Is there a beach in Oia?

Ammoudi bay below the village for swimming off the rocks and fish tavernas; the sandy beaches are on the east coast, ten minutes by car.

When is the best time?

May, early June, late September and October: the same sunset, a fraction of the crowd, and villa prices a third lower.

Is it good for children?

Steps everywhere and drops without railings; better for older children. Families with small children usually prefer the east coast.

Villa4You destinations

Oia

The village at the tip of Santorini’s caldera: cave houses, the sunset, and a quieter side down at Ammoudi.

Browse villas in Oia Request a shortlist

About

Oia is the Santorini everyone has seen: white cave houses and blue domes on the rim of the caldera at the northern tip of the island, three hundred metres above the sea, facing the sunset. It is the most photographed village in Greece, and from six to nine in the evening in summer it feels like it. The rest of the day, and outside July and August, it is a village of narrow marble lanes, cats, bookshops and a handful of very good restaurants.

Staying in Oia means a cave house or a villa on the caldera side with a terrace or a small pool over the drop, or a quieter house on the eastern slope towards the vineyards. The sea is below: Ammoudi bay, three hundred steps down, has fish tavernas on the water and swimming off the rocks; Baxedes and Paradisos beaches on the island’s east coast are ten minutes by car. Fira, the capital, is twenty minutes; the airport twenty-five.

Oia is expensive in season and calm in May, early June and October, when the sunset is the same and the lanes are yours. Villas here book six months ahead. Ask us for a shortlist with your dates.

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