We taxied from Plaka to St George beach. The taxi picked us up at Three Brothers hotel, then stopped at the airport and picked up a bag which he delivered to a hotel just outside St George beach. Apparently this is the life of a taxi driver, pick up passengers, bags, luggage and do drop offs on the way to the final destination. Only 17 euros.
On our first visit to Naxos in 1996 we stayed at Hotel Glaros. It was the first hotel at St George beach. We loved the location and have returned several times. A few years ago it was fully renovated and re-branded as a Boutique Hotel Glaros. The updates are remarkable. Everything has high end finishing from the front door to the three exclusive rooms on the top floor. Breakfast is gourmet and changes every day. Staff take each guest for a tour and and description of each dish of the breakfast buffet. The porter brings your bags up to the room and back down again when you leave. This was our most expensive hotel but it is worth every euro.
It was named one of the top 10 Boutique Hotels in Greece by the times of London a few years ago.
Here are a few images of the hotel.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720300366468
St George beach is part of Naxos town so after dropping off our bags we walked along the headland from St George to Naxos town waterfront promenade. What a spectacular view as we rounded the headland and saw all the way up to the harbour . We walked the whole promenade to the ferry port then headed up hill to the gates of the Kastro. One of the old buildings at the gate is undergoing extensive renovations so it will be interesting to see what change it will make when we return next year.
We walked up to the kastro walls to see if our favourite taverna, Taverna Kastro had survived over the 2 year Covid shut down. Indeed it had. It is open only for dinner so no one was around but we made plans to dine there that evening.
Just before sunset we walked back to the waterfront Promenade and had a drink at a sea side bar and watched the sun set over the harbour and Portera. This is a evening tradition for us. Surprisingly the price for an ouzo, a glass of wine and a small snack was still well priced at 9 euros.
After sun set we wandered back up through the old town to Taverna Kastro. The owner Sulous, recognized us immediately welcomed us, and said "your drink is ouzo" right. He ordered 2 ouzo's for us on the house and told us he would see us in a few minutes. Not sure what happened but we never saw him again but by magic, or poor counting skills, we ended up with a third complimentary glass of Ouzo. I had to force myself to finish the third one and hoped I could remember the path through the old town back to St George. As usual the food was delicious. We shared a Greek salad, Eggplant in the oven one of our favourite dishes along with grilled Vegetables. We are truly back in Naxos now.
Here is an image of our drinks at Taverna To Kastro
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/52160095762/in/album-72177720299959098/
Next day was pretty quiet, in the morning we strolled the waterfront promenade and spent most of the day at St George beach.
Lolly has a wonky back and can not sit on loungers so we went to our favourite beach bar Finikas. Its right on the beach and has comfortable chairs. as long as you have a drink you are welcome to sit for as long as you like. That evening we took in the sunset at a bar on the harbour and people watched, then went to Nostamon Hellas for dinner. It is one of the top tavernas in a courtyard setting. We had fried prawns, an underwhelming chicken dish and grilled mushrooms.
Here are some images of St George beach.
St George Beach https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299943096