Santorini is an island in the southern Aegean Sea, forms the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands, about 200 km southeast of Greece's mainland. Santorini has been recognized as the world’s top island by various travel magazines and has drawn an enormous number of tourists with its romantic beauty which is referred as paradise for couples, especially for newlyweds, from all around the world.

Oía, Santorini, Greece

In case you choose Santorini as a destination for your next trip, we very would like to recommend to you some of the best things to view and do on this charming island.

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The Best Things To Do In Santorini, Greece 2020

1. Hiking from Fira to Oia

Distance: 10 km Time: 3 - 4 hours

Santorini Greece wide-angle view church, Fira, Greece

It is agreed by numerous travelers that hiking is the best way to explore a Santorini, especially when this city is full of streets that are small and pile up with stairs.

Hiking from Fira to Oia is recommended as the first amazing thing to do in Santorini by lots of passionate hikers.

Fira Santorini Sunset

The route is about 10km, it takes you to stroll along the caldera cliff, begins from the villages of Fira, through Firostefani, Imerovigli, and reach the destination Oia at the tip of Santorini.

There is no end of breathtaking scenes and eye-catching points that you can take pictures of in order to bring home these spectacular sights.

 Oia, Santorini, Greece

You will walk a route that including sidewalk, cobblestone, dirt paths, as well as many good climbs. Therefore, you should prepare the necessary supplies and lots of water in particular.

Aside from the trail from Fira city to Oia city, you can try other wonderful routes in Santorini island. Some remarkable trails are: hiking of Thirasia – where all of the natural splendors of the island are combined, going to Nea Kameni Volcano & hot springs – sailing is included in this hiking activity, or you can try to hike up to the Monastery of Prophet Elias – the highest point of Santorini.

2. Boarding in Boat Tours

If it is too tired to hike for hours, you can take another easier but not less exciting way to go sightseeing Santorini, which is taking a boat tour.

A boat trip of the caldera is definitely wonderful and impressive. You will be able to fully enjoy the panoramic view of Santorini, particularly the cliffs of Santorini in height that are varied from 150m to 300m.

There are different kinds of boats and routes that you can choose to board in.

The favorite of most of the tourists is to board in a catamaran cruise that takes you to view full of the scenery of the island. These boat tours often take about 5 hours to sails around Santorini caldera, with several activities included such as swimming and snorkeling near Red Beach and  White Beach, discover caves and rock formations, or relax in some bays.

Santorini, Greece, Ocean, Whitewash

Also, you may book a private boat to self-arrange your route in order to focus on your interesting places or in order to create a romantic atmosphere between couples or for your family.

Santorini, Greece

To add more excitement to your trip, you should try a jet ski tour (if you’re over 18 years old). You can drive a jet ski along the coast side from the beach of Perivolos, heading south-west, and ending up at Mesa Pigadia beach, or you can drive to the volcano for a hot spring bath for examples. 

Mesa Pigadia Beach and White Beach. By Di_Chap

3. Relaxing at the beaches

There are a bunch of beautiful beaches in Santorini, and each beach brings you different tastes. Santorini beaches blend of unique characters as volcanic sand, rocks and stones, crystal clear water, and cliffs creating wonderfully natural walls. These amazing beaches absolutely will not let you down if you are seeking for quiet, peaceful, and uninhabited beaches or looking for lively and active beaches, resorts.

Best Santorini beaches are:

Perissa Beach

Perissa, Santorini. By Kostas Limitsios

Located 13km away from Fira, on the southeast coast of Santorini, Perissa is one of the longest and most famous beaches of the island. Perissa beach lies at the base of Mesa Vouno Mountain with a distinctive sight of the volcanic island, thus, its scenery is impressive with the black lava sand and crystal clear dark blue water.

Red Beach

It is located in Akrotiri village, 12 kilometers southwest of Fira, close to the important archaeological site of Akrotiri, to reach the destination, you have to go down the downhill path or to board a boat from Akrotiri port, Kamari or Perissa.

 Red Beach, Santorini

With clear blue water and steep red hills and cliffs, Red Beach is definitely the most extraordinary and unique beach in Santorini as well as around the globe upon its wild scenery with the dominance of red color.

Perivolos Beach

Located 3km from Perissa, the beach lies on the southeast coast of Santorini. Perivolos beach has black lava sand and deep sparkling waters, with a well-organized plethora of facilities.

 Perivolos beach, Santorini. Greece. By Roberto Faccenda

Perivolos also has top worldwide beach resorts that own best accommodations and festive activities. Thus, Perivolos beach has become a famous venue for wedding receptions and honeymoon trips.

Champagne on vacation

In addition to the two beaches above, Santorini also possesses other outstanding beaches like Kamari, Vlychada, Ammoudi, Caldera,…

Ammoudi, Greece

These alluring beaches are one of the must-do things when you come to Santorini.

4. Watching the sunset at Santorini

Each year, thousands of tourists come to Santorini just to witness the stunning and romantic sunset in the golden evening. Moreover, the sunset scenes are especially not the same when you observe at different angles. You have to find a perfect location to be able to wholly get an eyeful of phenomenal sunset scenes while taking your mesmerizing pictures. It is definitely the most romantic thing for couples or newlyweds to save their moments of holding hands or kissing in the dreamy charm of Santorini sunset.

 Sunset at Oia, Greece

Note: The favorite sunset watching place is the Oia Castle. From the castle, your vision will cover the edge of the caldera with white buildings and windmills. However, this point is kind of crowded because of its famous.

Sunset in Santorini

Otherwise, you can also watch the stunning sunset from Ammoundi Bay, Akrotiri lighthouse, Skaros Rock of Imerovigli village, or from the view of beaches and on cruises.

Boy jump with sunset on the background. Santorini - Akrotiri lighthouse

5. Taking a wine tour

Santorini is not only famous for its white towns alongside the edge of the caldera but also well-known for its local wines. If you are a wine connoisseur, you can not miss the adventure tour to visit the local wineries on this island.

Having lunch overlooking the blue Aegean sea. Sunny and warm.

You will have the chance to listen to stories about wine produce processes and industry in Santorini by the locals. Some wine breweries will be arranged as shortstops in the adventure so that you can taste the delicious wine as well as the view of the Aegean Sea from these wineries.

 Fshing boat in the Aegean sea

The activities listed above are the most amazing things to do that we recommend you to try when visiting the beautiful island - Santorini. In addition to this checklist, there are many other attractive activities that you can experience on this tourist island. Come and be a guest of Santorini and experience these interesting things as well as get to know more about this island yourself.

Wish you have a great vacation trip to Santorini!