Santorini: Oia

Oia - pronounced "ee-ah" - is a small cute town in the north west of Santorini, and it's *the* place to go to see a pretty spectacular sunset. Oh, and the town has plenty of those splendid blue-domed churches and dazzling white buildings that Santorini is famous for, so remember your sunglasses - it's so dazzling and picturesque that you'll need them!

Like Fira and Firostefani, the town is perched on the edge of the volcanic caldera, overlooking the Aegean Sea, and it can get pretty crowded as people stake out the best spot to see the sun go down. We grabbed an ice cream from Lolita's Gelato and went and did the same!

To get there, you can catch the bus from Fira/Firostefani for €1.80 each way. Buses run every twenty minutes in high season, but you may have to stand as it gets busy. (A cab to Oia from Fira would set you back around €25 each way.)

There's also a clifftop walk from Fira to Oia that's apparently beautiful, though a bit of a slog in the sun as it takes around three hours to complete. Part of me was tempted, but then I recalled how hot and sticky we got climbing to the top of the volcano island and decided against it!

Another famous Santorini landmark is its windmills, and we headed to the edge of town to settle down for some cocktails by one. We got there just before 6pm and got to choose the best table at the Sun Spirit cocktail bar - I can highly recommend their Ginger Smash cocktail and the location. Sure, you can stand along the path to watch the sun go down, but you're on holiday!

After quite a few cocktails, the sun finally disappeared and we headed off to have a quick poke around the town. Do remember to take with you a small torch, or install a torch app on your phone, as there are often black outs which can last anything from five minutes to five hours.

If you're a book lover, do visit the wonderful Atlantis Books - they have lots of lovely first editions to drool over, and I had to stop myself from buying a first edition of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (amongst others).

After dinner at 1800, a restaurant in a restored Captain's mansion that dates back to 1845, we headed back to Firostefani feeling merry. Buses run quite late, though are less frequent at night, and you should definitely add a trip to Oia on your Santorini to-do list. x