Santorini · Greece
Where to stay in Santorini
Where the caldera turns every sunset into a private performance.
On the caldera rim if the view is what you came for, and in Fira or off the rim entirely if it is not. Almost everything else about where to sleep here follows from one fact of geography: the famous villages are strung along a single clifftop, joined by one footpath, and your position on that line decides how much of the island's daily crowd walks past your door.
Stays · Santorini
Where to stay
Splurge
Pegasus Suites & Spa
five-star adults-only caldera hotel
An adults-only house on the caldera ridge at Imerovigli, with a spa carrying a hammam and steam room, a pool held open beyond the summer, and terraces facing the volcano across the water. The quiet end of the caldera path, with Fira an easy walk along it.
spa and wellness centrehammamsteam roomsaunaoutdoor pool
Rates on request
Mid-range
Anemoessa Villa
adults-only pool hotel
An adults-only place on the lane running out of Oia towards Finikia, with a pool set to the view and a sun terrace above it. Oia as an address without the caldera-edge premium, and a short walk back into the village.
outdoor poolpool with viewsun terraceadults onlybar
Rates on request
Good value
Altea Apartments
self-catering apartments
Plain, air-conditioned and soundproofed apartments in the middle of Fira, with a sun terrace and family rooms. The honest Santorini baseline — no caldera view, and the island's bus hub and the cliff-top path both a short walk from the door.
air conditioningsoundproofed roomssun terracefamily roomsfree wifi
Rates on request
Search every stay in Santorini with your datesCompare prices on Trip.com
Looking for a private house rather than a hotel? Tell the desk your dates and your party.
Booking links are affiliate links: if you book through one, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
The rim is a line, not a place
The caldera settlements run in order along the cliff — Fira at the busy southern end, then Firostefani, then Imerovigli at the high point, then a long empty stretch of path before Oia at the northern tip. They are not interchangeable. The two ends carry the traffic: Fira takes the cruise arrivals coming up from the old port and the island's buses, Oia takes the entire island at sunset. The middle carries almost none of it, and it is the same view.
The other decision is whether to be on the rim at all. Beneath these cliffs there is no swimming to speak of; the beaches are on the far side of the island, dark-sanded and shelving straight into deep water. A caldera room and a beach holiday are two different purchases here, and trying to have both from one base means driving across the island every morning.
| Where | What the position gives you | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Fira | Buses, shops, the cable car down to the old port, everything open latest | A dense crowd, and noise into the small hours |
| Firostefani and Imerovigli | The same caldera view with a fraction of the foot traffic; the path to Oia starts here | You walk or drive for a supermarket and for late dinner |
| Oia | The sunset, the lanes, a short walk to much-photographed ground | High prices, and an evening crowd that arrives whether you booked it or not |
| The east and south coasts | Beaches, space, family-sized rooms, the airport close by | No caldera at all — you visit it |
The three tiers, and what each actually buys
Splurge
An adults-only house on the quiet stretch of the rim, where the view is unobstructed and the crowd is a twenty-minute walk away. Pegasus Suites & Spa sits at Imerovigli with terraces facing the volcano, a spa carrying a hammam and steam room, and a pool it keeps open past the end of the summer — which matters on an island whose best months run late. Fira is a walk along the path when you want it and invisible when you do not.
Mid-range
An Oia address without the caldera-edge premium attached to it. Anemoessa Villa stands on the lane running out of the village towards Finikia, adults-only, with a pool set to the view and a terrace above it, and the village itself a short walk back. You are inside Oia for the evening and outside the part of it that everyone else is standing in.
Good value
Rooms in the middle of Fira with no view at all, on the reasoning that you will spend your days out of them. Altea Apartments are plain, air-conditioned and soundproofed, with a sun terrace and family rooms, a short walk from both the island's bus hub and the clifftop path. Everything the rim offers for free — the walk, the light, the descent to the old port — starts within a few minutes of the door.
Which months make any of this worth doing is the season page's business, and what the whole thing adds up to belongs on the cost page.
More on Santorini
Before you go
Enquire
Planning Santorini?
Tell us roughly when and how many of you, and we will reply by email. We only pass your details to an operator if you ask us to.