PLACES TO VISIT –
NAXOS SIGHTSEEING
Naxos is the biggest island of the Cyclades and it’s magic. Why magic? Here are only few reasons why…
Chora – Naxos Town
Chora, the island’s capital, already has much to offer. Anything you might need you will find here. From supermarkets to banks, pharmacies, rental cars, … you name it. But this is not what makes this place magic. At the beginning of the 12th century, the Venetians successfully defeated the Genoese pirates, destroyed their refuge, the Byzantine castle of Apalírou and built the Castro at the top of the mountain, facing the harbor and the famous Portara which was built from ancient Greeks in the 6th century. Everywhere you go in Naxos town is breathing history.
Today the pictoresque old town is home to numerous lovely taverns, bars, restaurants, shops, galleries. You can come there for days and every time discover something new.
SO WHERE SHOULD YOU GO?
The recommendations below only do show a very small portion of what Naxos has to offer! They’re based on personal preferences, they may change year by year and they are 100% without any advertising or profit in mind. Go check them out or don’t, just don’t say we didn’t tell you 😉
–– Daily Needs ––
Koutelieris Supermarket
A well-stocked supermarket that offers almost everything you need on two levels. it is the biggest and closest from our house and it is located directly on the right-hand side of the main road as you drive from the house past the airport into the city.
Aktaion Bakery and Pastry Shop
On the northern exit of Naxos town. Fantastic bakery and pastry shop, awesome baguettes, but usually not before 10 am. They also serve great sandwiches to take away.
In the Summer months there is a second location on the harbour promenade, selling ice and sweets.
Also highly recommenced is the Naxos bakery at the South end of the harbor promenade.
Maragas Mini Market & Laundry
Mini-Market and laundry, located on the Plaka sandy road - from the house drive down to the sea and turn right. At about 5 minutes drive from the house, they have the most important stuff and you can leven eave your laundry.
Flisvos Sports Shop
Forgotten your board shorts? Or a boogie board for the waves at St. George Beach? Flip-flops? Diving goggles? Or a complete set of wingfoil equipment? You‘ll find what you‘re looking for in the Flisvos sports shop. Located at the end of Naxos town towards the center of the island.
Stamatis Local Products
Located in Naxos town, offerning local cheese, oil, herbs, tea, honey, pottery and a lot more.
Even if you don‘t want to buy anything, you definitely should visit this beautiful store in Naxos town. By the way, this is where we buy the plates, bowls and cups for our house.–– Coffee Shops & Breakfast ––
Palm Twins
From morning to afternoon, the best address for vegetarian and vegan sandwiches, wraps, cakes, smoothies, coffee and much more, always freshly prepared and served with a smile.
At Agios Prokopios, only a few minutes from our house. You can park your car 100m further up the road.
Super nice team, truly THE breakfast tip in Agios Prokopios!
Bossa Café and more
At the southern end of Naxos Paralia, there are actually several cafés and bars that are ideal for brunch in the morning and sundowners in the evening, before or after a stroll through Naxos‘ old town.
Nomad
Located on the Plaka sandy road; head from the house down to the sea, then continue approx. 300 m to the right. You can also go there all day until the beautiful sunset. Not the cheapest place though.
Delulu Café
If you could go straight over the fields, it is just one kilometer behind the house, on the parallel street that leads directly to Orkos and Mikri Vigla. Sandwiches and beverages to take away on your road trip.
Exit the house to the right and turn right in the curve before the first crossing.
–– Dinner in town ––
Scirocco Restaurant
Excellent cuisine, always fresh and partly home-grown, top wine list and an incredibly attentive, friendly team led by the two brothers Nikos and Michalis. An absolute must! And if you can't make up your mind what to chose, just start with a mixed starter plate! They also serve the best Hummus, simply delicious.
Don‘t forget to book a table in the Summer months!
scirocco-naxos.gr
Paloma Bar & Restaurant
Beautiful view of the entire harbor all the way to the Portara. Very varied and really good cuisine. A good tip if you don‘t want to decide what to eat yet.
The lower seating area has the nicer view, but in the evening it is also the smoking area.
Boulamatsis Restaurant
A little hidden, but well worth the search! Authentic Greek cuisine, it‘s best not to order from the menu, but to look at what‘s on display and choose “this and that”. Along with a kilo of wine you can‘t go wrong! With a beautiful view of the marina!
Dal Professore Restaurant
Very nice Italian restaurant right on the waterfront, actually right below the Paloma Bar. Pizza, pasta and much more.
dalprofessorenaxos.com
More recommendations
You can hardly go wrong in Naxos town, as there are so many nice places. We also recommend the Avaton 1739 at the top of the Kastro (best view, see above!), the Meze*2 on the harbor promenade, the Labyrinth in the Old Market (beautiful courtyard) or the 520 Bar (good burgers, good view) near the Boulamatsis - just go and try for yourself! Or, come to think of it, Yefsis, right next to the Paloma Bar also serves Greek cuisine at its best and a very nice interior.
Parking in town
Since you most probably take the car from the house into town, we recommend to use one of the many public parking spaces around town and walk a couple of minutes. There is a parking lot after Koutelieris, just take the left exit at the next roundabout. Free parking to the right, guarded and paid to the left. There is another big one right next to the Paloma Bar and you'll see the signs to all the others.
–– Dinner out of town ––
Picasso on the Beach - Plaka
“Picasso is Mexican”? That‘s debatable. But the Mexican cuisine here is undisputedly fantastic, as is the place here on Plaka beach with one of the best sundowner locations. It‘s also only 5 minutes from the house.
Tip: try the fajitas!
picassoismexican.com
Mitos ARTernative Bar - Chalki
There are actually a couple of nice bars and cafés inHalki, but they are always quite full, especially in Summer. This is when we recommend looking around the corner, in the back street above the square there is MITOS with a small, fine menu and shady spots. And yes, it is ARTernative, quite an alternative so to speak.
Closed Tuesday/Wednesday.
Axiotissa Taverna - Kastraki
If you drive too fast to the South, you‘ll miss a wonderful taverna with great food and a super nice team near Kastraki. It‘s a popular meeting place for locals at the weekend, so be sure to book a table.
axiotissa.com
Faros Taverna - Aliko
At the southern end of Glifada, about 25 minutes away from Argana, is the Faros taverna, right next to the road. Excellent Greek cuisine, the best watermelon salad on the island. Live music on weekends.
farostoualykou.com
–– Sports ––
Flisvos Surf Station – St. George Beach
The Flisvos Sportclub on St. George Beach is the first address for all windsurfers, wingfoilers and stand-up paddlers. The top spot for beginners and advanced surfers. Very good rental equipment, very nice, competent team around Martin and Ranja.
flisvos-sportclub.com
Flisvos Kite Center - Mikri Vigla
About 5 km South of Argana Home you will find the kitesurfing division of Flisvos Sportclub. Kitesurfing is prohibited in the upper bay due to the airport, but at Mikri Vigla you canfind ideal conditions just 10 minutes away.
flisvos-kitecentre.com
Flisvos Watersports - St. George Beach
Here Manolis Orfanos rents out jet skis, takes you water skiing, wakeboarding or flyboarding, and his brother Nikos runs a PADI diving school. The Sun Kyma Bar is also located here, where you can enjoy the sunset after a good session and then walk along the beach into town for dinner.
Sea Secret Boat Trips
There are several boat charter companies in the harbor of Naxos Town. But Jan Andres from Flisvos Sport Club has something very special to offer if you‘re looking for something a little more unusual and sporty.
With Jan, you can dive or surf in absolutely dreamlike spots that you would otherwise definitely not be able to reach.
seasecret-boattrips.com
We Ride Hellas - Naxos town
Island Bike: Great quality bike rental and guided bike tours. If you want to discover Naxos off-road, book a tour with Andy and enjoy the island from a totally different perspective. It is totally worth it, especially in the early or late season!
They offer high quality analog and electric bikes.
weridehellas.com
–– Places ––
Glifada & Aliko
There are lots of beaches worth visiting in the South of the island, but this is a good starting point. There is a parking lot opposite the highly recommended Faros Taverna, from where you can easily reach the water. It‘s worth taking a walk along the coast to the left towards Aliko, but maybe you should consider better boots than flipflops.
Mount Zas
The Zas (home of Zeus) with a little over 1.000 m above sea level is the highest mountain in the Cyclades, offering a fantastic 360° view, sometimes with bearded vultures circling in the distance. Two ways lead to the top, one from the North passing Zeus‘ cave and a little shorter one from the East, both starting behind Filoti. Both are not a super difficult or exposed routes, but you should bring sun lotion, a hat and enough water. Good shoes don't hurt either. In the hot Summer months you probably should avoid the hours around noon.
The hike is approx. 3 hours back and forth.
Apiranthos
The marble city, also known as Aperathos, was probably founded in the 10th century. Most of the streets and alleys in the old town are paved with marble, as are the walls of the houses. There are also a few nice taverns and potteries here.
The cliffs of Pyrgaki
are not actually real cliffs, but a quarry by the sea that is ideal for cliff jumping and also for snorkeling. From 1.5 to 15 meters there is every height here, the water is deep enough everywhere. Of course, no matter if you go there for the first time or come again, before you jump you should investigate the landing and check for objects in the water. At the bottom right there are two options to exit the water, usually there is a little rope hanging where you can pull yourself up. And beware of the (few) sea urchins.
However, you can only get to the end of the bay of Pyrgaki by car, then you have to continue on foot. You can park your car next to the road close by the Psili Ammos restaurant. The hike is approx. 10 min and you should wear shoes, because the rocks on the last 200 meters are pretty rough.
Chalki
Visiting Chalki can be perfectly combined with a tour to the Kouroi of Melanes. The former capital in the middle of the island has a beautiful village center with bars, cafes, restaurants and small stores. There is a large parking lot at the upper end of the village behind the school.
–– Culture ––
The Portara
A true Naxos landmark, still impressive after around 3.000 years. Around 900 BC the Naxian people built a sanctuary for Apollo. Then, around 600 BC, King Lygdamis wanted to show the Cyclades who was boss and planned a gigantic temple to Apollo. Construction came to a halt when Lygdamis was overthrown in 524 BC and no successor wanted to continue the work. Today, only the enormous temple gate and the lowest foundations remain.
There is a saying that you have to go visit the Portara to come back to Naxos. So in the Summer months, especially around sunset, you will have to share the place with other people. Hundreds of people sometime. But it definitely IS a beautiful place.
By the way: if you walk through Naxos town with your eyes open, you will find parts of the temple built into the masonry here and there.
The Venetian Kastro
At the highest point of Naxos town (only accessible on foot) is the Kastro, a Venetian castle, which also houses the Archaeological Museum with 10 exhibition rooms. The history of pirates, Venetians and Greeks on Naxos is super interesting!
(There is an elevator above the Avaton 1739!)
Kouros of Flerio
There are actually two Kouroi near Melanes, one under the trees near the parking lot and another one a little further up the hill.
The one in the picture above is the one up on the hill. The other one close to the parking lot is the better known, probably because most people don't go further 😉
The statues, which are a good 5 m tall and date from around 600 BC, are true sleeping beauties. Further information can also be found on the website
melanesnaxos.gr/en/
Dionysos Temple Yria
The first excavation sites are just a few minutes away from the Argana house, almost between our house and Naxos town. With the car it takes 5 min maybe.
A very vividly prepared site, a good introduction to ancient Greek culture, based in the middle of the agricultural area.
Kouros of Apollonas
Just above Apollonas in the North of the island, there is another Kouros that has been resting since around 700 B.C. Visiting the village of Apollonas with its picturesque harbor promenade after the climb is also highly recommendable.
Demeter Temple Sangri
The partially restored, late archaic temple complex from 530 BC was only rediscovered in 1949. It impressively shows how the temple has changed over the centuries.
Closed on Tuesdays!
Church of Agio Georgiou
Aprox. 600 m from Halki lies the church of St. George Diasoritis, built in the 11th century. The 1000 year old murals are still very well preserved, it is a place worth seeing! The walk to the church is well described.
Panagia Drosiani
This Byzantine church is considered one of the oldest on Naxos and is located between Halki and Moni. The church with unplastered stone walls was part of a monastery and consists of three chapels that merge into one another. Inside there are impressive frescoes from the 6th century.
Bazeos Tower
A 17th-century castle, originally built as a monastery and now used for art exhibitons, concerts. A really impressive building, not too far from home, situated between Vivlos and Filoti. If you‘re on a tour you can perfectly combine this with the Demeter temple at Sangri or with the ancient Venetian Apano Castro.