As you may know, last summer’s July 4 vacation took us back to Greece,this time to Crete and Naxos. I shared a lot about our time in Crete and how you can recreate it our trip for yourself, but I haven’t shared much about Naxos. And quite frankly, that is because I absolutely LOVED Naxos and simply cannot put into a blog post how much. We also didn’t do anything too touristy or fancy; we just relaxed and enjoyed the island. In this post, I will share what we did with our time in Naxos, including what we loved, what was meh (very little), and what I will do again. If you are considering Naxos as a vacation destination, I highly recommend it!
Chora, Naxos, Greece.
NAXOS ISLAND – LOCATION & GENERAL INFORMATION
The Cyclades are a group of famous Greek islands that are well know for being the “blue and white islands” made famous by the likes of Mama Mia and the legends of Santorini. The Cyclades are also home to the party-centric Mykonos and the recently popular Milos. Naxos is the largest of all the islands in the Cyclades. We have been to 5 of the Cyclades (Santorini, Mykonos, Milos, Paros, and Naxos), and we love this island group.
Naxos, Greece on a map.
Naxos, and the Cyclades generally, are pretty accessible to Athens via a short flight or a ferry. We took the ferry to Naxos from Crete and returned to Athens via plane (25 minutes!). Naxos also has easy ferry connections to other islands in the Cyclades, including Santorini and Paros, making it a good stop on a Greek island hop.
Santorini from our ferry.
DAY 1: A FAST FERRY, A BLUE & WHITE ISLAND, & DELICIOUS GREEK FOOD!
Our first day in Naxos began with a 3 hour ferry ride from Heraklion to Naxos, briefly stopping at Santorini on the way. We did not get off at Santorini (as we’ve been twice previously, and there is no time to “get off” at ferry stops) but we did catch gorgeous views on our way in and out. We arrived in Naxos right on time, grabbed our luggage, and luckily found a taxi to drive us to our hotel, Iliada Sunset Suites. And pro tip, if you need a taxi from the ferry port in Naxos, book in advance. There are not a lot of ferries on this land. We got lucky grabbing one without much of a wait.
Trying to call a taxi…
Also saw this guy with his dog. Need.
The ferry port in Naxos is in Naxos town, or “Chora”, which is Naxos’ main town and was also where we stayed during our visit. We arrived at our hotel, Iliada Sunset Suites, around midday (you could literally see Iliada Sunset Suites from the ferry port but its uphill and too much to walk with luggage), but could not check in until around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. As such, we left our luggage set out on a stroll through Chora in search of lunch.
Arriving at Iliada Sunset Suites. The hotel is tiny, so it has to strictly stick to check in and out times during high season.
As we had been in Crete earlier on this trip, and Crete is NOT blue and white, I was very excited by all the blue and white things we saw walking through Chora. It was very Mama Mia.
Blue & white!
Blue and white buildings in Chora Naxos.
I had researched some lunch spots on the ferry and really wanted to eat at what is frequently described as Naxos’ best gyro spot, To Souvlaki sou Makis, but it was not open when we arrived (despite online saying otherwise…). We kept walking and ended up at Yasouvlaki, a touristy restaurant right on the waterfront. I didn’t expect too much given how touristy Yasouvlaki looked, but it was actually quite good. And very inexpensive. I ended up grabbing a snack at Yasouvlaki another day.
I am always happy for a Mythos beer in Greece.
A tasty souvlaki platter at Yasouvlaki.
We were able to get into our room after lunch. And what a room it was. I was a little concerned because we were getting hostel vibes when we first checked in and dropped off our luggage, but we were totally wrong. Our room was spacious, clean, quiet, and offered beautiful views, including from our own private jacuzzi!
Room views of the Naxos Portara from our room (the Helen) at Iliada Sunset Suites.
After some rest and enjoying our lovely room and the hotel’s infinity pool, we set out for dinner. And of course, Dan wanted to stop on the way for shisha at a place we passed earlier, Gemma Naxian Bistro. While definitely touristy, it was a cool spot with friendly service.
An interesting hookah at Gemma Naxian Bistro.
We left Gemma just in time for sunset, which, like in Crete, was so, so beautiful. Don’t sleep on the sunsets in Naxos (or Greece generally!)
Sunset in a random alleyway.
Chora in the sunset.
Dinner tonight was at Capriccio, a restaurant on Chora’s waterfront. I cannot recall why we selected this restaurant, possibly because the seating looked nice. In any case, we did not have advance reservations, and the menu was Greek/Italian. The food was pretty good. We especially enjoyed Naxian potatoes, or potatoes smothered in the local Naxian cheese, and calamari.
Fried potatoes with Naxian cheese.
Greek fried calamari. This was very good.
DAY 2: SAILING TO PAROS, SUNSET AT THE PORTARA OF NAXOS, & DINING AT THE NAXOS APOTHECARY
Our second day in Naxos began with a sail from Chora to Paros, Naxos’ neighbor island. We were excited about this sail, because Dan and I visited Paros way back in 2008(!) on our very first trip to Greece. Our sailboat departed right on time from Chora’s port. There was a bit of concern that the high winds would prevent us from making it to Paros, but we made it, albeit a bit bumpy. Once on Paros, we stopped at a few locations to swim and cliff (or more like rock) jumping.
Made it to Paros!
Paros.
Dan on the boat in Paros.
We drank Greek beer on the boat.
We ate lunch on the boat before sailing back to Naxos. The lunch was really fantastic, including the best Naxian salad I think I had and absolutely delicious tzatziki. We also sailed back into Naxos just in time to catch a glimpse of a lot of kite surfers, which is really popular in Naxos due to the wind.
A Naxian Salad on the boat.
Homemade tzatziki.
Kite surfers in Naxos.
Sailing back to Naxos.
One more.
Sunset at the Portara in Naxos Greece.
Looking back at Naxos Town after as the sunset from the Portara.
The crowd for reference.
Sunset from the Portara.
This evening’s dinner was just down from the Portara at the Naxos Apothecary. Naxos Apothecary is the well-known Greek Korres’ skin care/makeup brand’s upscale arm, which is apparently only available in Greece. And Korres is from Naxos! Korres opened a restaurant, and small shop, right on Naxos’ waterfront with views of the Portara. We did not have a reservation, but were seated easily. I was really excited to eat here due to its connection to the Korres brand and loved our meal. Dan was not the hugest fan. I would definitely return.
Dinner from the Naxos Apothecary.
A delicious and creative Naxian Salad at the Naxos Apothecary.
A lamb dish at the Naxos Apothecary.
DAY 3: ST. GEORGE BEACH, THE BEST GYRO, & A SUNSET APERITIVO FROM OUR PRIVATE BALCONY
Our third, and final full, day in Naxos was a “free” day, where we decided that we would do whatever we felt like. Exploring the island outside Chora was tentatively on the agenda, but we decided to simply hang around Naxos town on our final day. After a tasty breakfast at Iliada Sunset Suites, we set off on foot for St. George Beach, about a 30 minute walk. On route, especially near our hotel, we had gorgeous views of the Greek sea. I miss it so much.
The sea just outside of Iliada Sunset Suites. I have a hundred pictures like this.
When we arrived at St. George Beach, it reminded us a lot of the Greek beaches that we visited back in 2008 on our very first trip to Greece, including those on Perissa Beach in Santorini. The area around St. George Beach boasts many guest houses and apartment rentals, as well as cafes and beach clubs. We would consider staying here in the future, especially if staying longer than a few nights. We stopped at one of St. George’s many beach clubs for a Cappuccino Freddo and tzatziki with pita bread (it was almost our last day!).
A beach Cappuccino Freddo.
Real Greek tzatziki.
St. George Beach in Naxos, Greece.
Sun loungers for rent.
Dan at St. George Beach.
St. George Beach area.
After quite a bit of walking around St. George Beach, we walked back into the heart of Chora to again try to lunch at To Souvlaki sou Makis, the gyro place we tried to lunch at our first day. Well, we were successful and To Souvlaki sou Makis was well worth the wait. The gyro was excellent. Just what I wanted for my last island gyro (at least for a while).
Traditional Greek gyro in Naxos at To Souvlaki sou Makis,.
After lunch and, or course, a bit of shopping, we retired to our room to enjoy the pool, the hot tub, and the sunset from our deck. We even purchased Mythos beer and tzatziki chips for sunset!
Mythos & tzatziki chips!
View of Naxos Portara from Iliada Sunset Suites at sunset.
Some of the best pictures are after the sun sets.
Fine.
One more of the Portara from our room.
We ventured back into Chora for our final dinner in Naxos. We again did not have reservations, but decided on Taverna Naxos. I had walked by this restaurant earlier and it looked decent. The wait was only about 5 minutes. The food here was a mix of “Italian” and Naxian, similar to a lot of restaurants on the Chora waterfront. It was pretty tasty. Taverna Naxos also had excellent gin and tonics.
A Naxian Salad at Taverna Naxos.
DAY 4: FINAL MED VIEWS & FLYING TO ATHENS
We spent our final morning in Naxos enjoying our balcony and hot tub at Iliada Sunset Suites. I did not want to leave. We asked our hotel to organize a taxi to Naxos’ tiiiiiny airport. We arrived too early for our flight, but eventually made it to Athens with no issues.
Enjoying the last morning of our balcony.
Bye to the beautiful pool.
Bye, Naxos! We’ll be back! Also, you can see our hotel in this picture!