Santorini in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Santorini covers 12 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Santorini rewards a detour.

The Santorini route at a glance

Day 1

Day 1 covers 6 stops over about 14 km as the crow flies, from Pyrgos to Red Beach. ≈ 14 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Pyrgos: Santorini's highest and quietest village, an inland maze of medieval lanes climbing to a ruined Venetian castle, with wide views over vineyards, the caldera, and the open sea. 2.1 km to the next stop
2. Santo Wines Winery: Santorini's cooperative winery on the caldera rim above Pyrgos, where the island's volcanic Assyrtiko and sun-dried Vinsanto are poured on a terrace facing the flooded crater and sunset. 3.9 km to the next stop
3. Ancient Thera: A windswept Greco-Roman city strung along a high ridge between Kamari and Perissa, with a sea-view theatre, an agora, and some of the oldest Greek-alphabet graffiti. 0.7 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Perissa Black Beach: A long black-sand beach on Santorini's southeast coast, where pulverised volcanic rock meets the sea beneath the sheer grey mountain of Mesa Vouno and the archaeological site above. 6.7 km to the next stop
2. Akrotiri (Prehistoric Town): A Bronze Age Cycladic town sealed under volcanic ash around 1600 BCE and now sheltered beneath a modern roof, its people long gone before the great eruption struck. 0.9 km to the next stop
3. Red Beach: A dramatic cove of rust-red volcanic cliffs and dark sand near Akrotiri, spectacular but landslide-prone and partly restricted since 2013, now often admired from a boat offshore.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 6 stops over about 11 km as the crow flies, from Santorini Caldera to Oia. ≈ 11 km between stops, straight line

Morning

1. Santorini Caldera: The drowned volcanic crater at Santorini's heart: a sea-flooded basin about 12 by 7 kilometres, ringed by cliffs, with two young, still-active burnt islands at its centre. 0.4 km to the next stop
2. Nea Kameni: A black, still-steaming volcanic islet in the heart of the caldera, reached by boat and a gravel climb to craters that today only breathe fumes, not molten lava. 3.4 km to the next stop
3. Museum of Prehistoric Thera: Fira's modern museum gathers the finds from the Bronze Age town of Akrotiri, among them a near-perfect gold ibex figurine and frescoes like the Blue Monkeys and House of the Ladies. 0.1 km to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Fira: Santorini's cliff-top capital, strung along the caldera rim: crowded, cathedral-topped, and linked to its old port by a cable car that still shares the road with mule steps. 1.6 km to the next stop
2. Skaros Rock: A bare crag jutting into the caldera below Imerovigli, Skaros was Santorini's fortified medieval capital for five centuries, never captured by Turks or pirates, now reached only on foot. 5.8 km to the next stop
3. Oia: Santorini's northern village of blue-domed churches and whitewashed lanes, famous for its westward sunsets and, below the cliff, the fishing port of Amoudi Bay, reached by 300 steps.

Distances are straight-line between stops; streets add a little.

Updated: September 14, 2026

Full Santorini guide and all stops →