Santorini solo travel works well: the island is safe, small and easy to get around, and several of its best hours are better alone. Stay in Fira or Perissa rather than on the caldera, book one shared thing a day such as a boat or a guided morning, and eat inland where the tavernas are used to single diners.
Santorini is a mythical place and an internationally recognized summer vacation destination. See what you can do in Santorini Tours on a weekend in 2024.Here, everything is brighter. You may enjoy the traditional island white buildings, the vivid blue sea, and the sunset that dramatically highlights the unique natural beauty of the caldera.
Enjoy the sunset from Faros on a weekend in 2024
A must-see activity in Santorini is the sunset. If you want to enjoy this unique sight, choose to see it from the Akrotiri Lighthouse. A lot of people gather in Oia and Thira, so the cape is the right destination to enjoy the sunset. Also, you can take a Santorini sunset tour.
The sunset of Santorini is without a doubt a most celebrated one. This tour captures the magic of the evening sky and makes sure your breath will be taken away by visiting locations with the most spectacular views. After a stop at a famous winery overlooking the caldera, we will visit the iconic Blue Dome Church in Firostefani, and finish our Santorini private tour by watching the sunset at the scenic village of Oia.
Choose to visit Oia in the morning on a weekend in 2024
Oia is the most photographed place in Santorini. It is located at the edge of the island and the architecture of this point is unique. During the afternoon and evening hours, enough people gather to enjoy the unique colors of the sunset. If you want to explore this place without too many people and take great photos, visit Oia in the morning.
Enjoy local cuisine in a village on a weekend in 2024
If you want to taste the unique local products that the island of Santorini produces, choose to have lunch with your company in a village. All over the island, you will taste unique dishes and wonderful views, so visit a village to chat with the locals.
Rent a vehicle
If you want to get to know the island and go to as many places as you can, then rent a small car or scooter. You can book online or find a vehicle upon arriving at Santorini airport. Traveling with your own car will allow you to reach any part of the island very quickly. You can visit the distant beaches, enjoy the sunset from wherever you want, and find yourself in the beautiful villages of the island.
Where to stay
Staying on the island wherever you choose to stay will give you a wonderful experience. If you want to experience intense fun and get into the rhythm of life, choose the island’s capital, Fira. They are located very high, around the Caldera, and have a wonderful view of the blue waters of the Aegean. If you want to stay away from the crowds and tourist places, choose to stay in the traditional villages of the island and get in touch with the residents.
Where to eat
Santorini is one of the islands famous for its cuisine and fine wine. Wherever you ask on the island, you will surely find the best shops to taste wonderful delicacies. With fresh products such as vegetables and fish you will find delicious dishes all over the island. Choose to eat the traditional dishes such as fava beans and cheese and try the melitini.
What to do in Santorini on a weekend in 2024
If you are a wine lover, choose the wine and vineyard tour to taste unique flavors. Along with the tasting, they will offer you many choices on the cheese and charcuterie platter for a complete dining experience. You can also go to the island’s museums and learn about the life of the people there as well as about the long history of the island.
Swim at the beaches and enjoy the wonderful waters with their unique characteristics. Choose to take a tour around the island with Santorini Tours and you will see a wonderful view of Santorini while you enjoy diving under the sun and delicious food.
Santorini is one of the islands that you must visit in your life. The magical sunset, the awesome architecture, and the extraordinary view of the deep blue sea is a unique experience to share with your loved ones.
Santorini is the ultimate travel destination and a weekend there will convince you that this place is a paradise. It is an island that can be visited all year round and many choose to visit it from all parts of the world. If you don’t have much time and are thinking about what you can do to enjoy two days, this article will greatly help you. Santorini is a beautiful island that is visited by people from all over the world. Even in two days you can get some magic from the place and build wonderful moments.
Read more about Santorini Tours:
- Santorini Sightseeing Private Tour
- Exclusive Shore Santorini Private Tour
- Impressive Caldera Santorini Private Tour
- South Part Santorini Private Tour
- North Part Santorini Private Tour
- Santorini Historical Private Tour
- Santorini Sunset Private Tour
Santorini Solo Travel: The Short Answer
Santorini solo travel works well, and the island’s reputation as a couples destination is the only real obstacle. It is safe, small, easy to get around, and full of things that are better done alone than in company: Oia at seven in the morning, the rim path, Akrotiri with a guide, and a long lunch inland with a book.
The two things to plan for in santorini solo travel are money and dinner. Hotels here price by room rather than by person, so a single traveller pays a couple’s rate, and the caldera restaurants are laid out for two. Both are solved by staying inland or in Fira, eating at the bar or at the earlier sitting, and using a boat day or a guided morning for company.
Four nights of santorini solo travel is enough, five is comfortable, and May, June, late September and October are the months when the island feels sociable rather than romantic.
Is It Safe?
Yes. Santorini solo travel is as safe as anywhere in Europe.
Crime. Very low. Petty theft exists in the busy villages in August and violent crime is close to unheard of.
Walking at night. Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia are all fine for santorini solo travel late in the evening. The lanes are lit and busy until midnight in season.
Women travelling alone. A large share of santorini solo travel, and generally reported as comfortable. The usual sense applies and little else does.
The real hazards. Steps, cliff edges without barriers, scooters and heat. Every serious incident we hear about on santorini solo travel involves one of those four rather than another person.
ATVs and quad bikes. The most common cause of injury on the island. Do not hire one because it looks like fun.
Swimming alone. The water shelves quickly on the volcanic beaches. Swim where other people are.
Emergency number. 112, and there is a hospital in Fira.
Is It Lonely?
Honestly, santorini solo travel can be, and it depends entirely on where you sleep and what you book.
Why the reputation exists. The caldera hotels sell honeymoons, the rim restaurants are laid for two, and a great deal of the marketing is a couple in a plunge pool.
Where it is not true. Fira, Perissa and Kamari, all of which have hostels, bars, beach clubs and a steady flow of people on their own.
The fix. One shared activity a day is all santorini solo travel needs. A boat with twenty other people, a guided morning at Akrotiri, a winery afternoon with a small group, or a hostel bar in Fira.
What is genuinely fine alone. Every sight on the island, every walk, every beach and every inland taverna.
What feels odd alone. A sunset rim dinner at a table for two, and the Oia sunset crush. Both are avoidable.
The verdict. Santorini solo travel is not lonely if you spend the money on the boat rather than on the room.
Where to Stay Alone
The single most important santorini solo travel decision, because it determines both the cost and the company.
Fira. The right default for santorini solo travel. Central, walkable, on every bus route, with hostels, bars, cheap rooms and other people on their own. See where to stay.
Firostefani. Ten level minutes from Fira, quieter, with caldera views at a lower price. The best compromise if you want the view without the honeymoon premium. See Firostefani.
Perissa and Perivolos. Flat, cheap, on the beach, with beach bars and the most sociable atmosphere on the island. The obvious choice for younger santorini solo travel.
Karterados and Messaria. Five minutes from the airport, half the price of anywhere with a view, and a bus ride from everything.
Oia. Beautiful, expensive, stepped and the least sociable place on the island to sleep alone. Visit it at seven in the morning and stay elsewhere.
Hostels. The backbone of santorini solo travel: several in Fira and Perissa, with dorms from around 25 to 40 euros and private rooms above that. They are the fastest way to meet people here.
The single-supplement problem. Rooms are priced per room. A hostel dorm or an inland guesthouse removes it; a caldera suite doubles it.
What It Costs Alone
Rough santorini solo travel numbers for one person in the shoulder season.
Hostel dorm. 25 to 40 a night.
Inland guesthouse. 60 to 110 a night for the room.
Caldera room. 180 to 300 for the room, and you pay all of it.
Breakfast and lunch. 15 to 25 a day if you eat inland or at a bakery.
Dinner. 18 to 30 inland, 45 to 80 on the rim.
A shared catamaran. 90 to 140, and the best value on the island for santorini solo travel because it buys a day of company as well as the caldera.
Wine tasting. 20 to 35 per winery.
Buses. A couple of euros a journey, and they go everywhere from Fira.
A realistic day. 70 to 110 in a hostel and eating inland, 200 and up in a caldera hotel.
Getting Around on Your Own
Buses. The santorini solo travel default: cheap, frequent and entirely adequate if you stay in Fira. Every route runs through the Fira station, so cross-island journeys mean a change.
Car hire. 25 to 70 a day, and the whole cost falls on one person. Worth it for one or two days rather than the week.
Taxis. About thirty on the island. Not a plan.
Scooters and ATVs. Cheap, popular and the main source of hospital visits here. We would not.
Private transfers. Priced per vehicle, so they are the one thing that is genuinely worse value for santorini solo travel. Use them for the airport, when the alternative is a queue at midnight. See transfers.
Walking. The rim from Fira to Firostefani to Imerovigli is level and lovely, and the full path to Oia is the best thing on the island.
Small group tours. The efficient santorini solo travel answer: you get the transport, the timing and twenty other people for the price of a seat.
The Best Things to Do Alone
Several of the island’s best experiences suit santorini solo travel better than company, which is the part nobody mentions.
Oia at half past seven. Empty, cool, level and silent. Nobody waiting for you, nobody hurrying you, and the light behind you.
The rim path. The best santorini solo travel day of all: Fira to Oia, ten kilometres, three to four hours, and the finest solitary walk in the Cyclades. Start early and arrange a lift back.
Akrotiri with a licensed guide. Ninety minutes, roofed, and the guide is company as well as explanation. See Akrotiri.
A catamaran day. The best purchase in santorini solo travel: five to seven hours, lunch on board, swimming stops, and twenty people who will all talk to you by the second stop.
A winery afternoon. Tasting rooms are sociable by design and the staff have time to talk from four onwards. See the wine tour.
Ancient Thira at opening. Steep, exposed and often empty, and one of the few places on the island where you will genuinely be alone.
The two museums in Fira. An hour each, air-conditioned, and perfect on your own in the middle of a hot day.
A beach afternoon at Vlychada. Carved white cliffs, black sand and a taverna behind you.
Eating Alone
The part that puts people off santorini solo travel, and it is easier here than in most places.
Inland tavernas, the santorini solo travel answer to dinner. Pyrgos, Megalochori, Emporio, Exo Gonia and Vothonas are family-run, informal and used to single diners. A book, a carafe and nobody bothering you.
The bar seat. Several places in Fira have a counter, which is the easiest solo dinner on the island.
Lunch instead of dinner. The main meal at two in the afternoon is normal here and considerably cheaper.
The rim. Book one, ask for a small table at the early sitting, and accept that you are paying for the view.
Ammoudi. Fish at lunchtime below Oia, and ask the weight before it goes on the grill.
Bakeries and the supermarket. A terrace, a bottle of Assyrtiko and a bag of tomatoes is a legitimate dinner in santorini solo travel, and it is what half of us do at home.
Tipping. Round up; ten per cent is generous.
See the food experience.
Meeting People
Hostels. The obvious santorini solo travel answer, in Fira and Perissa, and the only reliable one.
Boat days. Twenty people, seven hours, a swim and a lunch. Nobody stays a stranger.
Beach bars. Perissa and Perivolos in the late afternoon.
Wine tastings. Small groups, shared tables and something to talk about.
Small group tours. The point of them, alone, is as much the other passengers as the sights.
Fira after eleven. The bars are the only real nightlife on the island and they are easy to walk into alone.
What does not work. Expecting to meet anyone in Oia, Imerovigli or on a caldera terrace. Those places are full of couples who are not looking for company, which is the honest arithmetic of santorini solo travel.
Solo Days Out, Ranked by Value
In santorini solo travel you are paying for everything yourself, so the order matters. This is how we would spend the money on a four-night trip.
1. The boat, 90 to 140. The best single purchase in santorini solo travel. Five to seven hours, lunch on board, swimming stops in the caldera, and a group of people you will end up having a drink with afterwards. Nothing else on the island buys both the view and the company.
2. Akrotiri with a guide, about 70 all in. Ninety minutes, roofed, and the one site here that is genuinely wasted without somebody explaining it. Going alone with a guide is also a conversation rather than a lecture.
3. A winery afternoon, 60 to 100 for three tastings. Shared tables, staff with time to talk from four onwards, and the best terraces on the island.
4. A day of car hire, 25 to 70. Expensive for one and worth it once: Ancient Thira, the lighthouse, Vlychada and two inland villages in a single day.
5. The rim path, the free centrepiece of santorini solo travel. Ten kilometres, three to four hours, and the finest thing you can do here on your own.
6. Oia at dawn, the price of a bus ticket. Or a taxi if you cannot face the first bus.
7. The museums, about 15 for both. Air-conditioned, an hour each, and the right use of a hot afternoon.
What we would skip. The hot springs, the donkeys, the sunset cruise sold as romance, and a rim dinner for one at a table meant for two.
Working Remotely From the Island
A growing part of santorini solo travel, and it works better than people expect outside the peak.
Wifi for santorini solo travel with a laptop. Good in Fira and the caldera villages, patchy in the older stone rooms, and fine on 4G everywhere including the rim path.
Where to work. Cafés in Fira, hotel terraces inland, and the bakeries in Karterados and Messaria, which are cheap and empty in the morning.
The best months. October to May, when rooms are a third of the price and the villages belong to the people who live in them.
Monthly rates. Widely available out of season, and a guesthouse inland will negotiate for four weeks or more.
The catch. Winter closures. Between November and March a good part of Oia and the rim is shut, and the island runs on Fira.
The reward. A caldera view from a desk, a walk at lunchtime and a taverna where they know your order by the second week.
What Nobody Tells You
The buses make santorini solo travel easy. Frequent, cheap and reliable in season, and they will take you everywhere you want to go from Fira.
Two hotels beat one. Two nights on the caldera and two at a beach costs less than four on the rim and shows you two different islands.
Nobody is looking at you. The self-consciousness that stops people booking santorini solo travel disappears about four hours after they arrive.
The sunset is not the point. The best hour here is seven in the morning, and you will have it almost entirely to yourself.
Inland is where santorini solo travel gets interesting. Pyrgos, Megalochori, Emporio and Vothonas are where you will have a conversation with somebody who lives here.
Eat at two. Lunch is the meal here, it is half the price of dinner, and eating alone at two in the afternoon is completely unremarkable.
Bring a book. The middle of every summer day is unusable outdoors, and a shaded terrace with a book is not a compromise; it is the holiday.
Arriving and Leaving on Your Own
The two ends of the trip are where santorini solo travel is most likely to go wrong, and both are easy to fix in advance.
Late arrivals. A great many flights land after nine in the evening. The taxi rank at the airport empties within minutes and the buses stop early, so book a transfer or check that your hotel runs one.
The port. Ferries dock at Athinios, thirty minutes below Fira, on a quay with no shade and a scrum of minibuses. Know which one is yours before the ramp goes down.
Luggage in the caldera villages. Oia and Imerovigli have hotels fifty to eighty steps below the road, and there is nobody to help. Ask for the number of steps before you book.
Leaving. The airport is small and slow. Be there ninety minutes before a summer flight even with hand luggage.
Ferries out. Never on the day you fly. Wind cancels boats far more often than it grounds planes, and alone there is nobody to hold your place in the queue while you sort it out.
Storage. Most hotels will hold a bag on your last day, which turns a midnight flight into a free extra day rather than six hours in a café.
A Rainy or Windy Day Alone
It happens between October and April, and occasionally in a summer meltemi when the boats stay in.
Akrotiri. Roofed and entirely weatherproof, and the one major site that works in any conditions.
The Museum of Prehistoric Thera. Forty-five minutes in Fira, and far more interesting after the site than before it.
The Archaeological Museum. Thirty to forty-five minutes, five minutes away.
The wine museum. An hour underground with a tasting at the end, which is the most enjoyable wet afternoon available. See the wine museum.
Three wineries. Indoors, warm, sociable, and the tasting rooms are quiet enough in bad weather that somebody will talk to you properly.
A long lunch inland. Three hours at a table in Megalochori or Pyrgos with a book and a carafe is not a wasted day.
What to abandon. The boat, the rim path and Ancient Thira. All three are exposed and none is worth doing wet.
Coming Back Alone a Second Time
A surprising number of people do, and the second visit looks nothing like the first.
Skip Oia entirely. Or go once at seven in the morning and leave before the coaches.
Stay inland. Vothonas, Karterados, Megalochori or Exo Gonia, where the island is a working place rather than a view.
Walk more. The rim path, Ancient Thira from Kamari, the inland village loop and the coast at Vlychada.
Go to Thirasia. The ferry from Ammoudi and a taverna in Manolas, and almost nobody else on the boat.
Come out of season. October, November or March, when a santorini solo travel week costs a third of the summer price and the villages belong to their residents.
Pick one thing. The wine, the geology, the Byzantine churches or the food, and spend the week on it rather than on the list.
That second trip is the one people describe afterwards as the real visit, and it is almost always taken alone.
A Four-Night Solo Plan
Day 1. Arrive, drop the bag in Fira, walk the rim to Firostefani at sunset, dinner at the bar, early night.
Day 2. Akrotiri at opening with a guide. Lunch in Megalochori. The Museum of Prehistoric Thera in the afternoon heat. Sunset from Imerovigli, dinner in Fira.
Day 3. The centrepiece of the santorini solo travel week: a catamaran at ten, swimming stops, lunch on board, the caldera cliff gold at six. Drinks afterwards with whoever you met on the boat.
Day 4. Oia at half past seven with a camera. Breakfast there. The bus back, an afternoon at Vlychada or Perivolos, dinner inland at Vothonas.
Day 5. The rim path from Fira as far as your legs want, then the airport.
Two things a day, one boat, one guided morning and no rim dinners. That is santorini solo travel done well, and it costs a fraction of the couple’s version.
The Best Months to Come Alone
May and June. The easiest santorini solo travel months: warm, long days, everything open and prices below the peak. The most sociable months without the August crush.
July and August. Busiest, hottest and most expensive, and the easiest time to meet people because the hostels and beach bars are full.
September. The warmest sea of the year and thinning crowds from the second week. Our pick for santorini solo travel.
October. Quiet, cheap and lovely, with fewer people around by the end of the month.
November to March. Santorini solo travel is quietest now: half the island is shut and you will meet almost nobody. Wonderful for three or four quiet days, wrong for a sociable week.
Easter. A remarkable week to be here alone, because the village services are open to anybody who turns up. See Easter in Santorini.
See the weather month by month.
Practical Notes
Luggage. Travel light on santorini solo travel. Every caldera village is stepped and nobody will carry a bag down eighty steps for you.
Airport transfers. Book one for a late arrival. The taxi rank empties in minutes.
Cash. Cards are accepted almost everywhere; carry a little cash for buses and small tavernas.
Water. Tap water is desalinated and fine for washing; everybody drinks bottled.
Sun. Santorini solo travel has no natural shade anywhere on the island, and nobody to notice you are burning.
Phone. Signal is good everywhere including the rim path, which matters more when you walk alone.
Telling somebody. Leave your walking plan with the hotel if you are doing the full path. It costs nothing.
The single-room search. Filter for guesthouses and hostels rather than hotels, and book early; the cheap rooms go first in santorini solo travel season.
Santorini Solo Travel: Frequently Asked Questions
Is santorini solo travel safe? Yes. Crime is very low and walking alone at night in the villages is normal. The real hazards are steps, cliff edges, scooters and heat.
Is Santorini good for solo travellers? Yes, if you stay in Fira or Perissa rather than on the caldera, and book one shared activity a day.
Is it safe for women alone? Yes, and it is a common destination for women travelling alone.
Will I feel out of place among couples? On a caldera terrace at sunset, possibly. Everywhere else, no.
Where should a solo traveller stay? Fira for the buses and the bars, Perissa for the beach and the hostels, Firostefani for the view at a lower price.
How do you meet people? Hostels, boat days, wine tastings and the bars in Fira.
How much does it cost? 70 to 110 a day in a hostel eating inland, and 200 and up in a caldera hotel.
Do you need a car? No. The buses cover the island from Fira, and a car for one is expensive.
How many days do you need? Four nights covers it comfortably and five is better.
What is the best thing to do alone? Oia at half past seven in the morning, and the rim path to Oia on a separate day.
Is dining alone awkward? Not inland. Family tavernas are used to it and nobody will hurry you.
Which month is best? September, then June: warm sea, long evenings and enough people about.
We Guide Single Travellers Every Week
We are a local operator running private tours and transfers in our own vehicles, and a good part of what we do is timing: Akrotiri before the coaches, the wineries after four, the villages when the ships have gone, and Oia at an hour when the main street is empty.
If you are here on your own, tell us what you care about and we will tell you honestly which days are worth a private guide, which are better on a shared boat, and which you should simply walk. Santorini solo travel does not need much organising; it needs the right hours.
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.
See the personalised tour, the small group tour, or contact us.
Every Village and Site on the Island
Any of these can be built into a private day. Each has its own page with what to see and how long to allow.
Caldera villages: Fira · Firostefani · Imerovigli · Oia · Finikia · Baxedes
Inland villages: Pyrgos · Megalochori · Emporio · Mesaria · Karterados · Vothonas · Vourvoulos · Exo Gonia · Mesa Gonia · Pigadia
Beaches: Perissa · Perivolos · Kamari · Vlychada · Monolithos · Red Beach · White Beach · Agios Georgios · Agia Paraskevi
Sites and landmarks: Akrotiri · Ancient Thira · Akrotiri Lighthouse · Nea Kameni · Palia Kameni · Thirasia · Athinios Port
All our tours: All Santorini tours · Full day tour · Sightseeing tour · Personalised tour · North part tour · Horse riding · South part tour · Sunset tour · Shore excursion · Caldera tour · Food experience · Wine tour · Historical tour · Small group tour
Planning and services: Famous sights tour · Private transfers · Transfers to Oia and Finikia · Transfers to other villages · Villages of Santorini · History of Santorini · Tours near you · Languages we guide in · Food and fun tours · Gay friendly tours · Our tour buses · Daily tours · Day tours · FAQ · Gallery · Tour photo gallery · About us · Contact · Blog
