Where to stay in Naxos

Guide to Naxos

Where to stay: Chora, the beaches or the mountain villages

Naxos Town (Chora) is the most practical base for a first visit: beside the port and the bus station, with the lanes of the Kastro and the Bourgos and life until late in the evening. On its edge, Agios Georgios is the town beach, convenient but also the most built-up. Further south, Agios Prokopios and Agia Anna have golden sand, tavernas and frequent buses to town; Agia Anna also keeps a small fishing harbour.

Plaka is a beach of about 4 km with dunes, where sunbeds alternate with long empty stretches; the further south you go, the more useful a car becomes. Mikri Vigla, on a rocky peninsula, is the haunt of kitesurfers and windsurfers, with Kastraki stretching out below. The mountain villages, Halki, Filoti, Apeiranthos and Moni, have cooler nights and real everyday life, but they require a car: this is where those who came to walk, rather than swim every day, stay.

When to go and how the wind affects it

In July and August the island fills up and the north wind often blows, but the west-coast beaches are so long that you can always find space. On 15 August the festival of Panagia Filotitissa fills Filoti with people from all over the island. May and October, with mild temperatures, are the best months for trails and mountain villages. From November to April many seasonal beach businesses close, but Chora and the bigger villages carry on, which is not true of the smaller islands.

The wind decides which beach you spend the day on. Agios Prokopios, especially at its northern end, and Agia Anna are the most sheltered on the west coast; in the south, Kalantos and Panermos usually have calm water. By contrast, Parthena, on the north side of Mikri Vigla, and Glyfada get an almost constant breeze, which is why sailing-sport fans prefer them. Kastraki gets big waves on windy days. If you want to try it for the first time, most schools operate in summer and supervision is better then.

The interior: villages, marble, antiquities and flavours

The Tragaia valley, with its olive groves and scattered chapels, is the heart of mountain Naxos. At Halki, about 16 km from Chora, you will see Panagia Protothronos with frescoes of the 11th to 13th centuries and the Grazia-Barozzi tower, and you can taste citron at the distillery that has been operating since 1896. A little higher up, Panagia Drosiani, dating from the 6th century, has some of the oldest frescoes in Greece. Apeiranthos, with its marble-paved lanes, is cooler and greener than the coast.

From Filoti starts the trail to the summit of Zas, at 1,004 m, the highest in the Cyclades, which myth links with the childhood of Zeus. Naxian marble can also be seen in the ancient quarries: at Flerio, near Melanes, and at Faranghi lie two kouroi of the 6th century BC that were abandoned when their legs broke in transport, while at Apollonas, in the north, the unfinished colossus is 10.45 m long. Near Sangri, at Gyroula, the Archaic temple of Demeter has been partially restored, contemporary with the Portara.

Naxos is one of the most fertile islands of the Aegean and it shows at the table. Naxos graviera is a PDO product and the Naxos potato is PGI; in the cheese dairies and grocers you will also find arseniko, xinotyro and smoked cured meats. In village tavernas look for roast lamb with lemon, rosto, kid baked in a clay pot and rooster with okra. Kitron, a liqueur made from citron-tree leaves, has a protected geographical indication and is the most common souvenir visitors take home.

Getting here and getting around

Ferries from Piraeus and Rafina dock right beside Chora; the crossing takes a few hours, longer on conventional ships. Naxos is a central hub of the Cyclades: Paros and Mykonos are close, Santorini a little further, and journey times vary a lot depending on the ship. From here the small boats also leave for the Small Cyclades, Iraklia, Schinoussa, Koufonisia and Donousa. The small airport receives flights from Athens and is ten minutes by car from Chora.

The KTEL station is in front of the port. In summer buses to the west-coast beaches are frequent, while those to the inland villages are fewer: always check the return time. For Halki, Filoti, Apeiranthos, the kouroi and Alyko, with its dunes and cedars, a small car for one or two days is enough. Distances are not trivial: from Chora to Apollonas you need more than an hour's drive on a road with many bends.