Hi gang,
You have all been so helpful in helping me find tune my Greece trip for late May.
Was wondering if there is a recommended guidebook or website source for Naxos generally? Sites, walking tours, that sort of thing. This leg of the trip will mainly be about relaxing. But am curious about things to do on Naxos. Anyone done a sailing or snorkel outing?
Cheers!
Todd
No personal experience, but this looks like it could be helpful
There will be several sail boat tours available on the Naxos town waterfront harbour. You can walk along the waterfront and chat with the charter captains for times, prices and destinations.
I took photos of all of these boats a few years ago. The last 7 photos on the first page of this album and the next 14 photos on the second page were all the boats at that time.
Naxos 2017 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157663620712358
You can take the local bus up into the mountains, and visit a couple of outstanding villages. There are several excellent hikes in and around Chalki, and Aparanthos is very cool with its streets paved in marble. There is Demeters temple and the Kourous statue and roman aqueduct at Melanes. There is also an abandoned Jesuit Monastery up in the hills behind Melanes.
Most of these sites are in the Naxos 2017 album.
Don't miss sitting at a taverna on the waterfront promenade watching the sun set over the portera.
Lonely Planet updated their latest Greek Islands guidebook last Sep (12th edition): https://shop.lonelyplanet.com/products/greek-islands-12?via=Z2lkOi8vbG9uZWx5LXBsYW5ldC9Xb3JrYXJlYTo6Q2F0YWxvZzo6Q2F0ZWdvcnkvNTllZTQ5YmFmOTJlYTE0MTg2MDU4NWQ0. This website is good too: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Naxos
taking advantage of the thread here on Naxos... we will be in Naxos for 3 days (4 nights) in late May / early June ... what are the thoughts on having to rent a car vs. being able to use public transport?
we were thinking that we might like to visit some of the villages more to the center island and do some hiking - i see its accessible by bus but cant tell whether that's the reliable route or just easier to rent a car or take a driver service?
tx
The bus service on Naxos is excellent. The bus depot is located at the ferry dock. Purchase your tickets for the route you want at the office. You can't buy a ticket on the bus. The most popular routes would be Naxos town to Chalki and on to Aparanthos. Both are mountain villages. Chalki has great hiking trails all around the area with some ruins from the Byzantine period. Aparanthos is beautiful and the streets are pave with marble. Be sure you purchase your return ticket at the office. We have done one village one day and the other on a different day. I have never inquired if you can do Aparanthos, stop in Chalki and then return to Naxos town on one return ticket.
The other popular route is to the west coast beaches. Procopious, Anna and Plaka. The first two have resort kind of villages and Plaka is just sand and beach with a string of hotels and tavernas on the other side of the road.
Of course a car gives you much more flexibility to explore more but then the driver does not get to see much without stopping. These are narrow mountain roads.
Here are some images
Hike around Chalki https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157712247853233
First album done without a car.
This one is with a rental car. Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
thx@stanbr
very helpful (as always!)
You are welcome. Have a great time on Naxos
Matt Barrett is a legend and has a fantastic website - https://www.greecetravel.com/
I used his info for all of our Greek trips.
I was on Naxos way back in Oct. 2013 and it was lovely. Pleasantly busy but without a lot of tourists.
I relied on the bus to take me around the island and was satisfied with it.
However, I soon realized the bus doesn't go everywhere, nor on my schedule. Let alone stop for the numerous photo ops or linger longer in a village or archeological/historic site and hope to catch the return bus.
It's a matter of budget & worry about driving in Greece (mainland/island).
Once I started renting a car I found out it's the only way to go for me anyway. I can go where I want, when I want, take a back road and find out there's more to Greece than just where the bus goes.
Still if you feel more comfortable sitting back and looking out a bus window with the bus driver doing the work then you should be able to see a lot of Naxos.
You don't have to rent a car for your entire stay but a couple days will give you the opportunity to find those out of the way areas of Greece tourists don't go to.
We've been to Naxos twice and used two different books: the Rick Steves Greece guide and the Lonely Planet Greece guide. The RS guide is mostly about the mainland with very little of the islands mentioned. This past summer, we used the LP guide and were very happy with the amount of resources within, including walking tours, etc. Our itinerary-Athens, Kalambaka, Thessaloniki, Milos, Naxos, and Mykonos.
Re: Naxos. There's a beautiful all day drive around the island (use a car, not an atv/motorcycle). Plenty of small villages to visit. Beautiful beaches. We didn't snorkel or sail on Naxos (we did take an all day catamaran tour on Milos), but there is plenty to do to keep one busy for many days. Have fun!
