If you’ve made plans to go to Santorini, its likely you’ve also planned to go to Oia for the famous sunset. If you’re based in Fira, here’s a possible route (with sight seeing) for your day to get to Oia!

For us, we woke up around 9am and picked up the ATV at 10am from outside our accomodation. This timeline allowed us to comfortably do everything with time spent at every place.

Three Bells of Fira

Getting here involved a 15 min ATV ride to Firostefani. When travelling anywhere in Santorini, Google Maps is your friend! I was able to navigate while Jono drove until I tried my hand at driving and it was an absolute rush.

Anyway I digress, The Three Bells, while iconic were a bit underwhelming. You see the Bells while you’re on a ledge that is above them so it looks a bit small and far away.

I wouldn’t spend more than 15 mins for you to take your shots and then it should be onto the next stop.

Imerovigli

I had considered staying here when arranging accomodation, but upon reading blogs and recommendations, this place seemed more ideal for honeymooners which we weren’t.

The drive was about 10mins from The Three Bells and we parked at the first car park we saw. We walked the rest of the way into a small part of town and came across a Snack Bar which was part of the accomodation there.

The thing about travelling in heat is that you are always thirsty and HOT! We sat down and ordered two mocktails. The view was very relaxing. I can see why people would come here to honeymoon because you have no noise from the streets or people everywhere unlike Fira.

We probably spent about 1 hour here just chilling and enjoying the view.

Ammoudi Bay

Next on the to do list was Ammoudi Bay for some swimming and cliff jumping! The ride was about 20mins.

We parked 700m away from the bay on a narrow road. The walk from the bay to the swimming area was rocky and not well paved. Take care when walking especially if you are just wearing thongs.

When we finally arrived, it was very windy and hot. There was also not a lot of space on the rocks to put your belongings. But we made do with a small bit of a rock.

After we put more sunscreen on, we hopped in. And this was such a change from the calm fresh water at Krka. The water current was strong and deep. Take care again if you aren’t a strong swimmer!

In the second photo below, you can see where there are some swimmers on a ledge – that’s where we also jumped off!

I freaked out as always but I realised it’s really only in my head. And the longer I think about doing something scary or uncomfortable, I psych myself out. After being unnecessarily anxious about it, I finally jumped and what an adrenaline rush! I’m pretty sure I screamed out “oh my God!!!!” Before plunging straight and deep into the cool salt water.

As I returned to the surface, it hit me that I did it and conquered my fears – and I turned out alright haha I don’t know when the next time I’ll cliff jump will be, but I will be more ready to face it!

Jono on the other hand had a bit more of a rough time. He jumped belly first and with his mouth open. The result – a chipped tooth 🙁

Lesson: jump straight down and with your mouth closed!

Lunch at Dimitri’s Ammoudi Taverna

After our adventures, we went for lunch at around 4pm which is definitely socially acceptable because the sun sets so late and wake ups are also quite late.

I’m strangely not the biggest fan of seafood, but at this restaurant I welcomed a seafood pasta and calamari with a view out to sea. And it was amazing! You can also see how fresh the produce is by passing their stove off to the side.

I would highly recommend this place if you are up in Ammoudi!

Oia

After lunch, it was a short 5min drive to get into Oia for the sunset around 6pm.

We found many parking areas on our way which is definitely necessary with the amount of people who turn up at Oia for the sunset. We parked in any spot we could find.

Next was a quick wander around the area and taking photos with the classic blue domed churches. There was even a couple getting their wedding photos taken!

Sunset in Oia

We then settled down in a spot with a good vantage point of the sunset. BUT we sat waiting for 1.5hours! That’s how early you would need to wait if you don’t want to be caught up in the hordes of crowds who come to see the sunset later in the day.

Finally 800pm rolled around and the same steps you see above in the photo were packed! The sunset though was so pretty. Not as enjoyable with all the crowds and people pressed against you. But the view was stunning. And of course the crowd clapped as the sun said its last goodbye.

If you do want the iconic shot with the blue dome, head further up!

Broken ATV!!

As soon as the sun said goodbye for the day, the crowds started dissipating. But for us we had other problems!

The ATV started fine until we couldn’t really control the steering. We pulled over then realised that the chain had broken. We called the company and we sat waiting on the ATV for 40mins as the sky darkened.

It wasn’t the best experience, but it was part of the fun I say haha and part of our story in Santorini.

Dinner at Lucky Souvlaki’s

We finally made it home and had a quick dinner of souvlakis at Lucky’s Souvlaki’s which I highly recommend for amazing taste and value at 2.50€ each.

And that was the end of day 2!