The first activity I did after arriving to Santorini was go on the only hike worth taking—from Fira to Oia. This is an iconic hike and by far my favorite part of my time there. I believe it was the best way to introduce myself to this Greek island I’d seen only in pictures.

I strolled between white-washed Cyclades-style buildings with the sunken caldera to my left and sun beaming overhead. I also took a side trek to an outcropping called Skaros Rock near the town of Imerovigli.

In addition to tips for what to expect, I share plenty of photos of the architecture in the towns and views along the rim of the caldera overlooking the Santorini islands.

Before Hiking From Fira To Oia

In preparation for this hike, I had to consider that the straight shot from Fira to Oia would take about 3 hours as a fairly fit individual. The detour to Skaros would tack on another 30-60 minutes. For me, 3-4 hours was perfect to put me in Oia in time for sunset! And those sunset views are THE goal in Santorini!

The owner of the villa we were staying at scoffed at me when I said I’d be hiking it that afternoon. Apparently it’s too hot in summer (this was late June) for the locals to consider it. I was fine with it. The hike would entail paved paths as well as some rocky, dirt trails with no shady parts. I welcomed the sun—bring it on!

I just made sure to have my sunscreen, sunglasses and water handy. Not to mention, this hike called for some snacks, good shoes, and, of course, my camera!

Along the way, there’s plenty of landmarks to spot.

Below is a handy map (created by Earth Trekkers) showing the exact path and highlights along the way. I found this useful for finding the start of the hike in Fira and identifying some of the names of key places on the route.

The hike will definitely help you get your steps in at 10km (6 mi) total from start to finish. The hike out to Skaros and back adds an extra 1km. The time depends on how much you stop to take photos or rest!

You can see below from my FitBit tracker that I did not rest much on this journey and it took me just under 4 hours in total. I stopped a bit only in the beginning as I was first taking in all the views, including on Skaros Rock.

After that, I was pretty much full steam ahead to get to Oia in time for sunset. Although sunset wasn’t until almost 9pm and I left at 2pm, I was determined to get there early enough to beat the crowds.

The Start In Fira

The starting location for the hike is located between the Atlantis hotel and the Candlemas Holy Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral in Fira. The below photo is the view looking up the path with the Cathedral to the right.

The hike weaves right through towns at first. The start of the hike in particular winds through Fira, Imerovigli, and Firostefani.

Fira is a big tourist town with many shops and eateries along its paved paths. Fira is also known for its bars and nightclubs staying open much later than the ones in Oia. So before leaving the area, I made sure to fuel up. I stopped at a place selling gyros. They made one fresh which was easy to eat as I walked. It was the perfect treat to get my hike started!

If I wasn’t winding between buildings, I was otherwise mostly walking right along the rim of the caldera.

The caldera refers to a submerged magma chamber that formed a circular shape after volcanic eruptions there. It includes the Santorini island group formed by multiple eruptions.

The hike mostly follows along the cliffs overlooking the islands and many cruise ships out at sea.

Below was my view looking back at Fira with the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in the foreground to the left.

As I exited Fira, I noted the many beautiful pools and hot tubs that lined the pathway. These hot tubs and pools were a part of people’s accommodation. I saw these throughout the hike and was always surprised by the lack of privacy of these stays! It made me grateful for the private hot tub I had back at my villa!

Iconic Buildings & Architecture

I really loved the look of the next town up called Firostefani. The area was much less commercial than Fira. The pathway elevated up through the town—my first hill!

This was also my first clear view of Santorini’s famous blue-domed churches.

In general, the architecture and landmarks on this hike were absolutely stunning. I used to live in the Greek area of Queens, NY where I was always really impressed with the architecture. There was also a beautiful church with rhythmic bells that chimed often on my walk to and from the subway.

The Greeks really love their churches. So of course I found myself mostly taking photos of churches and their famous bells!

There were also smaller notables as I made my way between buildings and towns. Little accents and artistic pieces added charm, whimsy, and color to the otherwise plain white buildings and stone pathways.

I was also obsessed with all of the colorful flowers!

In the towns, flowers are intentionally planted and placed over door frames and in planters built right into the white-washed walls. The flowers were beautifully accented against the bright white backdrop of the buildings.

Skaros Rock From Imerovigli

The next town up was Imerovigli. Imerovigli felt even more residential than Firostefani. This quieter town featured some nice hotel and suite stays.

Some of these stays directly overlooked Skaros Rock. Access to this outcropping and side hike follows a path down off the cliff side.

It was a little challenging finding the exact spot, but once I did there were stairs that took me down past the Church of Christ and up to Skaros.

The photos below show the view looking back up at Imerovigli and out along the cliffside all the way back to Fira.

These views in both directions of where I came from and where I was going were persistent throughout the entire hike from Fira to Oia. But the Skaros outcropping provided a unique vantage point from which to see the entire caldera in full view!

As a walked along the edge of the rock, I realized how much I wished I had Carolina with me to see these views and to take photos! Alas, she wasn’t feeling well and decided to take it easy back at the villa instead.

I managed to find a few other tourists who were willing to take some photos of me! Thanks to them!

People made lots of cairns here out of the red volcanic rocks of the area.

Around the other side of Skaros Rock, the wind really picked up in intensity!

On the Northern side of Skaros, there was a little rock wall area to climb and get a bit more height.

It was so windy up there and my camera started to fog up a bit! But I still managed to capture this photo on my own using my little tripod stand. It was a task getting it to stay still as strong gusts came ripping through every minute or so.

The climb back up the stairs from Skaros were a challenge to climb! I started to feel the burn in my legs already. I reminded myself that this was only the beginning and there were at least 2 more big hills to come!

Back On The Trail

I spent an extra 45 minutes or so walking out to Skaros. Once I reached the pathway to Oia again, I noted the signs along the way that helped direct hikers especially when the path veered away from the rim.

I definitely appreciated the extra guidance in these instances, but mostly the path was really clear!

Officially leaving Imerovigli, I was finally starting on the more natural part of the route. No more weaving through towns.

There were many spots of long stretches where all I could see were the cliffsides ahead and Oia way out at the end of the island. Although there were other people on the trail, walking this solo away from the more crowded towns felt great!

I enjoyed a lot of the natural stone paths and walls along the way—they were quite colorful!

I also noted the wildflowers here.

Here you can clearly see Oia in the distance

Sporadically, I would come upon random hotels and other accommodations.

Santorini is especially well known as a top destination wedding location. Occasionally, I walked by a wedding that was in the middle of being officiated. Yes me, my sweaty self hiking through, was likely in the background of a few wedding photos!

Massive Hills

The trail eventually became challenging again. Up until this point, the hike from Fira to Oia was mostly flat or downhill slightly. There were a few smaller hills through the towns and Skaros also had a steep climb back from it.

Alas, there would be two major hills (about 150-200m elevation) to conquer on this trek and I definitely somewhat underestimated them. I believe my body was still recovering a bit from our Samaria Gorge hike just a few days before!

The path up to and past the Saint Mark Holy Orthodox Chapel was the first of these major hills.

I was able to ring the bell in victory at the top!

The view from this peak was breathtaking especially as the sun lit up the entire caldera.

The following photos looking up and looking back show incline upwards to reach the Church of Prophet Elias.

A little sign and spray-painted “Oia” pointed the way down the other side from the church.

Part of the trail required walking along the roadside once reaching the bottom between the two hills. This only lasted for about 5 minutes ending finally at a snack shack.

The trail restarted after the snack bar. I didn’t stop to take a rest here. However, some people apparently reach this point and decide not to walk anymore. Across from the snack bar is the option to hire a donkey to ride.

I was still up for the challenge to finish the hike by foot. But even if I was tired enough to catch a ride, I definitely would not have opted to take a donkey.

Donkey rides don’t align with my ethics around animal tourism. During my time in Santorini I saw how hard these donkeys work all day bringing Tourists up and down the cliffsides. It’s wild what they are put through. You’ll hear me write about this in other posts, but for us on two feet, the donkey droppings don’t exactly add to the fun!

Anyway, the path continues up another hill! This time, a large rock wall framed the path on both sides. I assume this was partially private property since the path was essentially fenced in. That didn’t bother me at all. The views along the way and at the top were still amazing! It was definitely a challenging climb, however.

At about 350 meters above sea level, I reached the last major peak. Now it was time for the descent down into Oia!

At the edge of Oia, I already noticed some differences with Fira. The buildings here and layout of the pathways were unique.

Soon, I approached the main touristy area of Oia. The crowds started to become more dense. And the sourvenir shops started to pop up.

I imagine this place looked different 10-20 years ago or more before it became such a huge tourist attraction. Alas, I was still excited to have finally made it to Oia! I was on the cusp of capturing the iconic sunset views here—views I’ve lusted after in photos for over 15 years!

In Conclusion

I really loved this hike. I loved the colorful accents against white-washed buildings throughout all the towns. I loved the caldera and its islands in the distance. I loved the challenge of the massive hills. I loved that it wasn’t too long or too short.

This was an extremely fun hike to kick off my short stay in Santorini.

Upon reaching Oia, I managed to find spots without too many people to take a few initial selfies. The blue-domed churches here and iconic views were just ahead! But you will have to wait until next time to see all of my sunset photos (and more!) from Oia!

Until then, Happy Holidays everyone! :)

Guide to the Fira to Oia Hike in Santorini, Greece