COMPLETE TRAVEL GUIDE & TIPS FOR NAXOS

Almost one year after our island hopping tour through the Greek cyclades, I finally had the time to also write down my recommendations for our last (longer) stop: the beautiful island Naxos. Naxos was the biggest island on our tour (we visited Milos, find the guide for one week here; Antiparos for a day, find my guide here; as well as Paros for one week, find my tips here) before flying back from Santorini (and only spending one night on the super crowded island).

Naxos is a very diverse island offering visitors a vast number of mountains, traditional small Greek villages as well as breathtaking beautiful beaches with crystal clear water. As Naxos is the biggest of the Cycladic islands, there are many spots far away from mass tourism waiting for you to be discovered. We spent five days on this beautiful island and did only get the chance to visit the western part of it - next time I would love to stay longer and also get to know the other corners of Naxos.

Have you ever been to Naxos or the Cyclades?
If so, what is your favorite part of the island or which island did you enjoy the most?
Let me know if you have any tips for Naxos or other islands in this beautiful part of Greece!
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Lots of love,
Magda
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How to get to Naxos

As Naxos was our last stop before heading home from Santorini, we took the ferry from Paros to get there (find the travel guide for one week in Paros here). So basically you can reach Naxos via ferry from all closeby islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and as we did Paros. Just check your preferred timings and ferries at the ferryscanner and book the tickets there directly. Prices for a ticket are around 30€ depending on the speed of the ferry (30€ was the cheapest one for 2h to Santorini) and the season.

Getting around Naxos

As always on our island hopping tour throughout Greece, we pre-booked a motorbike before our arrival in Naxos. I honestly don’t remember (and didn’t save the place unfortunately) where we got our motorbike in Naxos, but I assume that all providers are rather similar. We just confirmed the timing at the port so that the motorbike was already ready for us to be picked-up at our arrival in Naxos. Driving around Naxos with the motorbike is pretty easy, although the island was the biggest one in our Milos-Paros-Naxos-Santorini tour. That’s why we didn’t explore e.g. the east and north part of the island. If you want to see even more of Naxos, maybe a car is better as the distances can be quite long compared to other small islands in Greece (e.g. from Naxos town to the southeastern part Panermos it’s around 1h 25min driving time with the car).

Where to stay in Naxos

We decided to not stay in Naxos town but Agia Anna as we wanted to enjoy some last relaxing days directly at the beach of our island hopping tour through the Cyclades. The location was really practical as we practically were able to walk to the beach (which we still never did haha) and also were close to Naxos town (~15’ drive with the scooter) as well as other small villages for dinner. There are a lot of options and we booked quite spontaneously a few days before our arrival in Naxos. As we visited the island in September it was not very expensive, still there were not a lot of options left so better book a bit in advance!

Beaches:

• Agios Prokopios Beach
  One of the most beautiful beaches in Naxos with crystal clear water, fine sand and many different options for renting a beach chair and sunbeds.

• Maragkas Beach
  Endless beach stretching from the Paradiso tavern down for many kilometers. You can decide to grab a beach chair or just enjoy the open beach areas with your towel. There are several really nice beach bars along the way where you can grab lunch, coffee, drinks etc.

Photospots

• Temple of Apollo
  Come here for an unique sunset and enjoy the view over the ancient temple and the sea. Tip: bring a blanket, something to snack and/or drink to this unique sunset spot.

Restaurants, Coffee Spots and Bars

• Paradiso Taverna
  We passed this taverna when we drove to the beach and immediately knew where to go for dinner on that day! The tables are located directly at the beach so that you can enjoy a beautiful sunset while ordering authentic Greek specialities.

• Tohu beach bar restaurant
  This was actually our favorite spot next to the beautiful beach to enjoy a delicious breakfast, coffee and actually just spend the whole day from the beach to the beach bar. We also brought our laptop and were able to work a bit from the beach bar while enjoying the view on the sea - definitely a must when you’re in Naxos!

• Honey & Cinnamon Cocktail Bar
  We enjoyed amazing cocktails in this beautiful hidden bar. The vibe was really relaxed and they served popcorn as a side to the drinks, which for me as a popcorn lover, was amazing!

• Su e Giu
  In case you are looking for an authentic Italian restaurant with tasty pasta and pizza, this place is perfect for you! The service is really nice and the location at the promenade perfect for a night in Naxos town.

• Nomad Beach Bar Restaurant Naxos
  Really nice beach bar with a cool boho vibe! We enjoyed great coffee and a break of the sun in the shade at this beautiful location.

• Vlahos
  We enjoyed our first dinner in Naxos in this beautiful place and were immediately in love. The traditional restaurant is overlooking the island so it is perfect for enjoying a beautiful sunset while dinner. The food was delicious and there were so many cute baby cats when we were there!

• O Vasilis
  We wanted to visit the small mountain town Melanes for dinner and decided to have dinner at this traditional Greek tavern. The food was really good and we got to speak with the owner who actually spoke German and also had been in my hometown, Linz, before as he had some relatives there - the world it just too small!

• Avaton 1739 - Coffee & Wine Roof
  Although we didn’t manage to visit this place, I want to put it on the list as it was highly recommended to us. Apparently the cocktails and view is really nice!

• Barcode - Coffee, Brunch & More.
  Beautiful place for delicious breakfast and tasty coffee. The place is not located directly in Naxos town, but it is definitely worth to visit this hidden gem!

• Rotonda - Cafe Bar Restaurant in Naxos
  Find this beautiful place in the middle of the mountains for delicious food and a breathtaking sunset view over the whole Naxos island!