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Finikia, Santorini, gave us exactly what we wanted: easy access to Oia without having to sleep in the middle of the crowds. We stayed in this tiny village just a 20-minute walk away and found the quieter Santorini experience we were hoping for.

AUTHOR

Kristen Cummings

DESTINATION

Santorini, Greece

POSTED ON

August 21, 2021

UPDATED ON

September 27, 2026

WHAT I LOVED

Finikia gave us the Santorini experience I actually wanted. It was quiet, beautiful and wonderfully low-key, but we could still walk to Oia in about 20 minutes whenever we wanted the famous views, shops and restaurants.

And then we could leave.

I loved wandering Finikia’s little pedestrian paths, eating at the neighborhood tavernas and having somewhere peaceful to come back to after dealing with the crowds in Oia. We liked it enough that we ended up spending an entire day just hanging around the village instead of going somewhere else.

KEEPING IT REAL

Finikia is quiet because there isn’t a ton going on. You’ll find a handful of restaurants and places to stay, but if you want lots of shopping, nightlife or endless restaurant choices outside your door, this probably isn’t your village.

And while Oia is walkable, 20 minutes feels considerably longer when you’re tired, hungry or walking back after dark. We also learned the hard way that dinner reservations in Finikia are a very good idea.

For us, those were easy tradeoffs. I’d choose the peace of Finikia over sleeping in the middle of Oia’s crowds again.

	BEST FOR Couples, crowd-avoiders, slow travelers and anyone who wants easy access to Oia without sleeping in it.
	SKIP IT IF You want nightlife, lots of shopping or to step directly outside your hotel into the middle of Oia.
	WOULD I STAY AGAIN? Absolutely. I still think about Finikia.
	TOURISTISH VERDICT Stay close enough to enjoy Oia, far enough away to escape it.

What it’s actually like

Finikia feels like somebody turned the volume down on Santorini.

The village is a maze of narrow pedestrian paths, whitewashed cave houses, colorful doors and bougainvillea, with none of the constant shuffle of people trying to get the exact same photo. Cars stay mostly outside the village, so once you’re wandering around inside, it feels wonderfully removed from everything.

It is also tiny. This is not where you come for endless shopping, nightlife or a packed itinerary. When we stayed, there were a handful of tavernas, a very small market and not a whole lot else. And honestly, that was part of the appeal.

We ate at neighborhood restaurants, wandered around with nowhere particularly important to be, investigated plants because Jason apparently cannot pass unfamiliar vegetation without identifying it, and made repeated trips to the little market for Greek beer and cookies. At one point we devoted an entire day to basically doing nothing in Finikia.

It was one of my favorite days in Santorini.

The really brilliant part, though, is the location. Oia is only about a 20-minute walk away, so Finikia doesn’t feel isolated. We could head into Oia for the caldera views, shops and general Santorini spectacle, then walk back when we’d had enough.

If your dream Santorini vacation involves stepping outside your hotel directly into the action, Finikia may feel too quiet. If you’d rather visit the action and sleep somewhere peaceful, this little village is kind of perfect.

Staying in the crowded heart of Oia is touristy. Staying just a scenic 20-minute walk away in Finikia is touristish.

Bonora Country Houses

	LOCATION Finikia, Santorini, Greece About a 20-minute walk to Oia
	SLEEPING SETUP Traditional Cycladic cave house 1 king bed, 1 bathroom Sleeps 2
	GETTING THERE Arrange a cab from the docs. Owner will meet you to walk in. Finikia itself is pedestrian-friendly, and we walked to Oia. Be prepared for narrow paths, steps and uneven surfaces.
	GOOD TO KNOW Finikia is intentionally low-key. If you want nightlife, lots of shopping or dozens of restaurants outside your door, stay somewhere busier.

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Why We Chose Finikia Instead of Oia

When we started planning Santorini, I knew I wanted to spend time in Oia. Of course I did. It’s Oia. Whitewashed buildings, blue domes, ridiculous caldera views and one of the most famous sunsets in the world.

What I wasn’t sure I wanted to do was stay there.

So I started looking just outside Oia and found Finikia, a tiny village about a 20-minute walk away. It looked close enough that we could easily wander into Oia whenever we wanted, but far enough away that we wouldn’t have to live in the middle of the crowds.

That sounded much more like us.

And then I found Bonora Country Houses.

Where We Stayed: Bonora Country Houses

Bonora immediately went to the top of my list because it was exactly the kind of place I’m always trying to find when we travel: somewhere that actually feels like where we are.

The property is a traditional Santorini farmhouse and former winery tucked into Finikia, with cave-house accommodations built into the volcanic landscape. White walls, arched ceilings, thick stone, little outdoor spaces and an olive tree in the courtyard. It felt completely different from staying in a standard hotel.

And I loved it.

In fact, Bonora Country Houses was my favorite lodging of our entire trip.

There was something about coming back there after being surrounded by people in Oia that made me appreciate it even more. We could sit outside by the olive tree, drink Greek beer, eat whatever cookies we’d picked up at Finikia’s hilariously tiny “supermarket” and feel like we had escaped Santorini while somehow still being right in the middle of it.

So, What Exactly Is a Santorini Cave House?

Before planning this trip, “cave house” sounded to me like we might be sleeping somewhere Fred Flintstone would approve of.

Not quite.

Traditional Santorini cave houses are built directly into the volcanic earth. Historically, this made a lot of sense: the thick walls helped keep homes cooler during the hot summers and warmer during winter, while also making use of the island’s unusual terrain.

Today, many have been turned into some of the coolest places to stay on Santorini.

Inside Bonora, the curved ceilings and thick whitewashed walls made the house feel cozy without feeling dark or cave-like. You definitely knew you were staying somewhere unusual, which is exactly what I want from a place like this.

I can sleep in a regular hotel room at home.

Walking From Finikia to Oia

One of the biggest reasons Finikia worked so well for us was that we didn’t have to choose between quiet Finikia and Oia. We could have both.

The walk took us about 20 minutes, and it was hardly a punishment. This is Santorini. Even getting from one village to another comes with scenery.

Then we’d reach Oia and suddenly there were people everywhere.

Oia is gorgeous. It deserves the hype. I’m glad we spent time there, and if you’re planning to go, I have a whole strategy for seeing the famous Oia sunset without completely losing your mind in the crowds.

But I was also very happy not to be sleeping there.

After we’d wandered the streets, admired the views, taken approximately 47,000 photos and gotten our fill of Oia, we could simply walk back to Finikia.

And then we could leave all those people behind.

Eating in Finikia

Finikia may be small, but we ate very well there.

One of our favorite stops was Krinaki, where at one point we decided dessert could be lunch because we are adults and nobody can stop us.

This is also where I should tell you to make dinner reservations.

We did not always do this.

One evening we waited too long, wandered around getting progressively hungrier, and discovered that the restaurants we wanted were full. There is a point in every marriage where two hungry people have stopped making rational decisions, and we reached it somewhere on the pedestrian paths of Finikia.

Our elegant Santorini evening eventually became a carpet picnic back at Bonora.

Not exactly the glamorous Greek-island dinner I’d envisioned.

Still kind of memorable.

The Day We Did Basically Nothing

One of my favorite things we did in Santorini was also one of the least impressive things to put on an itinerary.

Nothing.

We spent an entire day hanging around Finikia.

We wandered the village. We ate. We sat outside at Bonora. Jason investigated plants because apparently being on a Greek island does not suspend his need to identify vegetation. We made trips to the tiny market for beer and snacks. We had nowhere we particularly needed to be.

It was fantastic.

Santorini is one of those places where it’s very easy to convince yourself that every minute needs to be optimized. See this village. Hike this trail. Photograph this church. Get to this sunset spot before everybody else does.

Finikia gave us permission to stop doing that for a minute.

And weirdly, that day of doing almost nothing is one of the days I remember best.

Finikia vs. Oia: Where Would I Stay?

For me, Finikia. Easily.

I still want Oia. I want the blue domes and caldera views and narrow streets and absurdly photogenic everything. I just don’t need them directly outside my bedroom door.

Finikia gave us easy access to all of that while giving us somewhere quieter to come home to. And because we stayed there instead of just passing through, Finikia became part of the trip rather than simply the place where our hotel happened to be.

Would I stay at Bonora Country Houses again?

Absolutely. I still think about that place.

And I would make dinner reservations this time.