I will be arriving at Naxos airport at ~2PM (in a couple weeks) from Athens and will then need a ride to St. George Beach accommodation. Are there taxis available at the airport? Do they need to be arranged prior to arrival?
Also while on Naxos I am traveling alone and not planning on renting a car. I am hoping to use the local bus service to see the various sites in Filoti, Halki, Sangri, Apollonas.
There are often a few taxis at the airport. Do you have a reservation with a hotel. Contact them and see if they do pick ups or if not can they arrange for a taxi to meet you. Every hotel owner has a favorite taxi driver.
naxos has a good bus service but it is set up to service the local population but there is generally sufficient time for an hour or two before the bus returns. Don't forget Aparanthos it has the most character of any of the mountain villages and its alleys are paved in Marble.
Here are some images of our trip to Naxos this June. Aparanthos is in the album.
Naxos 2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157671589993576
I was pondering the same question before my trip in July. Eventually I decided to ask my hotel for a transfer. I was glad I did - not only it turned out to be free (which was not obvious at the time of booking) but because I did not see any taxis at the airport. Only private cars and hotel vans. My flight was around 6pm which apparently is the time when a couple of ferries arrive in short succession and taxi drivers prefer to wait at the port rather than the airport. 2pm may be less busy so a few may actually show up. But when you see the aircraft they use for flights to Naxos you will understand why taxi drivers prioritise ferry arrivals - it's tiny with only 30 or so passengers.
As stated ask your accommodations if they provide transfers . . . most do.
We were on Naxos in mid-October and used the bus service. It was very good and went to most of the interior villages. However, if you really want to see and experience Naxos I would reccommend renting a car. Not only will you be able to go to the places you mentioned but you'll be able to go to more out of the way areas that buses don't go. In addition you can take your time, stop anywhere you want, especially to take photos at all the "Oh Wow" views. In about two weeks it will be near the end of Sept. so traffic will be greatly reduced, especially away from Naxos Town. The roads are good and you'll be OK driving. The cost, depending on type of vehicle will be around 25-30 euros a day for a economy car, definitely worth the cost to see one of the Greece's nicest islands.
Thank you for the great input everyone. I am staying at the Studio Kalgeris and site did not mention transfer but as suggested they may be willing to schedule a taxi. I am somewhat reluctant to rent a car after doing so on two trips to Ireland. The road experience there was pretty stressful. Not sure how i did it 2 times to myself, haha. Stanbr were you traveling by car for your trips reflected in your pics? I am really excited about seeing Naxos! I am also going to Aegina and Agistri about hearing about them on this forum.
Hi Carol after renting a car in Ireland I understand your concerns about driving on narrow unfamiliar roads. having said that the roads in Naxos are actually a bit wider than in some parts of Ireland. While hilly and with some roads with switchbacks for the most part there is minimal traffic. When in the country you will meet an occasional bus or truck. Just pull over and let them pass.
In fact the pictures I posted were taken either while we were walking or when we took the local bus. We took the bus that goes from Naxos town to Chalki then Aparanthos and it continues up the mountain to its last stop. It then returns on the same route. AS I recall that gave us about an hour and a bit to visit Aparanthos and a good two and a half hours at Chalki. There is a wonderful footpath that goes around Chalki through Byzantine ruins that ends up going up into some villages. You have sufficient time to do this hike and get back to Chalki to visit the village and have a beer.
Here are images of Naxos from a few years ago, this was done on a three day car rental.
Trip around Naxos http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157634605629689/ images 48 to 52 show a glimpse of Chalki.
I just went looking for better images of the walk through Chalki
Ten Days in Naxos 2015 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157656336387898
The last 23 images on the first page of the album are of the hike around Chalki. The first 11 of the second page are images in the village. Oh yes the cover photo of this album is taken in Chalki.
We used a combination of bus and taxi for this trip. The bus schedule didn't quite line up for us so we took a taxi one way, Naxos has radio taxis, we took the card of one of the taxi drivers at the port and called on the cell phone. 15 euros for a 20 minute drive through the mountains.
Thank you for all the information this is exactly what I need! Enjoy your pictures very much stanbr!
When we took the bus a number of times in October from Naxos town to various interior villages all the way to Apollonus we went over the mountains and while there were many switch backs and slow downs there was virutally no other traffic. You basically had the road to yourself.
As an aside we rented a car in Amorgos which also has high mountains, narrow roads and switchbacks in October and once again virtually no traffic. The only thing you had to keep an eye out for were goats.
While I've never driven in Ireland, let alone been there I doubt you'll see the type of traffic there as you'll experience in many Greek Islands especially ones like Naxos which while popular don't have the tourist levels of Santorini or Mykonos.
Take advantage of renting a car and really seeing a lovely Greek Island like Naxos.
