Naxos Water Skiing profesional skier skiing  on the flat waters of Agios Prokopios beach

Naxos Villages

There are around forty villages in Naxos �all of them in the island� upper half, and a few of them largely unaltered architecturally during recent decades�omething that cannot be said about villages in most of the Greek islands (or Greece in general). One will not find much tourist accommodation in the villages, though there are some rooms in Filoti, the largest village, and a few rooms scattered here and there in other places can be found if one asks around. Except in Apollonas, on the island� north tip, hotels have not been built all over the island, which contributes strongly to its charm.

Travelling east from Hora/Naxos, one road forks off to the right to to the Tragea Valley passing through the village of Galinadho, with Glinadho closeby, both of these with much modern concrete construction, but the ride over the mountain is lovely, with some far views both towards the sea and inland. Before reaching Halki, one passes near the Sangri villages, which have some nice open countryside and dairy farms surrounding them, an area especially lovely in spring. Farther on, off to the right up a long entry road, is the village of Damarionas, with a mix of older and newer structures, but Halki stands out as one of villages with older architecture, much of it Venetian, with a high-walled �yrgos� some very lovely churches on the main street, and some fine Byzantine churches just out in the countryside beyond the town, which is surrounded by olive groves. On the little back streets of Halki, near Yianni� taverna, one will find the wonderful old Vallindras store and distillery, where one can see how kitron, ouzo, and raki are made. The building that houses the store and tasting room is all wood, with a marvelous atmosphere; beyond it is the distillery. The Vallindras family has been in the business for many generations; kitron trees were once far more plentiful on the island than they are now.

Naxos Beaches
The closest beach to the harbor is the beach below Grotta, just beyond the little causeway that goes out to Palatia islet with its large marble portal, though this is hardly the loveliest of Naxos beaches. One can also swim off of the rocks to the north of the causeway, and see remains of ancient Cycladic buildings below the water.

Many locals and tourists also swim on the harbor side of the causeway, leaving their things on the slate walks alongside the water, though there is no beach here. The sandy town beach of Aghios Yiorgos on the south end of town is convenient to walk to from town but its assets end there.

The southwest coast is where one finds the fabulous beaches of Naxos, with more than 10 km/6.2 miles of almost continous soft sand which begins a few miles to the south of town. Among the best beaches in Greece, it is these that draw many visitors to Naxos. The first is at Aghios Prokopios, which, along with Ayia Anna to the south, are flanked by a lot of tourist development�avernas, hotels, stores, car rentals�he usual mix.

For more sandy beach and sea and less of all that, one must go farther south, beyond Maraghas, to Plaka and Mikri Vigla, though there are also hotels and rooms just in from the beach, as well as some good tavernas. Yet farther on are Aghiasos, Katraki, Pyrgaki and the little cape of Aliko with tiny coves with little sandy beaches and dwarf trees up above them.

A sandy, quite driveable road flanks the beaches, and the buses go back and forth along it every half hour all day and into the evening. Much of the development in the area beyond Maragas has happened only in the the past decade, to the delight of some and the chagrin of others.

There are a few beaches along the northwest coast of the island, notably at Abram, and on the island� north tip is the old fishing-village-turned-resort of Apollonas, with two beaches. The east coast of the island is quite rugged and steep, though many make it down to the little pebble cove at Lionas (about 4 miles below the mountain village of Koronos), and to Moutsouna, 7 rather hair-raising miles below Apiranthos, both of the latter haunts with some summer-fall tavernas.

Naxos at a Glance

The largest, greenest, and most fertile island in the Cyclades, Naxos also has the highest peak, Mt. Zas/Zeus (1008 meters/`3315 feet), wonderful rugged high ridges with spectacular views, numerous villages, some of which have wonderful traditional architecture, a fine main harbor town (Naxos/Hora) with a long, many-structured Venetian castle, and a fine labyrinthine old market town with arched passageways.

Added to all this are delicious local meats, potatoes, citrus fruits, cheeses, wine, the speciality Naxos liqueur known as kitron, and seemingly endless kilometers of continuous sandy beach along the southwest coast.

Most of the tourism on Naxos is concentrated between the main town and these beach areas, from Aghios Prokokopios and Ayia Anna on down, though there are also a couple at Apollonas, on the island northern tip. Naxos is a good island for hiking, with Byzantine churches and chapels, and old Venetian fortified mansions along the way