Base in Imerovigli for the caldera or Pyrgos for the wine villages. Visit Akrotiri at opening, reserve a tasting day, and check the published cruise schedule before choosing the Oia afternoon. Three nights is the minimum, four with a boat day.
Last reviewed July 2026
Euros, cash for the tavernas. Come May–June, or September–early October; the ferry from Athens runs 4.5 hours fast, 5 slow. Not a budget island, €250–900 a day, so base in Imerovigli, plan around the cruise crowds (11 a.m.–4 p.m.), drink the Assyrtiko, and skip the caldera dinners in Oia on cruise days.
Santorini is two islands. There is the caldera Santorini: Oia, Fira, Imerovigli, the cliff-edge hotels, the photograph everyone takes. And there is the inland Santorini: Pyrgos and Megalochori (the wine villages), Akrotiri (the Pompeii of Greece, buried under volcanic ash since 1600 BC), the black-sand beaches at Perissa and Kamari, and the back-of-the-island restaurants. A three-night stay has room for both halves.
Three nights, based in Imerovigli, with Akrotiri done before the ships dock.
Cruise-ship days (3–5 ships dock most summer days, each carrying 3,000+ passengers) turn Oia and Fira unwalkable between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The schedule is published a year ahead at santorinicruises.gr. Do Akrotiri and the wine villages on cruise days; do the cliff walks on the other days. May, June, late September, and October are the windows; August is the heat and the volume.
The caldera villages are Oia, Imerovigli, Firostefani and Fira. Pyrgos and Megalochori sit inland among the wineries, and Akrotiri is the base for the archaeological site and the south-coast loop. Pick one cliff base to sleep in, and do the dinners and the walks in the others.
The photographed sunset, the blue domes, the 6 p.m. queue past the Maritime Museum. Beautiful, expensive, and by 5 p.m. in season almost unwalkable, when the bus stop and the Fira road clog together. Stay only if the cliffside pool is the whole point of the trip; otherwise base elsewhere and come for one early morning. Eat at 1500 BC (Skala) or Roka before the cruise crowds land.
The highest village on the rim, between Fira and Oia: the same view as Oia for noticeably less, and the one Santorini village with a real walk attached (Skaros Rock, the abandoned Venetian fortress, 20 minutes downhill). The default Hala base, and correctly so. Stay at Aenaon Villas or Astra Suites. Dinner at Anógi, lunch at Avocado.
The capital: every bus connects here, the cable car from the old port lands here, the museums and the banks are here. Loud, central, more useful than charming. Don't stay (Imerovigli is 15 minutes' walk and far calmer), but come for the Museum of Prehistoric Thera (the Akrotiri frescoes the site itself won't show you) and the cable-car ride down to fish at Niko's.
A medieval hilltop village in the island's centre, built around a Venetian castle. The inland stay: no caldera view, but the food and the wine are why you're up here. Botargo sits in the Kasteli fortress, the wineries are close (Hatzidakis, Santo Wines on the cliff), and Selene (Fira) and Metaxi Mas (Exo Gonia) are a short drive off. The base for the second time to Santorini.
Smaller and quieter than Pyrgos, down in the southern vineyards: a wine village of 17th- and 18th-century mansions and three of the island's older wineries (Gavalas, Boutari, the historic Antoniou cave). The Pyrgos to Megalochori to Akrotiri drive is the inland half-day, and it is quiet through the cruise hours.
The southern cape, anchored by the Akrotiri archaeological site (a Minoan city under volcanic ash since 1600 BC, frescoed walls still standing) and the Red Beach below it (red sand, red cliffs, and rockfall-prone enough that you admire it from the viewpoint and swim with caution). A morning loop: the site at 9 a.m. opening, the Red Beach viewpoint, then lunch at The Cave of Nikolas on the harbour.
The caldera villages run along the cliff edge, one into the next.
Photography: Sofia ScarselliFifteen restaurants and bars. The strongest daytime addresses sit in Firostefani, Imerovigli, Exo Gonia, Pyrgos and the south-coast harbours. Reserve the caldera terraces for the view, and use the inland villages for the longer dinners.
The long lunches and the harbour fish, most of them out of central Fira and Oia.
The Roussos family has run this Firostefani taverna since 1922, and the menu hasn't changed because it never needed to. Order the volcanic-tomato fritters, the warm fava, the grilled octopus, and drink the house Assyrtiko from a carafe. Come at lunch; the room is small and the dinner queue isn't worth standing in.
A Cretan-Santorinian taverna in Exo Gonia, beside the Agios Charalampos church, in a 19th-century building with a stone terrace facing east toward Anafi. The wine list runs deep into local Assyrtiko and the rarer Mavrotragano. Tables go a month ahead in season.
A third-generation family fish taverna on Akrotiri beach, founded 1967 and hand-carved by "Uncle Nikolas" to feed the excavation crews at the site up the road. The boats moor a few metres from the tables, the catch is whatever came in that morning, and the room is shaded in bamboo. The Akrotiri site is a 5-minute drive off, so make it one afternoon. Cash and card both fine, and lunch is when the room is alive.
A walk-up grill house on the Oia main strip: charcoal pork off the spit and hand-cut pita, €4–6 a pita. Eat it standing on the corner and don't go looking for a cliffside seat. The lunch for the day you burned the budget at breakfast.
Eight rooms across the island — almost none of them on the caldera. Book a week ahead; longer for Selene and Lauda.
The sharpest modern-Greek kitchen on Santorini, founded 1985 by George Hatzigiannakis (since departed) and now in Fira under Michelin-starred chef Ettore Botrini (of Etrusco on Corfu). Tasting-menu only, and rooted deep in the Santorinian pantry: fava in three textures, sun-dried tomatoes from Mesa Gonia, capers from Akrotiri. The wine list reads Assyrtiko more closely than any other on the island. Reserve a month out in season.
The dining room at Andronis Boutique Hotel in Oia, the island's first restaurant, opened 1971 and now consulted by three-Michelin-star chef Emmanuel Renaut (Flocons de Sel in the French Alps). A cliff-edge terrace facing west into the caldera, and a tasting menu that puts Renaut's alpine precision on Santorinian ingredients. Book three weeks ahead and ask for the sunset seating.
A cliff-edge seafood room in Fira above Town Hall square, named for the Akrotiri Bronze Age date, cooking hard off whatever landed at Vlychada that morning. Whole grilled fish, raw seafood platters, a strong Santorinian wine list. The kitchen is better than a cliff-view address usually bothers to be. Reserve the terrace.
A modern-Greek room in an old Oia building: food-led, no cliff view, smaller and more deliberate than the caldera places that trade on theirs. Book a week ahead in season.
The old cliff-side Argo, moved a few years back to a big garden venue in Kontochori, about 5 minutes from Fira; it traded the caldera view for room to breathe. Modern Greek-Mediterranean, in a calmer setting. Come here when you want the food without the cruise-deck volume.
On the Oia caldera edge, part restaurant and part bar, one of the few cliff-side addresses where the kitchen still respects itself. Mediterranean, seafood-led, an outdoor terrace cantilevered over the rim. Quieter than Ambrosia next door; book the sunset table.
A family taverna in Finikia, the small village a kilometre east of Oia: a Cycladic-mainland menu, charcoal-grilled meat, fava, the local Assyrtiko in carafes. A short cab from Oia.
Mediterranean-Greek fine dining inside the medieval Kasteli fortress of Pyrgos: tasting menus, a terrace looking clean across the caldera, modern technique on Cycladic ingredients. The Pyrgos splurge dinner, and it pairs neatly with a daytime wine tasting nearby.
Santorini's bar scene is small and concentrated in Fira — the cliff-edge cocktail rooms, one molecular-mixology cave, and the bar that's been doing it since 1976.
A cliff-edge cocktail bar in Fira, opened 1979 by Franco Colombo, a Turin Italian and a devoted classical-music man. Open-air terrace facing the caldera, opera on the speakers, jacketed bartenders, and no concessions made to the cruise crowd. Order the Maria Callas, the champagne cocktail Franco built here; the sunset hour fills the terrace, so come before it. Small plates now, too.
Santorini's first cocktail bar, opened 1976 in Fira, dug into the cliff over the volcano and still run by the founding Chrysos family. Small, dim, and loved locally; the Athens cocktail crowd stops in when they're on the island. The second stop after Franco's, in that order.
An Athens import rather than a Santorini original, a molecular-mixology bar inside a cave on Marinatou Street in Fira: smoked drinks, edible-foam toppings, cocktails served in lab beakers and on slate slabs. A cliff-cave interior with the caldera through the windows. More theatre than the other Fira bars, and worth one stop once you've done the classics.
Twelve hotels across four tiers. Imerovigli is the default base: the same caldera view at a lower rate, walkable to Fira and to the Skaros Rock walk. Oia is the once-or-twice splurge; Pyrgos is the second-trip choice.
Six cave-cut villas on the Skaros-facing edge of Imerovigli: the same caldera view as Oia at a noticeably lower rate, with a small infinity pool looking straight across to Skaros Rock. Each villa is named and styled on its own, carved into the volcanic rock the old Cycladic way, and the whole place feels more lived-in than the famous-name Oia properties down the ridge. Family-run and quiet. Open April through October, and the early-evening light on the pool deck is why you're there for it.
A seven-suite boutique on the highest cliff-point of Imerovigli, set just past the Agios Nikolaos monastery that divides it from the village. The caldera view from the suites is among the more dramatic on the island, and at seven suites it feels nothing like the larger Oia properties. Each suite is named and styled on its own, carved in the cave-house way, four of the seven with private plunge pools. The building was once a private home full of art, and it still reads that way, unfussy, with a custom library and a pool that catches the morning light. Book a sunset-side suite.
The Santorini sibling of the better-known Paros property, opened on the Oia outskirts and renovated 2020–21. 25 cliff-edge rooms, a freshwater pool with direct caldera views on the Oia sunset alignment, and the same minimalist white-on-white as the Paros original. Now a Premium All-Inclusive: a champagne welcome, in-room breakfast, a sunset glass of champagne. The strongest low-€€ Oia stay on the page; book six weeks ahead.
The Karagiannis family opened Astra Suites in the early 1990s, one of Imerovigli's original design hotels and older than most of the cliffside boutique scene. 21 cave-cut suites and villas across the cliff face, a heated pool, and the caldera-facing Five Senses restaurant. Less photographed than the Oia headliners, and on the best-of lists for 30-plus years anyway. A sunset booking on the restaurant terrace is essential.
Marriott Luxury Collection's Santorini property: rooms and villas across several restored stone buildings inside a 400-year-old Megalochori village footprint. An underground 17th-century wine cave turned into the bar, a kitchen working from Cycladic ingredients, and a quieter, more residential feel than the caldera addresses. The Santorini stay for people who came for the food and the wine villages rather than the cliff.
Auberge's Santorini property, cut into the Imerovigli cliff, an infinity pool framed square on the caldera and Skaros Rock, and Varoulko Santorini (chef Lefteris Lazarou's Greek-Aegean seafood room; Lazarou was the first chef in Greece to earn a Michelin star). The Auberge service standard on a Santorinian setting. Smaller than the Andronis properties, quieter than the Oia headliners.
Andronis Group's original Oia property, home to Lauda, Oia's first restaurant, opened 1971. 25 suites carved into the upper Oia cliff, the Lauda terrace on the same edge, and a caldera-facing infinity pool.
The Santorini sibling of the famous Mykonos property: 13 suites only, a fraction of the Mykonos flagship's scale, opened 2021 in Imerovigli and cut into the cliff at the edge of the village. It runs both Roka by Zuma (Japanese, part of the international Azumi group) and Vezené (Greek modern, named for chef Ari Vezené), which is a lot of kitchen for a property this small.
A Luxury Collection property on the upper Oia cliff face, with suites and villas across seven categories, Charisma for dinner, the Captain's Lounge for casual all-day, and a separate 150-year-old Secret Wine Cave for sunset tastings. The full Marriott service standard on a Santorinian setting. For a private plunge pool, book a Wet Allure Suite; the Secrecy and Mystery Villas hold the private infinity pools that make the room people remember.
Suites cut into the Oia cliff face, in the cubist cave-cut style the whole village has built against since. Three pools, the main one heated, and Botrini's, the fine-dining room by chef Ettore Botrini.
28 cliff-cut suites in Imerovigli, the Kallos Spa with cave treatment rooms and a full treatment menu (as dedicated a wellness resort as the island has), and the open-air Throubi restaurant. Andronis Group's wellness property, and quieter than the Boutique Hotel in Oia.
Twelve half-days. Akrotiri at opening, the coves either side of the midday heat, and the Oia sunset from the path rather than the crowd.
Santorini
The "Pompeii of Greece": a Minoan city buried under volcanic ash since 1600 BC, with three-storey buildings, frescoed walls, and a drainage system still sitting where the residents left it. Covered now by a vast bioclimatic shelter (the newer one, opened 2012). 90 minutes to walk through. Go at the 9 a.m. opening, before the cruise crowds arrive at 11. Lunch after at The Cave of Nikolas on the harbour.
Santorini
In Fira on Mitropoleos Street, the museum that holds the actual frescoes pulled out of Akrotiri (the site itself shows only reproductions). The Spring Fresco (swallows and lilies painted on a wall on the eve of the eruption) is the headline. Two hours. Do it the same day as Akrotiri: the site shows you the building, the museum shows you what was inside it.
Mesa Vouno
The second-most-important archaeological site on Santorini. A 9th-century-BC Dorian settlement on the limestone ridge of Mesa Vouno on the south-east coast, with views across to Kamari and Perissa. Drive to the parking lot, then walk 20 minutes up the ridge to the site. It sits on the Mesa Vouno ridge, reached by a switchback road or a steep footpath.
Akrotiri
Red volcanic sand against red cliffs at the southern tip of the island, a 5-minute coastal walk from the Akrotiri site parking lot. Note: do not swim under the cliffs. Rockfall has closed the beach itself in recent years, so the viewpoint is the visit. The cliff above is unstable in places. There is no shade at noon. Do it on the same loop as the Akrotiri site.
Santorini
A long stretch of dark-grey sand on the south coast under white tufa-stone cliffs the wind and rain have carved into wave shapes: the most sculptural beach on the island, and almost entirely overlooked by the cruise crowds. The far end is quietest. Bring shoes, since the sand is fine but the rocks are sharp. Combine it with the Santorini Arts Factory at the inland Vlychada port (the old tomato-canning plant, now a contemporary-art space worth a look).
Santorini
The long black-sand beach on the south-east coast, split into Perissa (the quieter northern end), Perivolos (the developed beach-club middle), and Vlychada (the wild south end). Sunbeds at the clubs run €25–60 per pair; the public stretches swim for free. It works as a half-day of swim and lunch when the inland half of the island is too hot. Drive over rather than take the bus.
Santorini
The half-day boat trip out of Fira's old port. First to Nea Kameni, the still-active volcanic islet in the centre of the caldera (a 30-minute hike up the steaming cone to the crater rim), then to Palea Kameni for a swim in the sulphur-warmed hot-spring cove, where the iron oxide turns the water brick-red. Boats leave roughly hourly from 11 a.m., €30–45 with a small operator, €60–90 with the big tour boats. Take the small operator.
Perivolos
The same two islets as the boat trip, except you're the one driving. Safaris go out from the south-coast beaches around Perivolos, run as a guided group, and cross open caldera water to Palea and Nea Kameni. Faster than the Fira boat, a lot wetter, and a different day entirely. Weather decides the route, so take a morning slot before the meltemi picks up.
Santorini
The half-day-into-evening catamaran trip, out of Vlychada port (cheaper, quieter) or Ammoudi at the base of Oia (dearer, more scenic). A five-hour loop around the caldera, swim stops at the Red Beach cove and White Beach (both unreachable from land), and sunset under the Oia cliffs from the water. Most boats feed you dinner on board. Book the small-group operators (max 16 passengers) and skip the 50-person megaboats.
Imerovigli
A 20-minute downhill walk from the Imerovigli main square to the abandoned medieval Venetian fortress on the Skaros sea-stack. The path drops down the cliff face, hugs the stack, and ends at the tiny whitewashed chapel of Theoskepasti perched on the rock. The walk back up is the only argument against it. Best at golden hour (5–6 p.m.), when the late light hits the sea-stack.
Santorini
The 10-kilometre cliff-edge path from Fira to Oia, through Firostefani and Imerovigli, past Skaros Rock, along the ridge into Oia. Three to four hours depending on stops. Almost entirely paved, with some climb in the Imerovigli section. Walk early: start by 8 a.m., ahead of the sun and the cruise crowds. Take water and plenty of sunscreen, because the ridge has no shade. Hotel staff can arrange a transfer back from Oia.
Santorini
The medieval inland village at the highest point on Santorini: climb up through the labyrinth to the Venetian castle at the top, with a 360° view across the whole caldera, Akrotiri, Perissa, the open Aegean. Less photographed and less crowded than the Oia sunset, with better light on the white houses. Pair it with dinner at Botargo (the 18th-century mansion in the Kasteli), or Selene if it's back in Pyrgos by the time you go.
Santorini
The best half-or-full-day on the island, no real competition: four wineries across Pyrgos, Megalochori, Episkopi and Exo Gonia, with lunch in a wine village between them. Cross-reference our Santorini wine guide for the full producer list, the one-day tasting itinerary, and the three bottles worth shipping home. Hire a driver, and don't drive yourself after four tastings.
Base in Imerovigli. Day 1: arrival, Skaros at sunset, Selene for dinner. Day 2: Akrotiri and a wine day. Day 3: the caldera boat trip, then an Oia farewell. Three nights is the floor; add a fourth for a beach day.
Athens → Santorini
SeaJet from Piraeus (4h30) or Aegean flight (45 min from ATH)Most travellers fly (€60–180 one way, 45 minutes on Aegean from Athens). The ferry is the romantic option: the 7 a.m. Blue Star from Piraeus reaches Athinios at 3 p.m., the SeaJet by noon. Pre-book the hotel transfer from Athinios, because the cab queue can run an hour.
Check into the Imerovigli base
Aenaon Villas / Astra Suites / Grace HotelCheck in, then swim before lunch. Lunch at Aktaion in Firostefani (a 10-minute walk from most Imerovigli hotels) if you didn't eat on the boat.
Skaros Rock walk
Imerovigli · 20-min downhill walkFrom the Imerovigli main square, walk down to the abandoned Venetian fortress on the Skaros sea-stack. The late-afternoon route gives a clear view back toward the caldera. Walk back up by 7.30.
Selene
Fira · chef Ettore Botrini · tasting menu onlyCab to Fira. Chef Ettore Botrini's modern-Greek tasting menu, built on the Santorinian pantry. Book a month ahead.
Akrotiri archaeological site
Southern tip · the Bronze Age cityDrive to Akrotiri (25 minutes from Imerovigli) for the 9 a.m. opening. Ninety minutes inside the bioclimatic shelter, done before the cruise crowds arrive at 11. Add the Red Beach viewpoint (a 5-minute walk from the parking lot) after.
The Cave of Nikolas
Akrotiri harbour · whole fishA 5-minute drive from the site down to the harbour. Third-generation family fish taverna, the boats moored metres from the tables. Order whatever's on for the day, and pair it with a chilled Assyrtiko from the carafe.
A wine-villages tasting
Hatzidakis (Pyrgos) → Sigalas (Oia hinterland)Drive to Pyrgos for the Hatzidakis cave tasting (€20–30, biodynamic, smaller-batch), then to Sigalas in the Oia hinterland for the garden tasting (€25–45). See the wine guide for the full day's itinerary if you want four wineries instead of two.
Metaxi Mas
Exo Gonia · long Cretan-Santorinian tavernaA 10-minute drive from Sigalas. Cretan-Santorinian taverna with a stone terrace facing east toward Anafi; book the table at the railing. Three hours, easily.
Nea Kameni volcano + Palea Kameni hot springs
From Fira old port · half-day boatCable car down from Fira (€6, a 5-minute ride; the donkey path takes 30 and is rough on the knees). A small-boat operator out of the old port (€30–45), then the 30-minute hike up Nea Kameni to the crater rim and a swim in the brick-red sulphur springs at Palea Kameni. Bring an old swimsuit, because the iron oxide stains.
Pelekanos (Oia)
Oia caldera edge · seafood-ledCab to Oia, and take a late lunch on the caldera terrace before the sunset crowd builds. Sea-urchin spaghetti, fennel salad, a chilled rosé. Stay through the sunset hour at the table.
Oia main strip walk
Maritime Museum → blue domes → western castleWalk the Oia main strip: the windmill, the Maritime Museum, the three blue-domed churches everyone photographs, the western castle ruins above Ammoudi Bay. Yes, it's a queue; yes, it's still worth one slow walk. Skip the sunset scrum at the castle itself, since the better view is from the path anyway.
Lauda (Andronis Boutique Hotel)
Oia cliff terrace · chef Renaut consultingThree blocks off the main strip. The closing tasting menu on the Andronis cliff terrace. Book three weeks ahead; the sunset-side tables go first, so specify when you reserve.
Two optional ferry day trips, both reached by the morning boat and back on the late-afternoon one.
The smallest of the Cyclades worth a structured visit: three settlements, one main road, and a cliff-edge Chora that's held the same spot since the Venetians arrived in 1207. Take the 90-minute fast ferry from Santorini to Karavostasi. Walk from the Chora out to the Aspropounta lighthouse at 5 p.m., lunch at Eva's Garden in the Chora, and take the evening ferry back.
The small island on the western side of the caldera, visible from Oia, with around 250 year-round residents and almost no tourist infrastructure. A 15-minute boat from Ammoudi Bay below Oia. Manolas village at the top of the cliff has two tavernas. Half a day.
Almost no rain, almost no topsoil, and vines coiled flat against the wind. It makes a white with more acid than it has any right to have.
The two to orderBone-dry, high-acid, almost saline on the finish, a Chablis with the volume turned up. The volcanic white the rest of the wine world has only just caught up to.
Assyrtiko left to sun-dry for two weeks, pressed, then aged in oak for years. An ancient amber dessert wine; the island was making it centuries before the Tuscan version.
Six dishes that only taste like this here, because the soil is ash. Order them roughly in this order.
The mechanics that separate a Santorini trip from a morning spent in the bakery queue in Oia.
Three to five cruise ships dock on most summer days, each unloading 3,000-plus passengers between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., and Oia and Fira go unwalkable inside those windows. The annual schedule is published at santorinicruises.gr; cross-reference your dates and do the inland half (Akrotiri, the wine villages, Megalochori) on the ship days. Save the caldera walks for the days without ships.
Imerovigli is the default: the same caldera view as Oia at noticeably lower rates, walkable to Fira and the Skaros Rock walk, under 30 minutes by cab to anywhere on the island. Pyrgos is the second-time-to-Santorini choice (inland, the back-of-island food, the wine villages). Oia is the once-or-twice splurge. Fira is the central capital, and not a stay you'd choose.
It is genuinely beautiful, and it is also a queue. The viewing platforms at the castle and the Maritime Museum fill by 6.30 p.m. in summer, and the path between them clogs by 7. Two alternatives, both of which work: (1) book a sunset table at Pelekanos or Lauda and stay through the hour at the table; (2) skip Oia entirely and take the same sunset from the Pyrgos summit, the whole caldera in one frame and almost no one else up there.
You do. Almost everything on this page (Akrotiri, the wine villages, Mesa Vouno, Vlychada, Perissa, Megalochori) is unreachable by bus without losing four hours to connections. Rent locally on the island (€35–55/day in season) and skip the airport-counter chains. Bring an EU/UK/US/CA driver's licence; no international permit needed. Don't drive after wine tastings; hire a driver for those days.
Five hours on the Blue Star (€45 economy, €70 for a reserved seat) or 4.5 on the SeaJet/HighSpeed (€80–120). The Blue Star holds up in wind; the SeaJets get cancelled in a meltemi, especially in August. Book on Ferryhopper rather than the operator sites. Fly the return if you're tight on time, since Aegean from Santorini to Athens is 45 minutes and €60–150 one way.
The dry northerly that blows down the Aegean from late June through mid-September, peaking in August and reaching force 7 on bad days. It cancels the fast ferries (the Blue Stars keep running), grounds the small boats, and sends sand across the beach umbrellas. Build a buffer day between Santorini and your next stop; don't book a Mykonos-to-Athens-via-Santorini connection in one morning.
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