Santorini in January
Oh my goodness. Santorini, Greece. In January.
For those that follow along regularly, you may find our trip to Santorini a bit odd, and rightfully so. Most of our destinations are picked and planned according to hiking trails and rivers to paddle. So how did we pick Santorini? Simple. This was Sue's trip. When I came back from Poland/Ukraine in July, I immediately asked her if I could return in October. My negotiations included 219,000 Delta miles I'd accrued going back and forth to help in Poland/Ukraine, so my proposition was, "If you'll let me return to help for a 4th time, we can go anywhere in the world you want to go." She immediately belted out, "Greece!" (This was not at all what I expected her to say... I clearly underestimated the amount of love she has for Mamma Mia. lol.) So we traded 100,000 Delta miles for a couple of $82 roundtrip airline tickets to Athens, and an additional $100 for a roundtrip flight from Athens to Santorini on Sky Express. Success!
For those that don’t follow along regularly, we own and operate an outdoors store and outfitter in the Allegheny National Forest region of the Pennsylvania Wilds. This matters because we spend our summers helping thousands of folks from all over the world plan and tackle kayaking trips as far as 107-miles on the Allegheny River, meaning, we cannot vacation in summer. This, my friends, is how we ended up in Santorini for 6 days in January.
I’d spent any and all spare time researching Santorini, learning that this small volcanic island is only 11.18 miles long and 3 miles wide, and that in the summer months, it sees roughly 2,000,000 visitors. But finding any sort of information about visiting in January beyond “everything shuts down”, was nearly impossible. It’s our hope that this blog post may help others know what to expect if they’re planning to visit Santorini in January.
After 22 hours of flying, we finally arrived. Our airbnb host, Louanna, was awesome. She’d given us a gal to call to set up airport transport in advance, so we were picked up from the airport and taken to Oia with no issue.
Oia has a surrounding wall of sorts. You park outside the town at the wall, and follow footpaths into it. We were met at the outer wall by our porter, Michael, and he and his friend walked us to our home. (I should add, these two were so helpful with answering all our questions throughout our stay!) If you’re reading this, you already know Oia is home to several of those famous blue domes. Because we were visiting in the off-season, we were able to stay in two incredible cave houses right next to the bright blue domes, at a super reasonable price. We took off our jackets, looked at each other, and started giggling. It’s as though we’d stepped completely into some other dimension. Once we got a shower to shake off the travel, we set out on a walk through Oia to see what we’d find.
January in Santorini, Greece.
We found a small grocery store that had everything we needed. We met and visited with this pup, which would become part of our daily routine.
Our first January sunset from our porch in Santorini, Greece.
We woke well rested, made coffee, snacked on fruit and croissants that had welcomed us on arrival, then set off on foot to explore! In January, Santorini is almost completely devoid of people. Not just tourists - all people. All but a few small shops and restaurants are closed. Locals that remain year-round are friendly and want to visit, so curious as to why we are here during these freezing temps. We basically have the place to ourselves. It reminds me of hiking the Narrows at Zion in late October. It is lovely.
The walkways are labyrinth-like and oh so colorful, bringing out our inner child almost immediately. By the end of day two we were already listing friends we’d like to return with for a game of hide and seek!
We explored the Castle of Oia, also known as the Castle of Saint Nikolas, which dates back to the 15th century and was built during the Venetian occupation as a defensive fortress. Santorini is a windy island and is home to about 70 historic windmills. We spotted one in the distance and had fun attempting to take the right paths to reach it. Traditional Santorini windmills were used to grind flour and housed bakeries. Most of the windmills we see today were built during the 17th century or later.
So overwhelmed by our surroundings, we never even looked for an information book at our airbnb. We ran into our porter, Michael, while on our walk and asked him what restaurants were close. He let us know about Hungry Donkey and Oia Gefsis. Highly recommend both of them! We had a delicious early dinner at Oia Gefsis. Their split-pea fava is to die for.
January sunset in Santorini, Greece.
The next morning, as we had coffee on our porch overlooking the view in front of us, up hops the cat from dinner! He jumped right into Sue’s lap! We passed a napping cat back and forth for the next couple hours over coffee. These are not your average stray cats, they are clearly loved by many of their visitors, regardless of season. We noticed its clipped ear. There’s a real effort in Santorini to get the stray cat population under control. The clipped ear is a mark that shows that a stray cat has been neutered.
After our kitty snuggles, we were debating another walk or renting a car. We ran into our host, Louanna, and asked her thoughts on renting a car to explore the other side of the island. She encouraged us to do so, giving all sorts of good advice on where to go. Rental car options are plentiful in Santorini in January. We were thankful to have Louanne to make it simple, setting up a pickup for us in minutes.
With wheels under us, we were off to explore the island a bit, heading toward Akrotiri Lighthouse. On the way we stumbled upon Grigoris Bakery. Pastries, cookies, croissants - baked goods galore - including some that are as big as my head!
This was our windy day. The sky looks dramatic in some of these photos because it was. High cirrus clouds whipping through. Still manageable, and not “hold your doors” Iceland or Faroe Island wind, but strong.
Akrotiri Lighthouse was built in 1892 by a French trading company and is considered a very important site, as it is one of the first lighthouses manufactured in Greece. During the first 100 years, it was powered by petrol fuel and there was a person in charge of running it manually. It stopped operating during World War II, until 1945, when it was reconstructed by the Greek Navy. It’s still operational today, sending a bright white light over the sea every 10 seconds.
From there we hopped over to Vlichada Beach. It’s often referred to as “moon beach” because of its lunar landscape and scenery. It rests below tall, pale cliffs that blend together with the black sand. The cliffs are composed of thick pumice layers from the famous Late Bronze Age eruption, an iconic event in volcanology and archaeology. Over the centuries, waves, wind and rain have carved sculptures on the volcanic cliffs overlooking the beach.
We drove through hillside landscapes with hundreds of vine baskets, each placed symmetrically throughout, and remembered a conversation with Louanne earlier. Wine has been produced here since ancient times. This is a Santorini vine "kouloura", or basket. Experienced vine dressers weave the canes of the vine into the shape of a large wreath-like basket which rests on the island’s volcanic soil. Once fruiting begins, the grapes grow sheltered within their “woven” baskets. This keeps them safe from strong winds, volcanic sand, scorching sun, and collects water from the morning fog for survival. Each and every one of them is a work of art.
The drive back to Oia in January.
Once back, we decided to check out Hungry Donkey. Highly recommend this place. “The menu at this contemporary little Greek restaurant is inspired by Greek street food with the emphasis on simple dishes made using the best ingredients.” Super delicious. The portions are big, too. We split one between us after the first time.
These two are an absolute hoot. They sit here all day, just watching. If they could talk, we’re sure they’d have all the gossips on all the humans.
Heading home.
Escorted by our friend.
January storm brewing in Santorini, Greece. Akrotiri Lighthouse is seen in the distance.
Sunbathing.
After our morning stroll around Oia, we decided to take a drive to wherever we ended up. A series of turns later, the road ended on a steep hillside at Ammoudi Bay.
From what we’d read, Ammoudi Bay port is busy in season. Most of the buildings in Amoudi Bay were destroyed during a catastrophic earthquake in the 1950s; but in the 70s rebuilding began, and a little stone promenade was included in these redevelopments. Nowadays along with the little restaurants that sit side-by-side on the promenade, there are a few offices selling boat tours to tourists, which mostly head out to the volcanic island of Nea Kameni in the centre of the caldera.
In January, all the restaurants are closed for the off-season, so we strolled through it without another soul around. Colorful buildings and signs against the blue-green water lifts the winter spirit. Every now and then my brain would trick me into thinking the white atop the cliffs was snow, not Oia. Sue and I imagined what it might look like all opened up, quickly thanking the universe that we can only travel in winter.
We followed a trail on the other side that led to the islet of Agios Nikolaos. Fun little hike!
Don’t really recommend this short hike in flip flops, but it’s doable. Such interesting surroundings.
As we walked back to the car, we made a new friend.
Another evening stroll through Oia.
This was, by far, the largest crowd we’d seen since arriving. Twelve people. :)
Our airbnb host, Louanne, brought us a bottle of wine. So nice to relax. Having an actual hot tub (instead of a pool) was wonderful.
A stunning January sunset in Santorini.
January rainstorm in Santorini. We watched this one move in for hours. So relaxing.
Hungry Donkey breakfasts are phenomenal! The place was packed so we offered to share a table with another traveler that had no place to sit. Nice gentleman from Canada. Always interesting to spend some time getting to know other travelers.
A little January rain in Santorini didn’t stop us from exploring the walkways.
Another amazing dinner at Oia Gefsis. When we came into the restaurant, our waiter we’d had a few days prior lit up when he saw us, saying, “You’re still here! I thought you’d left when we did not see you. I’m so glad you’re still here!” We really enjoyed our visit, telling him everything we’d done while on the island.
A late evening stroll back home from dinner. We’ve come to realize, if you don’t see a cat while on a pathway in Oia, simply look up!
We spent our final morning walking Oia, feeding cats and dogs, saying our goodbye’s.
But I don’t… want… to close the door. See you again some future January day, Santorini!
Santorini weather in January
Coming from northwest Pennsylvania, January in Santorini was a nice break from winter. Temps hovered in the low to mid 60’s each day. Of our six days, we had one rainy day, and one that brought some pretty strong wind. (Not Iceland and Faroes wind, but we were glad we brought our puffy coats.) We packed a bit of everything: flip flops, shoes, t-shirts, long sleeves, and a warm jacket, and did just fine.
Where to stay in Santorini in January
I’m not sure we’ve enough trips (yet!) to give solid advice on this one. For those serious about getting to Santorini, everything is much more inexpensive on the island in the off-season, including lodging. Those beautiful blue domes you've seen in a hundred different pictures - they were off our porch, which was a cave house overlooking a sunken volcano in the Aegean Sea. We are staying here for about $20 more than the Best Western outside Sea-Tac airport in Washington. Rates go up drastically in the summer, but in January, it's totally doable.
Oia, Santorini in January: Where to eat
Hungry Donkey. We loved this laid-back small cafe-diner atmosphere. You should expect Hungry Donkey to be busy, and finding a table can be tough. They were open every day for breakfast, lunch, and late dinner. The food was fresh and delicious, and the folks that run the place are super friendly.
Oia Gefsis. A bit more upscale, this restaurant was the perfect blend of cozy atmosphere, delicious meals, and kind, friendly staff. Highly recommend.
What were our favorite parts about Santorini in January?
Doors. If you're obsessed with doors, which I had no idea I was, but definitely am - this is your place. These homes are all carved out of a caldera; atop, beside, and underneath one another... just fascinating. Every path leads to more doors. Some are big, some are ridiculously small, but the mind really wanders about what is behind every single one of 'em.
One of our favorite doors in Santorini.
Cats, cats, and more cats. And a couple dogs, too. Cats basically run the place. They are everywhere. If you don't see one - look closer. They're there. And they're adorable. Don’t be afraid to feed them. We found dishes in several areas and were sure to fill ‘em each day.
Walkways. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve seen the unique paths and walkways. They are everywhere, every shape, every size, and a lot of colors - and they’re empty in January. We compare them to walking through some sort of fairy tale!
