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Ia

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Ia (or Oia) is the one of the towns on Santorini island in Greece.

Culture and History

Ia (Oia spelling in Greek) is a picturesque town beloved by artists and the tourists alike. Being a destination for all those cruise ship passengers the town so is very busy in the afternoons. It is far better to arrive in the early evening, allowing plenty of time to meander, shop and take photographs, then have a relaxing meal in a Caldera restaurant while watching one of the most beautiful sunsets. Be sure to occupy your seat in advance, though: western side becomes heavily crowded in the hour preceding sunset.

But the full flavour and spirit of the town (and the island) can be enjoyed only after staying for several days.

Ia overlooks two sides of the sea, western with Ammoudi bay, eastern with Armeni bay; only western one faces sunset.

Ia is a popular place for shooting local TV series, sometimes in a nighttime.

Travel to Ia & Visa Requirements

Easily reachable by bus from the central bus station in Thira. The road to Ia is not for the faint hearted! The bus driver seems to derive great pleasure from scaring the living daylights out of his passengers and a word of warning about the conductor... always have the correct fare or be prepared to face his wrath! The bus fare is very inexpensive--not more than €3 per person.

Taxi from port in Thira costs around €20 per group; €25 if you don't want driver to take people from other groups into the car.

Road between Fira and Ia is meandering -- keep in mind if you choose between taxi and a rented car when you arrive exhausted after a ferry.

Tours & Getting around Ia

By foot

Most parts of the village is reachable by-foot only. Even garbage is taken away by donkeys.

Donkeys can be rented on the staircase connecting Armeni bay to Ia -- especially when you're full with fresh seafood from a tavern

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This page was last edited at 06:03, on 6 October 2008 by Denis Yurkin. Based on work by Evan Prodromou, David, Wandering, Ravikiran Rao, Simone Bravo and Colin Jensen, Wikitravel user(s) ECOXENIA, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.

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