My family (husband and two teen girls -17 & 16) will be spending three days in Naxos next July. We will be staying in Chora and close to Agios Georgios Beach. Therefore, we will be spending at least half a day there and we will have at least a half-day and evenings to explore Naxos town. Another day, we were going to rent a car to explore a few villages and hike Mt. Zas. We could also fit another beach into the rental car day. I only want to rent the car for a single day.
My question is - should we beach hop on our third day? Or... is there another can't-miss beach that we should visit for the day? I'm not sure if it is worth trying to visit as many beaches as we can or just visiting one or two really beautiful ones... Any thoughts are appreciated.
Posted by
France Southwest
1824 posts
It doesn't make much sense to rent a car just the day you're going to spend 4 to 5 hours hiking and not use it.
You can take a bus to the village of Filoti where the hiking trail starts.
This is not a very difficult hike if you are in good physical shape. The path is very stony, good shoes are recommended.
Rent a car to go to the large sandy beaches further south. Those of Kastraki, Glifada, Pyrkagi or to go to the village/port of Apollonas, to the north east of Naxos.
In July it may not be easy to find a rental company who will have a car available for just one day.
Posted by
2505 posts
We had a rental car when we hiked Mt Zas. It was much easier. We then went to Plaka beach for lunch and then to the beach.
We went beach hopping one afternoon when the weather was not great just to see the different beaches. It was May though and I would think that trying to find a place to park at different beaches would not be fun in July.
Posted by
Nanaimo, BC, Canada
1376 posts
There are three great beaches about 7km west from Chora. Agia Anna. Its a rather small one in the village. Prokopious which is a large beach with good infrastructure in the village. Lastly Plaka beach. It is about 3km long with tavernas and hotels on the other side of the road across from the beach. This is our favourite beach. While you can get there by bus in high season the buses tend to get filed up quickly. A car rental will give you security that you can get back to your hotel.
Here are a few 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
Plaka Beach 2022 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720299954668
Have a great time.