Check out this Naxos island guide and fell in love with another amazing greek island.
We enjoyed here 2 wonderful weeks and discovered a lot of beautiful places, awesome beaches and great food!
How to get there & other tips
Before beginning to address all the nice beaches and places to be visited, we’ll share our itinerary.
We took the Ryanair flight Milan BGY – Athene Greece, because we planned to visit also the capital of this country.
Athene city really deserves at least a one day visit, with the Acropolis, the change of guard and a very greek blue sky, it is a different european capital.
From the airport we took the metro that comfortably transported us to our hotel situated in Piraeus Port. Why staying there? Simply to be close to the ferries we will take to arrive on the Naxos island.
We chose Bluestar ferries, booked the tickets online, link, and enjoyed a nice 6 hours long cruise 🙂 Be careful that even though you book online, you have to go print the tickets in one of their shops near the port.
There are also other ways to arrive on this island, more faster and more expensive, like having an internal flight directly to Naxos island (it has a small airport) or a flight to Mykonos island and then take a ferry for 1 hour long to Naxos. Check what works best for you.
In general the greek people are very friendly, have tasty food and nice music. They know how to make you feel like home, I guess are also interested in your comeback since tourism is one of the most important financial tool.
We stayed on Naxos island in August and enjoyed a very nice weather, 27 degrees celsius were never exceeded and there has always been a nice calm wind that allowed you to stay all day on the beach if you wanted to.
Services and in general the goods have great prices. For 2 sun beds and 1 umbrella, you may pay only 5 euro for the whole day.
Food is also quite cheap, a big tasty greek salad may cost even 3 euro and the fish specialty is affordable as well, so dare to enjoy some fresh pescatarian dishes daily.
The streets are not the best, so it’s not worth it to rent a car if plan to visit it only for a few days. Usually the accomodations offer the transport from and to the port and there is a good bus service that can take you to the most popular attractions and beaches.
Best beaches
Once you’re there, for the first days you’ll for sure want to know what are the best beaches for a good tan 🙂 below our top 5 favorite Naxos beaches:
Plaka beach
It’s a 4 km long beautiful beach, really perfect for any type of person.
You enjoy the calm beach with no services provided? you’ll find a beach spot with these characteristics ready for you. You want fun and music? It has.
Are you a nudist? there are many spots for free spirits like you here also 🙂
Are you up to a dinner on the beach? It has restaurants with tables literally on sand so you can enjoy your dinner, shoes free. Check the video below 🙂
We were so convinced that this is the best beach of the island that we decided to stay in an accommodation at 2 minutes distance from it, for 2 weeks, and it was so worth it!
Agios prokopios beach
Internationally awarded for its water quality, it’s really beautiful and has nothing to envy to the Caribbean sea.
Light colour thick sand, turquoise water, it’s a natural beauty and may even fool you to think it’s a giant swimming pool.
Check the video below to have a feeling of what we’re talking about.
If obliged to say something bad about this beach, is that it can get crowded, but it’s obvious why, everyone wants to enjoy this beauty.
Agia Anna beach
It is actually a continuation of the Agios Prokopios beach, just more crowded since it’s only 6 km away from Naxos town.
It has a nice small port used only for fishing boats that gives a wonderful view over this beach.
It is well protected by the typical winds of this island and that’s what makes it be in the top 5 best Naxos beaches.
It has also lots of good taverns and cosy bars right near the beach.
Mikri Vigla beaches
Located in the south west side of Naxos, Mikri Vigla is popular for extending on 2 sides, allowing you to swim even on windy days.
It has 2 beaches: Limanaki (South side of Mikri Vigla) and Parthenos (North side of Mikri Vigla)
Limanaki is protected from the north wind so it’s perfect for families with children, while Parthenos is all for the fun of windsurfing.
There are also nice tavernas in this place with again delicious greek food.
Places worth a visit
Forgot to mention that Naxos is the largest island in the cyclades, so there are multiple fun things to be seen and done, below some of them.
Portara
The first thing you’ll see when approaching the port’s island, it’s a big marble door, 6 metres high and 3,5 m wide.
Built in the 6th century before Christ, should have been the door of the biggest temple dedicated to Apollo, but has never been finalized because the war arrived.
Why Apollo? The desired temple faces in the direction of Delos, which is believed to be Apollo’s birthplace.
The parts of the temple were destroyed in time, in order for the marble to be used to build fortresses but fortunately Portara survived, because it was too massive and complicated to be destroyed.
Tip: go visit Portara in the evening and watch the sunset, it’s an amazing experience and great for memorable photos.
The old town – Chora & the castle
It’s the classic white greek town, with small streets and cute houses where the locals still live in.
Here you can find also the Kastro (Castle) built in 1200, serving as a protective shield for the fortress of Sanoudos.
On the way to Kastro’s central square a Catholic Cathedral can be found with a double-sided icon of Virgin Mary in an upright position, the other side depicts Saint John the Baptist.
Right behind the Catholic Cathedral, one of the oldest Orthodox Church of Panagia (Virgin Mary) Theoskepasti is placed.
After long walks on these beautiful authentic streets, go at the cafeteria on the terrace of the castle, have a drink and enjoy the gorgeous view. Pure bliss!
The Monastery of Panagia Drosiani
Situated between Halkí and Moní village, Panagía Drossianí is the oldest Christian church on the island.
It was built in phases between the 4th and 12th centuries and is one of the most architecturally and artistically important Christian church in Greece.
It’s free to visit and won’t take you a lot of time since it’s quite small, so really worth it.
Temple of Demeter
It is situated on a fertile ground near the village of Sangri and it’s made of the finest quality of Naxos marble.
It’s believed to date back to the 6th century BC and is dedicated to the ancient goddes of grain, Demeter, as the tradition requires, to help with the agriculture.
The archaeologist Nikolaos Kontoleon discovered the remains of the ancient temple of Demeter in 1949.
In the middle of 1990s, a group of German archaeologists restored the temple to its ancient glory and today it is one of the most beautiful ones, thanks to the picturesque environment where it’s located.
Easy to be reached by car.
Halki village
Located in the centre of the island, used to be its capital as well as its main administrative and trade centre.
You can find here lovely old mansions, colorful alleys with well preserved houses and Venetian Towers.
The broader area of the immense olive grove surrounding the village is dotted by important Byzantine churches with rare frescoes, inscriptions and sculptures.
You can also visit here the Vallindras distillery. It’s the only place on the island producing the Kitron, a typical local liquor you won’t find anywhere else in Greece.
The entry is free and they let you taste the liquor as well 🙂
Filoti village
It’s the largest village on the island in numbers of population, with approx. 1800 locals living here and has a breathtaking mountains view with relaxing climate.
Take a walk in Filoti’s alleys and admire its typical Greek architecture. At the heart of the village, you will discover a beautiful orthodox church, entirely built in white marble.
You will also find here locals doing authentic activities but also taverns and restaurants along the main road. It’s the perfect place if you want to taste typical Greek cuisine.
Hope you enjoyed this article and found some helpful info, in case you plan to visit Naxos island.
These are in a wrap our top attractions of this beautiful island. We enjoyed it in 2019 for 2 relaxing weeks and fully recommend it if you like the typical greek calm islands.
P.S. In case you are interested in checking also a Spanish island, check out this article, link, with the top 10 prettiest beaches of Mallorca.
Naxos island guide
Best beaches:
– Plaka
– Agios prokopios
– Agia Anna
– Mikri Vigla beaches
Places worth a visit:
-> Portara
-> The old town
-> The Monastery of Panagia Drosiani
-> Temple of Demeter
-> Halki village
-> Filoti village