Finikia Place Hotel

Santorini - The best of the best!

by Louisianagirl

"A feast for the eyes"

Any view of the volcanic caldera for which Santorini is famous is defintely a sight! It's the main reason most people come....and most people will stay near or around the capital of Thira or Oia for that view...but I enjoyed staying in the small town of Finikia, about a 10-15 minute walk from Oia....why stay IN the view where you can't gaze upon it? So, from my place in Finkia, I had only to walk about 5 minutes to this place and I went every morning, first thing to be alone here and soak up this view of Oia.....it was so peaceful and I never wanted to leave!

"Red Beach"

On the southern end of the island, near the Akrotiri excavations (which were closed when were there!) is Red Beach....it earned that name because of the red, volcancic rock that serves as a gorgeous backdrop to the beach! We enjoyed a day of swimming here, although getting into the water was kind of difficult due to fist-sized rocks as you walk in! I highly recommend a visit here even if you dont enjoy swimming or the beach, simply to view nature's handiwork and the stunning scenery!

A Walk From Fira to Oia (Part 2)

by steventilly

"12:01pm - Approaching The 3rd Chapel"

You reach the third chapel of this walk pretty soon after you leave the road and start climbing again. It's good that these chapels are there as they really waymark the path well. It makes me wonder too if there's a reason why they're all connected by such a distinct pathway. Is it some kind of pilgrimage route or something?

"12:07pm - At The Third Chapel"

When you reach the third chapel you can see that the end is in sight - Oia is down below you in the not too near distance and from nowon it's downhill all the way.

"12:18pm - Descending Towards Oia"

It didn't take us 11 munutes to walk this short distance down the bank, we stopped for ages by that last chapel photographing all the wild flowerrs that there are and picking a bit of wild thyme to take home to keep with our wild sage from Symi. These wild herbs are really aromatic and you keep catching their lovely smell throughout the "wilderness" sections of this walk.

"12:27pm - Final Chapel"

The final chapel of our walk, just a little way down bank from the last one and only about 20 more minutes to go till we're in Oia properly. I may joke about all these white chapels looking the same, but really they're quite sweet and photogenic, especially in their positions on the moorland.

"12:30pm - The Final Stretch"

The final descent back towards the road into Oia. Where our path rejoins the main road is more or less the outskirts of Oia, where the village peters out and Finikia begins.

"12:40pm - Outskirts Of Oia"

There at last. The road sign says it's 10km to Imerovigli and 12km to Fira, the walking distance is largely the same as the path runs parallel (but usually out of sight of) the road for almost its entire length.

"12:50pm - Sugar Cube Houses"

You know you're in Oia when you see the sugar cube houses tumbling down the cliffs towards the sea below. Beautiful. The village stretches for quite a way along this bit of coast - you may have reached the edge ot Oia but it took us another hour and a half to get from here to the steps down to Ammoundi at the far end of the village! Not because it's a long way (though it's perhaps another 1.5km) but because there's so much to see (and photograph) in the village.

"13:00pm - Taking In The Sights"

After so many little chapels there's always time for one more, this one standing in the grounds of the much larger church that liesclose to the head of the village as you're walking in. We loved this church, it's open area, chapel, monuments and the little old "typical" Greek lady, dressed all in black, who was sat on the bench there. She helped make it all feel a little less like disneyland.