I am staying in Fira, but do not want to do the entire walk between Fira and Oia, as I understand part of it can be rugged and I have a bad back.
Is there any part of the hike you would recommend that I cam drive to so that I could walk for a little while? Is there a good way to navigate so that I said I am able to get a taste of the caldera views?
We haven't been yet, will be going in October so I am only answering based on my research.
We are staying in Firostefani, which is apparently 15-20 minutes from Fira and very walkable.
We don't plan on doing the whole hike, as I too have knee issues and we simply don't have the time.
We definitely will walk to Fira though both for an afternoon stroll and to dinner one evening.
You could also continue on past Firostefani to Imerovigli which is again not as far as Oia, I think it is about 40 minutes from Fira.
From both Firostefani and Imerovigli no doubt you could get a bus or some sort of transfer back.
Yes you can take the bus from Fira to either of Firostefani or Imerovigli , then walk down the path to Fira. It is a pretty easy walk up to Firostefani and that bus can be really crowded. If it were me (also bad knee) I would just walk up to Firostefani see the village and walk back down to Fira. You will have good caldera views on that shorter walk.
We walked from Imerovigli to Fira. That way we were walking downhill. The views were spectacular.
We did the whole route. From Oia to Imerovigli is a hike. From Imerovigli to Fira is a walk.
,Thank you all for your advice!
