Santorini, Greece is a destination on many people’s bucket lists, as it should be! It is a Greek island located in the Aegean Sea and is widely known for its stunning sunsets, whitewashed homes, blue-domed churches, and wine! I recently spent 3 amazing days exploring this charming island. Despite its small size, there was plenty to do. Below, I listed the top 10 must-do activities in Santorini, Greece!
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1. Hike Skaros Rock
Skaros Rock is a popular destination in Santorini. It is located in front of Imerovigli, a small town with exquisite hotels and pools! The rock is known as Santorini’s most popular medieval fortress because of its elevated height and spectacular views of the island! It’s a quick hike, but we decided not to explore the entire rock because we visited during July and didn’t feel like hiking back up the many stairs in the extreme heat. Check out the Mother of Lord Theoskepasti Holy Orthodox Church that’s hidden behind the rock. It is the perfect secluded location and an amazing spot to watch the sunset in Santorini!
2. Heart of Santorini
The Heart of Santorini is another location with incredible views of the island and volcano. It is a heart-shaped hole in a rock and is a unique place for photos. Definitely a quick stop that you should check out! We visited during July and it wasn’t busy at all.
3. Swim at the red, white, and black Beaches
Santorini has some of the most unique beaches I have ever seen. The red beaches are formed from the iron-rich volcanic rocks, the white beaches from the small white pebbles, and the black beaches formed from the volcanic lava.
We only had time to visit one beach, so we decided on Perissa Beach for an afternoon. It was a long stretch of black sand (rocks) lined with beach chairs and restaurants. I can’t remember which location we chose, but we got two free sunbeds and an umbrella for free as long as we ordered food from their restaurant. This is a great deal as many other spots would require a fee for the chairs or a minimum set price for food/drinks.
4. Explore Santorini Villages: Oia, Fira, Megalochori, Pyrgos
Explore the many charming villages of Santorini such as Oia, Fira, Megalochori, and Pyrgos. The narrow streets, blue domes, and white houses are so picturesque and they are great towns for shopping.
5. Enjoy a Catamaran Cruise around the Island
My favorite activity to do in Santorini was going on a sunset catamaran cruise. We booked with Sunset Oia and had a fantastic day. They picked us up in Oia where we were staying and drove us to the port. The boat had roughly 20 people onboard, so it wasn’t too crowded. They provided a delicious Greek BBQ meal and an open bar. We swam in front of the red and white beaches and in the volcanic hot springs. The sail ended with us watching the sunset in Oia. It was such an incredible moment. We were dropped off at Amoudi Bay port and dropped off at our pickup location. It was such an amazing day and I highly recommend you add this to your Santorini itinerary! Book with Sunset Oia here!
6. Go on a Wine Tour
Santorini is well known for its wine, so wine tasting is a must-do activity in Santorini. A few popular wineries on the island are Santo Wines and Venetsantos Winery. I’m not a wine drinker and neither was anyone in my group, so we opted out. It is a famous wine destination, so I just had to recommend this for a fun Santorini activity.
7. Watch the Sunset in Oia
Oia is the village known for the best sunset views on Santorini! Head to Oia Castle for the best lookout point. I highly recommend showing up 1-2 hours before because it will be extremely crowded, especially in July and August. If you would like a less crowded sunset view, make a reservation at Kastro Restaurant! We booked a 7-9 pm reservation in July and it was perfect timing.
8. Hike from Fira to Oia
Looking to get your steps in? Hike from Fira to Oia. You will have the best views of the caldera on this hike. The hike goes by Skaros Rock, so you can take a quick detour to check it out!
9. Stay in a cave house in Oia
This is more of a bucket list thing that you should check off while in Santorini! Staying in a cave house with a pool was a dream come true! We stayed at Cleo’s Dream Villa in Oia and I’m so glad we chose this Villa! It was ideally located at the bottom of the hill, so you didn’t have people walking in front of your villa all the time. It is a 2-bedroom villa with a spacious living/dining room and a gorgeous pool. Anna Maria was our host and she was incredibly helpful to us during our stay and answered any questions we had promptly!
10. Visit Archeological Sites in Santorini
If you enjoy learning about history, head to the Akrotiri Archeological site to see the remains of the Minoan City that was buried by volcanic ash around 1600 BC. Get your tickets here. Another Archeological site is Ancient Thera where you can find the remains of temples, theaters, and a church.
Getting To Santorini
Ferry
The ferries are well connected to many other nearby islands and the mainland, Athens. You will arrive/depart from Athinios Port but it is also referred to as “New Port” or “Thira Port”. I booked our tickets on ferryhopper.com. Download the app so you can track where the ferry is!
Airport
The airport is also very well connected to Athens and many other European cities such as Paris, Rome, and Frankfurt! From the airport, Oia is a 25-minute drive and Fira is a quick 10-minute drive.
Where To Eat in Santorini
Below, I listed some of the places we ate at, as well as some highly recommended places:
- Kastro (Oia)
- Pitogyros Traditional Grill House (Oia)
- Lolitas Gelato (Oia)
- Hungry Donkey (Oia)
- Red Bicycle (Oia)
- Sunset Ammoudi (Oia)
- Franco’s (Fira)
- Lucky’s Souvlakis ( Fira)
- Salt And Pepper (Fira)
- Metaxi Mas (Pyrgos)
Where To Stay in Santorini
The three best villages I recommend staying in are Oia, Fira, and Imerovigli.
Oia is a dreamy village with some beautiful white cave houses and pools but can be extremely expensive and crowded.
Fira is a great budget-friendly option and is centrally located. Fira is also the central hub for buses so it would be the perfect place to stay if you plan on taking the bus.
If I were to ever revisit Santorini, I would stay in Imerovigli. It is a quiet village with some stunning hotels and pools. The views are amazing and it is a short drive to Fira and Oia.
Getting Around Santorini
The best ways to get around Santorini are by bus, taxi, or renting a car, ATV, motorcycle, or UTV (side-by-side). Oia has a wonderful bus system and you can get one-way tickets for 2 euros. We opted for a side-by-side because it had a seatbelt and felt a little safer than an ATV/motorcycle. It also gave us more flexibility compared to the bus as we could explore the island more freely and on our own time. We also hired a car transfer through our villa host from the airport to Oia and Oia to the Ferry port for easy convenience.
Best Time To Visit Santorini
The best time to visit Santorini is from May-June and September-October as the weather conditions will be perfect and there won’t be as many tourists crowding the streets. These months also offer cheaper accommodations compared to the summer months. July and August may offer hot weather making it perfect for beach or catamaran days, but unbearable for hiking or simply just strolling the towns. It will also be overcrowded from the numerous cruise ships dropping off thousands of people daily. This will make it hard to book reservations so if you plan to visit during July and August, book ahead!
I hope this blog post was helpful and provided some must-do activities in Santorini, Greece!