at scheideler@upb.de.