A Walk to IMEROVIGLI

[Tennant]

DH and I plan to walk to Imerovigli after reading a few reviews on this Board. We don't think we can make the walk all the way to Oia. Has anyone else done this walk to Imerovigli? What tips/advice can you give. Also, if anyone has done the walk to Oia and enjoyed it or had a great success, please share that as well. We are just looking for positive/negative review from people who have done either of these walks. No need for alternative suggestions, we are set on a walk on Santorini. THANKS!

[Manos]

The distance between Imerovigli and Oia is quite big for walking.

About the villages now, they both have magnificent view of the sea and the sunset so it is better to be there in the afternoon. Just follow the sun :-) !!

You may also want to visit the little port of Oia earlier in the day.

[tom_uk]

We've walked to Imerovigli from Fira. It took us perhaps 30 minutes or so, going slowly with frequent stops for pictures. Easy.

 

I took some of these pictures on that walk. Here's one of them:

[Tennant]

what a beautiful picture. what type of walkway is there between the towns? Once you arrive in Imerovigli is there a town or just a few hotels and restaurants. We just want a simple walk with beautiful views and hopefully a place for a drink/snack once we arrive. Any info you can give about your walk would be greatly appreciated!

[tom_uk]

You can get to Imerovigli on a series of footpaths - there's no need to go along the road as such. When you get to the top of the cablecar, turn so you've got your back to the caldera, walk to the first significant-looking left/right pathway (which in that area will have shops, bars, restarurants, etc, on all sides) and turn left; then just keep walking forward. You'll probably find that the route zig-zags a bit, but just keep going. At one point the path does intersect with the road, but (IIRC) ther was pretty immediately another path heading off at a slight angle to the right, away from the road, so as I say there's no real road walking. I think it was shortly after that that we found ourselves walking up towards an old, large church; the path took us round that. The just keep pressing onwards....

 

There's not a lot at Imerovigli, to be honest. It's very quiet - there are no shops (or none that we saw), just a few bars and hotels. Everything is built-into the white houses, so unless you spot a sign it's hard to tell if the house you're walking past is in fact a house or a hotel. The picture below is of Imerovigli, taken either from the little bar (actually, the bar of a hotel) where we had some refreshments, or possbly just after that, on the way back. Some of those buildings will be hotels, some may be houses - it's very hard to tell. It's a place to simply stop and savour.

 

[tom_uk]

Aaargh!!!!

 

I said (above:

but (IIRC) ther was pretty immediately another path heading off at a slight angle to the right, away from the road...

 

That should of course be ''another path heading off at a slight angle to the LEFT, away from the road...".

 

What you need to do is look for paths that keep you between the caldera edge and the road. Don't cross the road! And don't walk over the edge of the caldera!!

[Tennant]

thanks for the awesome directions and pic! We can't wait for our walk along the caldera! Just as long as we can stop and take some pics and maybe get a drink we will be happy as can be!

 

We are probably set on this walk but anyone with a tale of a positive walking experience to Oia would be appreciated!