Nightlife in Santorini Island

Fira stands on the rim of the caldera roughly 400 metres above the water, and that geography decides where Santorini drinks. The cliff-edge bars look west across an 18-kilometre crescent of flooded crater towards the volcanic islets in the middle of it; the clubs sit a few streets inland, away from the hotel terraces. Little of it starts early. The bars fill once the sunset crowd disperses around ten, and the dance floors stay empty until eleven.

Bars on the Caldera Rim

PK Cocktail Bar (Palia Kameni)

Gregory Chrysos opened this bar in 1976, cutting back into the cliff below the Cathedral and building it up over three levels. It was the first cocktail bar on the island. The name belongs to Palea Kameni, the older of the two burnt islets out in the caldera, which is part of what you are looking at from the terraces. Each level gets the same westward view, and the lower ones sit closer to the drop.

Tango Bar

A lounge bar on the Fira cliffside, with its terrace laid out on the rock and a view over Nea Kameni, the islet that still counts as an active volcano. The playlist runs from lounge early in the evening to deep house later, and full-moon nights draw the biggest crowds of the season.

Tropical Bar

A small place in Fira with a balcony over the caldera. It works as a sunset spot in the early evening and clears a dance floor once it is dark.

Clubs

Enigma opened in 1979 and is one of the oldest clubs on the island. Its main room is a cave cut into the rock, the same vaulted construction used across old Fira, with corner sofas around the edge and a bar running the length of it. Koo Club, a short walk away, is the other of the two main dance venues in town: a larger floor and a mix of mainstream and house. Neither is worth arriving at before eleven, and both run until close to dawn.

Beach Bars

The caldera side of the island is cliff, not shoreline, so the beach bars are all on the opposite coast. They line the black volcanic sand at Perissa, Perivolos and Kamari, a short drive southeast of Fira, and they work differently from the cliff bars: sunbeds and music from the afternoon onwards, then a slow shift into the evening rather than a fixed opening hour. If you want the sound of the sea instead of a caldera view, this is the side to be on.

Practical Notes

• Timing: sunset is the crush, roughly 20:00 to 21:30 in midsummer. The bars are far calmer an hour after it, and the clubs do not get going until nearer midnight.
• Dress: smart casual covers almost everywhere; a few of the hotel and cliff-edge bars are stricter, so check if you are heading to one specifically.
• Payment: cards are taken in most places, but carry cash for the smaller bars, and expect a cover charge at the clubs in July and August.
• Getting home: the Fira venues are all within walking distance of one another. Anything beyond that needs a taxi, and Santorini runs a small fleet that thins out badly after midnight in high season, so agree the fare before you set off or arrange the ride in advance.

The old port lies directly below the town, linked to it by cable car and a zigzag stair, which puts every bar in this list within a few streets of where the boats tie up. It is a short climb from the quay to the first drink after a day exploring the Greece coast by gulet.