Where to stay on Santorini matters more than on almost any other Greek island, because the caldera villages and the beach resorts are effectively two different holidays on one 76 square kilometre rock. Pick wrong and you will spend the week on a bus.
Fira
The capital, and the practical choice. Everything connects here: the bus station serves the whole island from one square, the shops and banks are here, and it has the only real concentration of bars.
The trade-off is noise and cruise-ship traffic. Between about 10am and 5pm the main streets carry thousands of day passengers, and the bars on the caldera edge run late. Stay in Fira if you want to move around the island easily and do not mind that.
Firostefani and Imerovigli
These are the two villages immediately north of Fira along the rim, 10 and 25 minutes on foot respectively, and they are where most people should actually stay. Same view, considerably quieter, still walkable to everything Fira has.
Imerovigli sits at the highest point of the caldera and is the classic honeymoon location. It also has the most steps. If anyone in the party has a knee problem, read the property description very carefully, because “300 metres from the road” here can mean 180 steps down.
Oia
The most beautiful village and the most difficult one to stay in. It is 11km from Fira at the northern tip, so every trip elsewhere on the island is a journey, and between 6pm and 9pm the village receives the sunset crowd, which is several thousand people funnelled into a few narrow lanes.
Staying in Oia is worth it for one reason: at 8am and again at 11pm it is empty and extraordinary, and you are the only ones there.
Pyrgos and the interior
Pyrgos is the old capital, inland and uphill, with a Venetian castle at the top and a genuine village underneath rather than a hotel strip. It has no caldera view from most of it and is much cheaper for that reason. From the castle you can see the entire island at once.
Megalochori and Emporio are the same idea: real villages, real prices, no view.
The beach side
Kamari and Perissa sit on the southeast coast under Mesa Vouno, both with long black volcanic sand beaches, and they are a completely different island: flat, walkable, cheaper, with the sea 20 metres from the taverna. The sand gets hot enough by midday to hurt bare feet, which is not an exaggeration.
Neither has a caldera view, and both are 20 to 30 minutes from Fira. For a family holiday they are the sensible choice and almost nobody tells you so.
Practical warnings
- Cave houses are dug into the cliff and often have one window. They are cool and dark, which some people love and others find oppressive.
- Vehicles cannot reach most caldera properties. Expect a porter and a walk.
- August prices in Oia are roughly triple those in Kamari for equivalent rooms.
- Book the ferry or flight before the hotel in July and August, not after.
What this page does not do
It does not offer company on Santorini. We work in Athens and Mykonos only and have no arrangement of any kind on this island. For the Athens leg of a Cyclades trip, see Athens.
