Are there fireworks in Santorini at New Year?

Yes. Fireworks are set off over Fira at midnight from the caldera rim and watched from the main square and the surrounding lanes.

How cold is Santorini at New Year?

Around 12 to 16 degrees by day and 8 to 11 at night, with rain in bursts, strong wind on the rim and high humidity.

Can you swim in Santorini in January?

The sea is around 16 degrees. Some people swim on the sixth of January, going in after the cross at the Epiphany blessing.

Do boat trips run in winter?

No. The volcano boat and the catamaran trips stop for the winter and restart in spring.

Is Akrotiri open in winter?

Yes, on reduced winter hours. It is roofed, which makes it the best visit on the island on a wet day.

How do you get to Santorini in winter?

Domestic flights from Athens and Thessaloniki run several times a day, and the Blue Star ferry from Piraeus takes about eight hours. There are no direct international flights.

Is Santorini cheaper at New Year?

Considerably. Rooms run at a fraction of the August rate, and parking and restaurants are easy everywhere.

What Greek New Year customs will I see?

The vasilopita cake cut at midnight with a coin inside, presents from Agios Vasilis on the first of January, the podariko first-footing, a pomegranate smashed on the doorstep, children singing the kalanta, and the Epiphany cross thrown into the sea on the sixth.

How many nights should we stay?

Four or five, ideally spanning the sixth of January so that the Epiphany blessing falls inside the trip.

SANTORINI NEW YEAR Archives - SANTORINI PRIVATE GUIDED TOURS

Q: Is Santorini open at New Year?

Partly. Fira and the inland villages function normally, with tavernas, shops and museums open, while most caldera hotels and much of Oia are closed from November to March.

New year in Santorini is quiet, cheap and genuinely lovely, provided you know that most of the caldera is shut. Fireworks over Fira at midnight, vasilopita with a coin in it, and the most photographed view in Greece with nobody standing in front of it.

Happy New Year’s Eve From Santorini

The truth is that when we hear an island, in our minds we have summer, sun, sea and endless dives. We decided that we should change this a bit and to visit our favorite Santorini during a period that is not summer, to the very end of November. A very alternative holiday, which will surely be unforgettable and we recommend it unreservedly.

Arriving in Santorini, whether seen from above or from the sea, is enchanted by the uniqueness of the landscape, it is not unjust among the top three tourist destinations in the world. We too felt this magic as we approached the airport runway and at the same time admired the beauties of our homeland.

The weather on the island is relatively good, the temperature in the winter ranges to 10-15 degrees, but humidity is definitely an important issue, especially in accommodation that despite its constant maintenance is affected by it in the winter months. The air is strong enough for a few days, but all this is forgotten by the sight of the caldera.

Santorini Tours and Santorini transfers is the best way to live some dreamy moments in this island.

You can take a tour of Santorini!

Things to do in Santorini during Christmas vacations

Traditions on new-year’s day in Santorini

The Cycladic people consider it good to blow Northwest on New Year’s Day, but also to come to their yard pigeon. But if they fly over their home-made crow they put them in melancholy thoughts that they are waiting for disaster.

In all Cycladic Islands, on the New Year’s Eve, young people go home from home and sing the carols. With the money they collect they set up a traditional feast in the village square.

See more about Santorini island:

New Year in Santorini: The Short Answer

Quiet, cheap, cold in the evenings and genuinely lovely, provided you know that most of the caldera is shut. New year in santorini is a village Christmas rather than a resort one: about 15,500 residents, a handful of hotels open, tavernas full of locals, and the whole cliff to yourself at sunset.

Come for the emptiness and the light. That is what new year in santorini actually offers. Do not come expecting a party, a beach or a boat.

What Is Open in Late December

Hotels. Most caldera hotels close from November to March. What stays open is in Fira, Firostefani, Karterados, Megalochori and the south, and rates are a fraction of summer, which is half the appeal of new year in santorini.

Restaurants. Fira, Pyrgos, Emporio, Megalochori and Vothonas keep tavernas running all winter. The sunset-facing places in Oia are almost all shut.

Sites. Akrotiri is open year round on winter hours, and it is roofed, which makes it the best wet-weather day of a new year in santorini trip. Ancient Thira runs reduced hours. The archaeological and prehistoric museums in Fira are open.

Wineries. Several of the larger estates stay open with shorter hours. Ring ahead rather than turning up. Nothing about new year in santorini runs to a summer timetable.

Boats. The volcano and catamaran trips do not run. Neither does the cable car on some days.

Shops. Oia is largely shuttered. Fira keeps a normal Greek high street going, because people live there, and it is where new year in santorini happens.

That list is the honest frame for new year in santorini: the island is working, not performing.

New Year’s Eve on the Island

The evening is small-scale and domestic. Families eat late at home or in a taverna, the tables run long, and the meal is the event. A new year in santorini evening is a dinner, not a countdown.

At midnight there are fireworks over Fira, set off from the caldera rim and watched from the square and the surrounding lanes. It lasts a few minutes and it is genuinely spectacular against a black crater, mostly because there is nothing else lit for miles. Some hotels and a few bars in Fira run a party with a set menu, and they book out early precisely because there are so few of them. Book any new year in santorini party weeks ahead.

Before midnight the vasilopita is cut. After midnight people walk between houses, which is the most characteristic hour of new year in santorini. The bars in Fira stay open late and the rest of the island goes to bed.

Anyone imagining new year in santorini as a club night has the wrong island. Book Mykonos, or better, Athens.

Greek New Year Customs You Will Actually See

Vasilopita. A cake cut at midnight with a coin baked inside. The first slices go to Christ, to the house and to absent family, then to each person by age. Whoever gets the coin has the luck of the year, and it is the one custom every new year in santorini table keeps.

Agios Vasilis. Saint Basil, not Santa Claus, brings the presents, and he does it on the first of January rather than on Christmas Day. His feast is the reason the cake carries his name.

Podariko. The first foot over the threshold in the new year sets the tone for it, so households choose someone lucky and often send them out and back in deliberately.

The pomegranate. Smashed on the doorstep at midnight. The more seeds scatter, the better the year.

Kalanta. Children go door to door with triangles singing the carols on New Year’s Eve morning, and again on the eve of Epiphany.

Cards. Playing for small money on New Year’s Eve is a real and widespread custom, on the theory that luck on the night carries forward.

Epiphany, on the sixth. The priest throws a cross into the sea at Ammoudi and at the ports, and swimmers go in after it in January water. It is the best single day of a new year in santorini stay. Staying through to the sixth is what turns new year in santorini from a long weekend into a proper trip.

Weather, Daylight and What to Pack

Daytime temperatures sit around 12 to 16 degrees, nights around 8 to 11. It rains, in bursts rather than all day, and the humidity is the thing people underestimate: rooms cut into pumice hold damp, and a hotel that is glorious in June can feel cold in January.

The wind matters more than the temperature. A northerly on the caldera rim takes several degrees off whatever the forecast says, so dress for new year in santorini as you would for a northern coast.

Daylight runs from about half past seven to half past five, so the famous sunset happens at a civilised hour and you can watch it from an empty terrace with a coat on. That view alone justifies new year in santorini.

Pack a proper jacket, a jumper, shoes with grip for wet marble, and something waterproof. Anyone planning new year in santorini around a swimsuit has misread the brochure.

Is New Year in Santorini Worth It?

Yes if you want the caldera empty, the light at its best, prices at a third of summer, tavernas full of Greeks rather than tourists, and a village new year with fireworks over a volcano.

No if you want nightlife, boat trips, swimming, or the full run of caldera restaurants and hotels.

The strongest argument for new year in santorini is photographic and social at once: you get the most photographed view in Greece with nobody standing in front of it, and you get an island that is behaving normally rather than serving two million visitors. The strongest argument against is that a third of what you have read about the place will be closed.

Four to five nights is the right length for new year in santorini, and it is worth building the trip around the first week of January so that Epiphany falls inside it.

Getting There and Around

Flights. Winter service is domestic only, from Athens and Thessaloniki, several times a day and usually cheap. There are no direct international flights between November and March, so new year in santorini means routing through Athens.

Ferries. Blue Star runs year round from Piraeus, taking around eight hours. The fast catamarans stop for the winter, and sailings are cancelled in a strong wind.

Buses. A reduced winter timetable, all routes through Fira, and an early last service.

Taxis. Around thirty for the whole island in summer, and fewer working in January.

Driving. Easy, with empty roads and free parking everywhere, including Oia and Fira. Rain makes the steeper lanes slippery, which is the only real hazard of driving at new year in santorini.

A driver. Worth it on the day you want the wineries or Akrotiri without watching the clock or the weather. We run transfers and private tours all winter.

New Year in Santorini: Frequently Asked Questions

Is Santorini open at New Year? Partly. Fira and the inland villages function normally; most of the caldera hotels and much of Oia are shut.

Are there fireworks? Yes, over Fira at midnight, watched from the square and the caldera lanes.

How cold is it? Around 12 to 16 degrees by day and 8 to 11 at night, with rain, wind and high humidity.

Can you swim? The sea is around 16 degrees. Some people do on the sixth, going in after the cross.

Do boat trips run? No. The volcano and catamaran trips stop for the winter.

Is Akrotiri open? Yes, on winter hours, and it is roofed, which makes it the best rainy-day visit on the island.

How do you get there in winter? Domestic flights from Athens, or the Blue Star ferry from Piraeus in about eight hours.

Is it cheaper? Considerably. Rooms run at a fraction of the August rate.

How many nights? Four or five, ideally spanning the sixth for Epiphany.

Is it romantic? Very, if your idea of romantic is an empty cliff, a fire and a long dinner. Less so if it involves a plunge pool. Nobody books new year in santorini for the swimming.

Spend the Week With a Local Driver

We live here and we work through the winter. Airport and port transfers, Akrotiri and the museums on the wet days, the wineries and the inland villages on the clear ones, which is how a new year in santorini week is best spent, and the caldera at an hour when there is nobody on it.

Prices are per vehicle rather than per person, hotel pickup anywhere on the island is included, we guide in twelve languages, and an 80 EUR deposit confirms a date. Tell us your dates and we will say honestly what is open.

See the personalised tour, the full list of tours, or contact us.