Things to do in Oia

Oia sits at the northern tip of the caldera, above the small port of Ammoudi, and it exists in most visitors' minds as one image: sunset over the water from the Byzantine kastro. That terrace starts filling 90 minutes to 2 hours before sunset in July and August, and the crowd spills into the surrounding lanes long before the sky changes colour.

Outside that window, Oia is a quieter walk through whitewashed cave houses cut into the cliff, blue-domed chapels and a handful of jewellery and art galleries along the pedestrian main street. The village has no beach of its own; Ammoudi's pebble shore, roughly 300 steps below, is the nearest place to swim.

Come before 9am or after 8pm to see the lanes without the tour groups.