Where to Stay in Santorini: Your 2023 Guide to The Best Places

On a flooded historical volcano, Santorini is the crown jewel of the Cyclades islands. The mesmerizing sunsets and caldera views have lengthy held a grip on vacationers who can’t wait to expertise this quintessential Greek vacation spot. But selecting the place to remain in Santorini may be complicated. Where ought to I keep Oia or Fira, the professionals and cons of every a part of the island, and even the place you may base your self for the perfect views? Well, we’re going to reply all of these questions for you in our final information to the perfect locations to remain in Santorini.

Best Places to Stay in Santorini

Running alongside the volcanic-burnt landscapes are pristine white houses, with a scattering of blue-domed cathedrals. Cobblestone streets information you thru historic cities the place romance and tradition meet in equal measure. It’s an island
of pure luxurious, the place the scars of the volcanic eruption have solely just lately been found.

Stay in beautiful Cycladic structure with every resort making an attempt in earnest to raise its environment, you’ll find non-public terraces and swimming swimming pools to observe the sundown over and over. It seems like a dream, and Santorini may be simply that.

First, let’s get a few of the hottest questions out of the best way. After all, you wish to have the perfect trip you presumably can, and realizing the solutions to those questions will help you determine the perfect place so that you can keep in Santorini. One factor you need to be ready for is the price.

As the recognition of Santorini has grown so have the costs, particularly in excessive season. So, in case you are searching for probably the most stunning place with the perfect views be ready to pay for it.

Where ought to I keep in Santorini for the primary time?

If that is your first time visiting Santorini then you’re going to wish to keep in both Fira or Imerovigli. Which one you select might be primarily based in your funds degree. We don’t advocate staying in Oia on your first time as it may be extraordinarily crowded and overwhelming.

Fira is nice in case you are not renting a automobile as it’s the most important transportation hub on the island. Imerovigli is a quieter and extra secluded possibility, with beautiful caldera views and opulent lodging. It is a superb possibility for these searching for a extra tranquil and romantic expertise.

Is it higher to remain in Fira or Oia?

We have stayed in each and advocate staying in Fira (the island’s capital) over Oia particularly in case you are visiting through the excessive season. Oia is extremely costly and it will get overcrowded when the cruise ships are available in and is completely insane throughout sundown.

In Fira, you’ve got extra decisions in the case of resorts and you’ve got extra entry to the remainder of the island particularly in case you are and not using a automobile. The most important bus station is situated in Fira so you may make your approach to totally different components of the island through the day. Oia is unquestionably stunning however you can be battling these cruise passengers daily, so simply bear in mind.

What is the perfect space to remain in Santorini?

Truthfully it depends upon what you’re searching for and what your funds is. We imagine the west facet of the island is the perfect space to remain in Santorini because it has the perfect views of the caldera, the perfect collection of resorts, and the perfect sundown views. The cities you need o deal with are Oia, Imerovigli, Firostefani, and Fira. If you’d quite hit the seaside than sit in your swimming pool then the east facet of the island round Perissa and Kamari is the place it would be best to look.

Our Recommendation: the Best place to remain in Santorini

Each city round Santorini has one thing distinctive to supply. Whether that’s chasing the famed native sunsets, lazing on the gorgeous black sand seaside, or exploring the archaeological web site in Akrotiri. From households to solo vacationers, you’ll discover one thing that works for you.

But having stayed on each the east and west sides of the island we extremely advocate basing your self on the west facet of Santorini. If you’re searching for sundown views, luxurious resorts, your individual non-public plunge pool, non-public terraces, and people well-known caldera views then Fira, Oia, Imerovigli, or Firostefani is the place it would be best to select to remain in Santorini.

This can be the place you can see the famed conventional cave homes/ resorts. If this pursuits you now we have a complete publish on the Best Cave Hotels in Santorini. But, keep in mind that these are the costliest cities in Santorini as effectively.

The different facet of the island, which incorporates Perissa and Kamari caters extra to folks searching for that lovely black sand seaside, seaside bars, and a extra laid-back ambiance.

1. Best Place to Stay in Santorini for a Honeymoon

Santorini is without doubt one of the hottest locations on the earth for honeymoons, and you may see why. It combines the great thing about its environment, with a ton of issues to do in addition to providing seclusion and privateness whenever you want it. Idyllic whenever you consider the proper honeymoon vacation spot.

Most folks immediately consider Oia for his or her honeymoon, however I believe you are able to do higher. Oia to me has develop into so overcrowded in the previous couple of years that it takes away from that romantic feeling. It is just not as non-public anymore.

Yes, there are some actual unique resorts that block folks off however for probably the most half, due to how it’s constructed, anybody can pop onto your terrace to take a look at any time and take a look at the view. Not actually romantic in my view. Combine that with the sheer mass of individuals at sundown and you may see why now we have taken Oia off the record for honeymooners.

Our suggestion is to go to Imerovigli. You get the identical superb views however it’s quieter, extra non-public and simply feels extra romantic. It is only a quick stroll to the nightlife of Fira (Instead of a 25-minute drive from Oia), it has probably the most luxurious resorts on the island, and it has superb Caldera views so you may take pleasure in these beautiful sundown views from your individual non-public terrace or non-public pool and you’re a quick drive from a few of the finest wineries on Santorini.

2. Fira or Oia? How to Choose.

If there’s one query that we get usually it’s; Which is the higher place to remain in Santorini? Oia or Fira. And the truthful reply is it depends upon what you wish to get out of your trip. Are you trying to be near the motion or are you searching for a quieter extra secluded trip?

If you’re searching for the quieter possibility of the 2 then we might recommend Oia. Located on the foothills of an historical volcano, Oia is straight out of a postcard. A mixture of vibrant white and dense blues with a backdrop of earthy tones. It’s every little thing you’d anticipate from among the best locations to remain in Santorini. The mixture of blue-domed church buildings, turquoise plunge swimming pools, and white houses with the sundown is without doubt one of the most memorable sights in all of the Greek islands.

Of course, you’ll share this expertise with hoards of vacationers and cruise ship passengers however honestly this primarily occurs within the excessive season between 3 PM and eight PM. Most of the opposite instances of the day it isn’t too loopy. And at evening you may benefit from the quiet streets and higher-end eating places.

Choose to Stay in Oia if:

• Budget is just not a priority. Oia has a few of the costliest lodging on the island and in Greece for that matter.
• You need that well-known Santorini Sunset view.
• You are searching for a personal luxurious expertise. There are a number of unique resorts in Oia.

If you’re a couple that likes to have entry to every little thing inside shut proximity then we might recommend Fira. Having a central location and the majority of the island’s public transport, Fira is a superb possibility for these questioning the place to remain in Santorini. Fira is the most important city on the island, and whereas it might lack a few of the charms of Oia or Firostefani, it makes up for it in different methods.

The ambiance in Fira rises early and maintains its momentum all through the day. Here, locals and vacationers alike combine in nice numbers as they make their means across the busy city. With eating places, bars, and sights inside strolling distance, you’ll be capable of get about on foot most of the time. Importantly, you’ll by no means have a scarcity of issues to do.

Fira is house to Santorini’s most important bus terminal, which is in the course of city. After exploring your native sights, you’ll love having quick access to far-off locations with out the necessity for a rental automobile. Being such an enormous hub for tourism means Fira may have greater than its fair proportion of tour places of work promoting all kinds of island experiences so that you can attempt.

This has additionally led the city to have an immense collection of eating places, resorts, and the perfect nightlife scene in Santorini. The vary of choices and competitors means life within the capital of Santorini is cheaper than different main cities alongside the Caldera facet of the island.

Choose to remain in Fira if:

• You don’t have a automobile and wish to be near the bus station to entry different components of the island
• You wish to benefit from the nightlife on the island
• You are visiting within the low season as most different components of the island might be closed
• You usually are not in Santorini for the seashores

The main downside of staying in Fira is the commercialization of the city. It’s a serious vacation spot for cruise ships, whose passengers flood the city, resulting in a much less genuine expertise. Away from the historic landmarks and epic views, you’ll discover rows of memento retailers, the type many vacationers see and dread.

3. Where to Stay in Santorini for Families

We have given you solutions on the place to remain in Santorini in case you are in your honeymoon, however what in case you are touring with your loved ones? Contrary to in style perception Santorini is not only for {couples} and lovers.

There is sort of a bit to see and do in case you are touring along with your youngsters as effectively. I’ll say although, many of the west facet of Santorini is extra suited to {couples}, which suggests you’re higher off staying within the seaside cities of Kamari Beach or Perissa in case you are visiting as a household.

Both locations are set on the Aegean Sea and provide cheaper lodging, that means you’ll be capable of fork out for that additional bed room. Without massive crowds, you may take pleasure in your environment with out feeling rushed, good for households with youthful youngsters.

Ideally, I’d recommend Kamari Beach first as a result of not solely does it have a ravishing seaside however it’s also inside strolling distance from a ton of eating places, taverns, cafes, and retailers the place you may simply spend the day. Convenience is essential when touring with youngsters.

Like Kamari, Perissa is way quieter and cheaper than the extra iconic cities across the island. The budget-friendly vacation spot is without doubt one of the finest locations to remain in Santorini. South of Kamari, Perissa welcomes you with that very same heat, darkish sand with ample cocktail bars alongside the seaside. Just minutes from Santorini Airport, you’ll be lounging by the electrical blue ocean very quickly.

Aside from lounging underneath an umbrella at one of many many seaside bars, water sports activities are the factor to do. From your cozy spot on the sand, you’ll see jet skis skimming throughout the water. Without the sundown and caldera, the costs listed here are decrease regardless of providing such fantastic entry to the perfect seashores on the island.

4. Best Place to Stay in Santorini for Nightlife

For these chasing adventures after darkish, then you definately’ll have the perfect time staying in Fira. After the solar goes down, consideration rapidly turns to the array of dim-lit cocktail bars, boisterous pubs, and pumping dance halls.

Santorini might not be famed for its nightlife (there are actually solely eating places in Oia and Imerovigli) you shouldn’t stack it up in opposition to different notable occasion spots round Europe. But that’s to not say you received’t take pleasure in life after darkish in Fira.

In truth, the island’s greatest city has a bit little bit of one thing for everybody. Enjoy quiet and romantic bars by the Aegean Sea or enterprise to the place the music is loud, and the evening doesn’t finish. If you do select to remain elsewhere on the island simply bear in mind that taxis and busses may be laborious to search out early within the morning.

If nightlife is your jam then I’d recommend trying out the island of Mykonos. There is all the time a celebration taking place on that greek island.

5. Best Place to Stay for Caldera Views

Between Fira Town and Oia, the smaller cities of Imerovigli and Firostefani are teeming with whitewashed manors, non-public terraces, and cave resorts situated with beautiful sea views of the caldera and sundown. Truthfully any of the cities on the west facet of the island will present good views of the caldera.

Our private favourite although is Imerovigli. Imerovigli is taken into account the Balcony of the Aegean. Built over 1000ft above sea degree, you’ll take pleasure in a spectacular platform from which to admire the Caldera itself. While many guests flock north for the sunsets in Oia, the small village of Imerovigli stays peaceable and charming.

Life right here is slower and also you’ll have room to breathe and roam as you uncover this a part of Santorini all to your self. Importantly, dealing with west, Imerovigli has equally spectacular sundown views whereas the caldera stays ever-present. At evening, Oia dazzles alongside the ridge to the north. But as now we have mentioned beforehand the lodging choices right here may be very costly.

If you’re searching for a extra budget-friendly possibility I’d have a look at Akrotiri. A rapidly growing city in Santorini, Akrotiri, is the perfect space to remain if you need these beautiful caldera views with out the lofty price ticket. Boutique resorts proceed to pop up in Akrotiri because the city’s reputation grows. However, its distance from Fira (a 25-minute drive) permits the seaside city to stay with out crowded streets and a touristy expertise.

Fira and Oia have the majority of the island’s purchasing. With rows of retailers and boutique shops catering to vacationers, you’ll be capable of spend your afternoon shopping the retailers or selecting up some mementos and presents for these again house.

Fira caters to a wider viewers with extra funds choices and memento shops. On the opposite hand, Oia leans in direction of high-end shops with a larger variety of worldwide manufacturers.

Between the 2, Firostefani has a energetic purchasing avenue within the heart of city that vacationers ought to expertise. With a larger variety of locals, the stroll down the road is an genuine expertise. Similar purchasing will also be present in Pyrgos.

7. Where to Stay in Santorini for Sightseeing

Owing to its central location and its transport hub, Fira is the perfect place to remain for sightseeing. If you rent a automobile, you’ll be well-placed to discover the 4 corners of the island. Whether that be the coastal cities of Akrotiri and Perissa or the mountain villages round Pyrgos.

Without a rental automobile, you’ll even have a better time exploring out of your base in Fira. The most important bus station is on the town with a larger variety of providers round Santorini.

But no village on the island has as a lot to do inside its boundaries as Fira. Visitors may have many sights close by, together with the Three Bells of Fira, the Museum of Prehistoric Thera, and the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. Not to say the jaw-dropping Santorini Cable Car.

web site Lycabettus restaurant, among the best eating places in Oia, for conventional Mediterranean delicacies that can blow your thoughts.

8. Best Place to Stay Off the Beaten Path

The fashionable city of Akrotiri is house to the Red Beach of Santorini. Although in style through the day, the placing seaside is peaceable come sundown. Allowing you to benefit from the uninhibited views with simply your family and friends. From the pink sands, you’ll discover a dock, the place for a small payment you may enterprise round to the black seashores on the japanese coasts.

Although Akrotiri could also be thought of off the crushed path, it’s a traditionally important village. During the Neolithic Age, the primary inhabitants of Santorini settled on the cardinal shoreline. Over time, the settlement grew into one of the crucial outstanding business facilities within the Aegean, permitting the local people to develop an interesting tradition. Until a historic volcano eruption coated the city.

With ample warning time, residents had been capable of evacuate, and Akrotiri was written off the pages of historical past. No one knew what lay beneath the floor till the mid-Nineteenth century. Making Akrotiri a more moderen and probably extra fascinating discovery than Pompeii.

The city is now a charming archaeological web site with fresco buildings from 1600 BC having been frozen in time underneath the hardened lava. It’s mentioned that solely 5% of the city has been excavated with many extra superb discoveries ready within the wings.

Aside from lounging by the seaside and having fun with the spectacular sunsets, Akrotiri offers an intriguing look into the primary communities that had been created in Santorini.

With new resorts, nice views, and an unimaginable historical past, Akrotiri is an incredible place to remain when visiting Santorini. However, its distance from Fira will imply you’ll must lease a automobile to discover the remainder of the island.

9. Where to Stay in Santorini Away From the Crowds

Like Akrotiri, Megalochori and Pyrgos are an effective way to expertise Santorini away from the crowds. Pyrgos is a captivating hilltop city near the best level in Santorini. From your resort room or restaurant terrace, you’ll expertise superb views in each path.

Look to the west to see the traditional caldera enveloped by the Aegean Sea. Capture the cities alongside the cliffside surrounded by lush inexperienced landscapes. To the east, see the black sand portray the sting of the coast whereas having fun with the crisp mountain air.

The west coast could have a larger focus of blue-domed buildings and chalky houses, however Pyrgos has a standard Greek really feel. Here, solely 1000 residents go about their every day lives, driving up and down the windy roads that caress the mountainside.

On your explorations of Pyrgos, you’ll go neoclassical museums, rows of vineyards basking within the heat Greek solar, and charming cafes surrounding the city sq.. At evening, sit back out of your elevated place and take within the sundown at any of the hillside eating places providing unbeatable vistas.

Like Pyrgos, Megalochori has a rural vibe untouched by the motion of time. While not fairly Akrotiri, the village hails again to the 1600s when pirate dens popped up, conventional cottages arose and wine caverns first made an look.

There is an aura of historical past as you wander round city. Much of that is due to the efforts of locals who’ve maintained a reverence for the historic buildings, holding them in wonderful situation so that you can admire. Here you may dwell like an area. Wake up every morning and make your approach to the village sq. the place you may be part of the group in sipping on a espresso because the solar soars ever larger.

From Megalochori and Pyrgos, you may catch the bus from the primary streets to discover Santorini. While the cheaper lodging ought to go away some room within the funds for automobile rent and loads of day journeys.

10. Best Place to Stay for Cheap Hotels

Most of the perfect low cost resorts in Santorini take you out of the most well-liked areas. You will certainly need to keep away from many of the western facet of the island and look extra towards Perissa, Kamari, Megalochori, and Pyrgos. By giving up that well-known view of the Cladera and the beautiful sunsets from Fira and Oia you may profit from decrease costs.

What you don’t have to surrender is a few superb lodging. Sure you could not have resorts with non-public balconies or infinity swimming pools, however you can be getting extra bang on your buck on all facilities and eating places.

One place the place you don’t have to surrender these caldera views and sunsets that also have a few of the finest low cost resorts in Santorini is Akrotiri. This a part of the island is much less developed than Fira or Oia so it might probably value resorts accordingly.

The one caveat is that when you determine to remain out right here you must lease a automobile. You are a couple of 25-minute drive from Fira and accessing different components of the island is just not as straightforward by bus. Note: The bus does run right here from Fira.

Another possibility, as we said above, is to take a look at the charming Towns of Megalochori and Pyrgos. You don’t get caldera views or the seaside however they actually have their very own attraction and are undoubtedly value trying out in case you are on a funds.

Our Money-Saving Tips for Santorini

Santorini isn’t a haven for funds vacationers, due to its reputation and unimaginable views. But what makes the island such an iconic vacation spot additionally opens the door for funds vacationers to save cash. Unlike different Greek islands, Santorini stays open through the winter. During this era you may take pleasure in cheaper lodging. It is simple to get luxurious resorts proper on the Aegean Sea for a fraction of what they’d price in excessive season.

If you’ve arrived in peak season, you’ll discover it isn’t low cost to eat out. Especially if the restaurant has a view. Forego the view for lunch and dinner to assist stability the funds.

Getting Around Santorini

Driving round Santorini is just not solely an effective way to discover the forgotten villages away from Oia, however it’s going to prevent time and persistence. Check out the finest automobile rental costs right here.

Santorini has an honest public bus community that providers all the most important villages on the island. But except you’re in Fira, you’ll be restricted by the restricted choices, particularly when you want to go to the east coast.

In peak season, you’ll be sharing the buses, not simply with locals however the mass of vacationers who all had the identical concept as you. If you wish to see all of Santorini and it suits the funds, we advocate selecting a automobile up for the journey.

How to Get to Santorini

You can fly or take the ferry to Santorini. Daily flights go away Athens International Airport (Eleftherios Venizelos) and take 40 minutes to get to the island. Once there you may catch a taxi to your resort.

Ferries additionally function every day to Santorini from the Piraeus in Athens. Santorini can be related by ferry to different Greek Islands. We flew from Athens to Santorini after which continued on the Crete by ferry.

Best Time to Visit Santorini

The busiest instances to go to Santorini are through the summer time months. This is the perfect climate as Santorini has a Mediterranean local weather nevertheless, it’s also probably the most crowded with cruise ships. However, in case you are staying in a luxurious resort or a boutique resort with a personal pool, you could not care in regards to the crowds. You can chill out on the pool bar away from the crowds and look forward to the cruise ships to depart.

If you’re staying in one of many seaside cities, the perfect climate is from June to September.

To keep away from the crowds it would be best to go to in shoulder season both September and October or April and May. We visited in October and the climate was nonetheless very heat.