Relaxing on Naxos, Greece

After a week in Paris with family and a week on Crete with a friend, we’d been living like Dionysus and it was time to inject a little more wellness, health and homage to the goddess Hygieia and god Askeplios into our lives and a little island hopping was just the ticket.

Like Theseus and Ariadne escaping the labyrinth and slipping off at dawn after slaying the Minotaur, we took the just-past-sunrise Seajets ferry from Heraklion after an early rise in Agios Nikolaus in order to return our car and get to the boat on time. We’d read that they often run late, but as Arya Stark would say, not Seajets and not today. This one ran on time and efficiently with not a ton of time for monkey business on the port stops at Santorini or our destination, Naxos, before it loaded up new passengers and set off for its next ports of call. The boarding and deboarding process feels a bit Ellis Islandy. I’d read about and seen pictures of the luggage storage process and it was as described with piles of it stacked near helpfully labeled carts with the island of your destination which kept the heaps of bags somewhat civilized. Note to fellow travelers: be organized, efficient, pack light and be on time.

Once into Naxos, the wind was howling with a sea of choppy white caps (which explained the drunken sailor walks we all did as we made our ways down the stairs aboard our vessel) and on land we made our way to Europcar, ready to retrieve our pre-booked Mini and relax. A Mini our car was not (we may have been “upgraded” to an economy sized one) which meant relaxing would have to wait until we could navigate our larger-than-hoped-for vehicle to our Airbnb with parking. After a couple of attempts up confusingly narrow streets (alleys?) with cars parked on both sides in some cases and several near misses with various bumpers, side mirrors and corners (I was thanking both whoever the god of driving would have been (perhaps Apollo?) and my practiced parking and driving in tight Portuguese spots and roads) we bailed on finding the Airbnb by car, and its promised private parking space for a public lot via a wide(r) roadway.

How’s a car supposed to squeeze by to the left exactly? Our private garage space was just past the blue car on the right on this one-way “street”

After circling the neighborhood searching for the lot that the “public parking” signs were indicating we realized that those wind-blown dirt lots we kept bypassing were them. Car parked, we retrieved bags to hoof it half a kilometer or so and become some of those oblivious pedestrians we’d been trying to weave around (and cursing) as we mazed our way through the streets with mopeds darting past us and other drivers tailgating. Fortunately for the other tourist drivers our recent experience kept us out of the oblivious camp. Checked in, we breathed a sigh of relief and set off to one of our local cafes for a spinach pie and some falafel on pita. Let the relaxing begin, the in-car island explorations be shorter than originally planned and the rented vehicle be returned early!

Exploring by Car. We set out to do all of our vehicle-assisted island explorations on our first full day. We began by heading due south along the coast to check out a few beaches. We’d read that Plaka beach was once a hippie beach turned touristic, but it felt more low-key and hippie than touristy still, despite the handful of beachside condos built along the shoreline. We took a stroll with a few swimmers and very few sun bathers (it was still cloudy and early-ish). I doubt that this time of year it fills up though. Further down the coast, we pulled over to admire the cacophony of windsurfers cruising along the waves at Orkos beach.

Cutting inland, we headed for the Temple of Demeter to pay homage to the goddess of the harvest. The temple is somewhat remarkably intact, and the site map and museum help explain the context of the pagan temple and later Christian church. The beams of the temple were made of marble laid on top of marble crossbeams to support the marble tile roof. Really worth a visit.

From the temple, we beelined for our lunch reservation at Rotonda, an aptly named round-shaped restaurant atop the mountain with incredible views of the hills and villages below, Naxos town and the coastline and the island of Paros beyond. If you have a car or other vehicle and plan to explore beyond Naxos town, add Rotonda to your itinerary, and if you reserve in advance you’ll get a better view.

We headed back to town, winding down the less-traveled, opposite side of the mountain to try to make it to the Temple of Dionysus before it closed at 3:30 and alas, last call was over and we arrived about 3 minutes after closing time.

Exploring on foot: Naxos Town. Rental car returned, we spent our remaining time wandering around Naxos and enjoying its labyrinthine streets stress-free and on foot.

We began, on a rainy day, on the beach. Agios Giorgios beach is substantial, with a long stretch of flat beach, many places to rent chairs and copious options for beachside bars and restaurants. On a rainy shoulder-season day we had the place nearly to ourselves. We walked from there into town and past Naxos’ port-side restaurants and up to the most distinctive landmark welcoming you to Naxos when you arrive on the ferry: the Portara.

Naxos’ Portara is the only remaining piece of the unfinished 530 BC Temple of Apollo constructed by the tyrant Lygdamis (the same guy who built the temple to Demeter inland). As with the Demeter one, a Christian church was built on top of it in the 6th or 7th century. Today, it’s the site for sunrise or, more popularly, sunset viewing.

Our final day on Naxos was a perfect Cycladic autumn day. Warm with a slight breeze, brilliant blue skies and plenty of sunshine. We spent our morning winding our way amongst the white buildings and grey sidewalks you’ve seen in pictures of the Cyclades. It was just us, a few tourists and of course the most important town residents: the cats and dogs. Up, down and across we progressed through the maze, popping into shops, checking out views and the twists and turns of Naxos town’s old town.

The further you get away from port, (both west and uphill) the better the options are for food, bars, lodging and shops. Naxos is meant to be explored over a few days. At least two if you want to see something other than Naxos town. Add a third if you want to lounge by the beach.

Our Airbnb was fantastic, and we had been eating out a lot both in Paris and on Crete, so we loved the shared rooftop garden and cooking in. However, we did eat at two spots in the town which we must recommend. The first, To Ellinko, is bustling and a reservation (for dinner anyway) is absolutely required. Try the Rosto (the traditional Naxian tender pork dish). We overordered, which essentially meant we ate our dinner over the course of two and a half meals. The second was Nostimon Hellas, a husband-and-wife operation that serves brunch and lunch and no longer serves dinner. We ate here on our first day after arriving and it was so good we just had to go back for our final lunch on the island for the lovely spinach pie and traditional mainland Greek chicken stuffing tortilla.

On our final night, a brilliant sunset illuminated over the island of our next stop: Paros and we toasted Naxos and its quiet charm, driving chaos, and authentic Cycladic essence.