Hike from Oia to Fira

We did it! It is the most beautiful hike I have ever done. The trail head was along the caldera towards Fira. You walk out of the town. My brother in law arrived night before us and he had figured it out but it is pretty self evident. We did it the day after we arrived. A great way to get over jet lag.

There were some other people doing hike in reverse like us and really it wasn’t hard to figure your way. There is one short section after a food stand with outdoor seating that you have to walk on the road. We bought some drinks and sat down and it was pretty obvious with people walking on the side of the road towards us on their way to Oia.

We had lunch in Fira and then took the bus back to Oia. Enjoy! You will love it.

Walk along the main road out of Oia heading towards Fira. On the south end of the settlement of Finikia you'll come to a little concrete cube-shaped bus shelter next to a flight of steps. Walk up those steps to the beginning of the hiking trail to Fira.

One reason so many people begin in Fira and walk towards Oia, even hikers staying in Oia, is to avoid having the sun shine in their faces the whole way as well as the sun reflecting off the water below up into their faces. It will be very hot in June so start early in the morning to avoid the worst of it.

Lee is right about the sun although we didn’t find it a problem when we were there in May (not June). It did mean that we took all of our many pictures by facing back towards Oia.

I did consider starting in Fira but there were 7 of us and it was going to be the day after we had traveled to Greece from U.S. I thought it would be much easier to get up and walk towards Fira then to figure out the bus too. We didn’t start until 10:00 am as it was so definitely best choice for us.

Thank you so much for all of your input! it's super helpful to us! We are very excited!

My wife and I started in Fira and enjoyed it so much we walked back from Oia. Can't decide which we liked better. Either way it is a beautiful fun hike. Enjoy!

Does it really take 4-5 hours?

I believe the most commonly reported time for that hike is 3 hours. However, I've read it takes as little as 2.5 hours and as much as 4 hours. I think it all depends on the sort of hiker you are and how often you feel the need to stop along the way for rest and/or photography.

It isn’t the hiking-it is the picture taking. It took us a bit over 3 hours with lots of picture taking. There were 7 of us and we occasionally stopped to wait for the laggards. We had one real break at this stand by the road with tables. We bought drinks and sat awhile.

Personally, given how many pictures we took (my one son had two cameras) I think it would be tough to take 4-5 hours but maybe we walked faster when we weren’t taking pictures than some others.

Good to know, thank you for your reply.