Our group of ten (4 adults, 5 young adult children and 1 teenager) will be staying in Naxos for four nights mid-June. I would love some ideas for the best activities on the island. All of us are active, water-loving, food loving etc.
Several of us are very interested in a cooking class, does anyone have a specific recommendation?
Thank you!
I don't have recommendations for a cooking class.
Of course, ideas for activities all depends on your interests. Obviously, there is swimming at the beaches. We spent our first day exploring Naxos Town, eating and shopping and taking lots of photos. Our second day we rented a car for the day and explored the island; visited mountain villages and fishing villages and had one of the best fresh seafood meals of our trip. We planned on a beach day for our 3rd day but it was drizzly and cool so we weren't able to do that. Instead, we explored Naxos Town some more, enjoyed all the nooks and crannies and narrow lanes and did some more shopping for our grandchildren.
I highly recommend purchasing some guidebooks, such as Michelin Green Guide and Lonely Planet. I know there are hiking trails on Naxos, which we didn't have time to do but I assume your young active group would like to do. And we are also older, in our 70's. So your younger folks might not be content with wandering around Naxos Town for 2 days. Hopefully, you will have beach weather every day unlike us. We were there in May. June might have less rain.
While you are waiting to read kmkwoo's recommended guides and maps, I suggest you visit:
as well as:
Best activity that we did at Naxos was the cooking class with Basiliko family at Potamia village!! It was such a fun . Everybody loved it ! Try not to miss this . We picked our own vegetables , We cooked them , we laught a lot, we learnt more, we did a hike and at the end we learned Greek dancing
With only 4 nights you are going to have to choose your activities carefully as you do not have sufficient time to see the whole island.
Her are some suggestions of things to do.
Beaches. St George Beach which is part of Naxos town. Its a good sand beach with lots of hotels, bars and tavernas.
West Coast Beaches Plaka beach 3km of good sand. No village but serviced by hotels tavernaas and Bars along the road.
Agia anna. Small beach in the village.
Proklpious long beach serviced by a village.
Antiquities. The Portera the 6th century BC feature still standing guard over the harbour.
Demeters temple a partially restored ancient temple/church
The abandoned Kalamitsia Monastery near Melanies
The 6th century BC Kourous statues still lying in the quarry near Melanes
Naxos town. Waterfront Promenade along the harbour. Watching the sun set over the portera. A maze of colourful back alleys rising the the Fortified Venetian era Kastro.
Mountain villages and hiking. Chalki, Vivlos, Filoti, marble paved lanes of Aparanthos. Many more but this combination is a good one as its on the same bus route.
Here are some images
Around Naxos town 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299959098
Back to Naxos 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299940917
Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
Chalki and Vivlos villages https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299950915
Thank you so much for the suggestions and information. For the cooking class recommendation, do you have a link for the class?
At the far end of St George Beach (maybe a 10 minute walk along the sand from town) is Flisvos Sports Club. They specialize in windsurfing but I’ve also seen jet skis and other water sports equipment for rent there.
Flisvos has a restaurant with a large patio facing the sea. It’s our favorite place in Naxos for an ouzo at sunset — would also be a good place for snacks & a cold beverage while watching your group windsurf.
Our favorite restaurant in Naxos is Boulamatsis. It’s downtown near the ferry port. They have a balcony with great views if you can snag one of those tables. It’s family run — Momma does the cooking — wonderful food, low prices. Highly recommend the chicken with potatoes.
