We are visiting Naxos for 3 nights in May, and will hire a car for one of those days. I am looking for suggestions on a road trip.
Edited with proposed itinerary:
Alyko beach / abandoned hotel
Temple of Demeter and village of Sangri (Byzantine church)
Chalki - distillery, more Byzantine churches
Filoti - pretty for its village square - view of Zeus cave
Apiranthos - pretty square
We are staying in Naxos Town and wondered if this is doable.
You have chosen good destinations. However I do not believe you can do all 5 in a day. Naxos is hilly and the roads are narrow so a trip will take much longer than you plan.
The choice of the mountain villages of Chalki, Filoti and Aparanthos makes sense as they are all on the same road. You can easily spend a couple of hours in Chalki as it has good walking paths through the village and around the surrounding countryside. I would suggest if you do all the surrounding paths this is going to take a good 3 hours.
Filoti is on the side of a mountain and I have a bad knee so since our first visit we have given Filoti a pass. That is on my knee not on Filoti.
Aparanthos may be our favourite village. The streets are pave with marble. On our last trip we explored the lower level of the village but ran out of energy and never got to the upper village. You should plan on a couple of hours here.
You will not have sufficient time do also do Demeters Temple and Alyko beach in a day.
Here are some images.
Trip around Naxos https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157634605629689
Hike around Chalki https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157712247853233
Visit to Aparanthos village. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720318196100/
Thank you, I was worried about that. My first choice is Alyko and the murals so that is a must do. I am not sure which other spots we will see. I probably would prioritize a village over the temple of Demeter.
To get to the abandoned hotel, leave Naxos town by the south and follow the road signs to Pyrgaki - Alyki.
At a crossroads you will see the road signs "Alyko" to the right and "Pyrgaki" to the left. Go towards Alyko, it is a dead end, the road is a little sandy but without any driving difficulty.
The murals at the abandoned hotel are very nice.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/r7W1J3F6pGS68y6TA
The area is also great for its large sandy beaches, either north or south of Alyko. Unlike those around Naxos Town there are no paid sunbeds and the shade is also free provided by the tamarisk trees. :))
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qUyTCXR1fD5kc6Wi7
In this area the Paradiso tavern is nice to have a drink at sunset, if the bartender is still the same, he is a cocktail pro :))
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9mKpUTA4wM38hbAv6
In this area there is an excellent restaurant serving excellent typical of Naxos cuisine: Apolafsi (reservation recommended)
Also try to go to Apollonas, at the very north of the island. It is a nice little fishing village.
You will not have enough time to see everything in Naxos, I made this map with the villages, beaches, possible activities (hiking) and places to visit. See what might interest you.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1d7GZMjFODUlB8lf7EPSXQRwu-YXaKxw&usp=sharing
I am using the Moon Guide for the islands, and it recommends this as a daytrip of driving: Demeter's Sanctuary; Halki; Filoti; Apiranthos; and ending in Moutsouna in order to eat at the Net. It is not clear if the latter is really do-able as a daytrip or if one is supposed to sleep there after all this.
As the other full day on Naxos, it recommends Temple of Apollo, Kastro, lunch at MezeMeze, driving to Alyko, and then ending with a dinner at Axiotissa.
I think it is doable to do Demeters Temple and the three mountain villages. Its a lot of time and energy to do them all in one day unless your plan is just to do a quick stop at each location. On our last two visits we spent about three hours in Aparanthos and another 3 hiking around Chalki.
I doubt you can include Moutsouna on this one day though. As I recall that drive ends on a switchback road down the side of the mountain down to the sea. That was pretty much a day trip. I think you might find that drive to be a bit strenuous on top of the temple, and the three villages.
