Oia Tours and Tickets

There are plenty of ways to experience Oia. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:

• Santorini Luxury Caldera Cruise with Full Greek Meal and Drinks
• Semi-Private Luxury | Santorini Catamaran Cruise with BBQ on board and Drinks
• Santorini Sunset Luxury Sailing Catamaran Cruise with BBQ, drinks, transfer
• Private Classic Santorini Panorama: Visit the most popular destinations!
• Private Santorini Tailor-Made | Choice of the guest!

While it’s free to roam around Oia on your own, there are plenty of tours available for you to experience the island’s culture, history, and cuisine. Smaller catamaran cruises around the island start around US$88, while more luxurious options with onboard food and drinks start around US$120. You can also take land-based group or private tours of Oia for upwards of US$100.

Any day in Oia should be all about leisure. Spend yours exploring the town’s narrow streets, photographing the iconic blue-domed churches, shopping for local goods at the open-air shops, enjoying Greek cuisine like mussels and souvlaki (and gelato!), and simply admiring the cliffside town and its view over the Aegean Sea.

Oia in Santorini is absolutely worth visiting. Built on the edge of a volcano with panoramic views over the Aegean, it’s incredibly scenic. Toss in its unique architecture, romantic ambiance, and unforgettable sunsets, and you have one of the most popular destinations in Greece—and one of the busiest. If you don’t like huge crowds, come in the off-season.

Both Oia and Fira have the famous blue domes of Santorini, but Oia has the snapshot you’re probably looking to grab—the three blue domes of Anastasis Church. Oia is also technically smaller, which can give it a quaint feel; however, since tourists flock there for selfies with the domes, Fira can seem quieter. It’s a toss-up, and both are certainly beautiful.

Thanks to social media, the streets of Oia in summer might as well be NYC during rush hour. To avoid the massive crowds, visit Oia during the shoulder seasons of spring (April and May) and fall (October and November) when the weather is pleasant and the crowds are thinner. Winter is even less crowded with still-mild temperatures, but some businesses will be closed.

The top attractions in Oia include the town’s blue-domed churches, like the uber-famous Anastasis Church; the Fira–Oia hike, which takes trekkers along the caldera and through the villages of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli, and Oia; Ammoudi Bay, reached by donkey or 200-step staircase; and Oia Castle, famous for its exquisite sunset views.

While Oia itself is perched on a cliffside and doesn't have beaches directly within the village, several nearby beaches can be reached by car or boat, like the black-sand Baxedes Beach, Katharos Beach, and Koloumpos Beach. While not lined with palm trees with white sand, these spots still offer crystal-clear waters and great views of the surrounding landscape.