Fira Town, Old Port & Cable Car

Fira is the busy, practical heart of Santorini and, for many visitors, the best place to start. It became the capital in the nineteenth century, when the medieval strongholds of Skaros and Pyrgos were abandoned, and today it stretches along the caldera rim in a long ribbon of white buildings, with the cliff dropping almost three hundred metres to the sea beneath its terraces. The caldera walkway is the place to be: a paved promenade lined with cafes, cocktail bars, restaurants and hotels whose terraces seem to hang in the air, with the volcano and the islets of Nea and Palea Kameni straight ahead and Imerovigli and Oia strung along the rim to the north. Behind the edge is a busy grid of shopping lanes, jewellers, souvenir shops and tavernas, the Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral with its arcades and bell towers, and the quieter Catholic quarter with its own cathedral and convents, a legacy of the Venetian centuries. Two museums are here, the Museum of Prehistoric Thera with the Akrotiri frescoes and the Archaeological Museum of Thera. Far below lies the old port, Gialos, where tenders from cruise ships land and many caldera boat trips depart. You reach it in three ways: by the cable car, which glides down the cliff in a few minutes; on foot down the Karavolades stairs, a zigzag path of several hundred steps; or on a donkey or mule, a tradition that many visitors now choose to avoid on welfare grounds. Fira is also the hub of the island bus network, with services to Oia, the beaches, Akrotiri and the airport, which makes it the most practical base for those without a car, and it is the liveliest village after dark. In winter, when much of the island closes, Fira keeps the most hotels, restaurants and services open.

Cruise days and crowds: Santorini receives more than a million cruise visitors a year, and most of them come ashore at the old port and ride up to Fira, so on busy days the cable car queues can stretch for an hour or more and the lanes are packed from mid-morning to late afternoon. Since 2025, cruise passengers pay a levy on disembarking, set at twenty euros per person from June to September and less in other months, and a daily cap of 8,000 cruise passengers is managed through a berth-allocation system, with up to seventy per cent landing at the old port and the rest routed through Athinios. If you are staying on the island, enjoy Fira early in the morning and in the evening after the ships sail.

The old port and the steps: the Karavolades stairs were closed for about a week in summer 2026 after a private wall beside them collapsed and reopened in early August, and a marked danger zone near the cliffs at the old port remains off limits following the post-earthquake safety assessments, so respect the barriers. Walking down the steps is easier than walking up; many people ride the cable car up and walk down, watching for mules and their droppings. In winter the cable car runs a reduced schedule and may pause for annual maintenance, so check locally.

Eating and drinking: for the caldera view, the restaurants and bars along the cliff edge are the obvious choice, and booking a terrace table for sunset is wise in high season, but prices reflect the view. For better value, step a street or two back from the edge to the tavernas and souvlaki shops around the central lanes, and save the view for a drink. Fira is also the starting point of the caldera walk to Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia, and the paved first section to Firostefani is a lovely evening stroll.