Things to do in Naxos

Naxos is the largest of the Cyclades, at 430 square kilometres, and a fertile one. Mount Zas rises to 1,001 metres. Farms and villages fill the middle, and the long beaches face west.

The port town is Chora, also called Naxos Town. It is the base. Things to do in Naxos split into a bus day around the interior and boat days to other islands.

Chora and the interior

• Chora. The Portara, a marble gateway left by an unfinished temple of Apollo, stands at the harbour mouth. Above the old town is the Venetian castle quarter. The dukes of Naxos ruled the island until 1566.
• Temple of Demeter. A marble temple of the 6th century BC, recently restored, with a small museum on site.
• Tragea valley. Damalas keeps a traditional pottery workshop. Chalki, 16 km from Chora, is a neoclassical village that was once the capital, with a citron distillery.
• Apiranthos and the north. Marble-paved lanes in Apiranthos, then the fishing village of Apollonas. On the way back is a colossal unfinished kouros of the 6th century BC.

The bus tour covers all of it in eight hours, with hotel pick-ups in Chora, Stelida, Agios Prokopios, Agia Anna and Plaka.

Boats and kitchens

• Delos and Mykonos. A ten-hour day with about three hours on Delos, then time in Mykonos Town.
• Santorini. Two hours each way by sea, a bus from Athinios to Fira and seven hours on the island.
• The Small Cyclades. Iraklia and Koufonissia, with 4.5 hours on Koufonissia for swimming and fish in the tavernas.
• Cooking. Four hours: an olive press museum in Eggares, then cooking a Naxian dish on a farm in Galini.

Practical

• Weather. July and August peak at 30C by day, with next to no rain from June to August. January days are about 14C. A year brings only some 350 mm, mostly November to February.
• The meltemi. This northerly wind blows hardest in July and August afternoons. It keeps the heat near 30C and can cancel boats.
• Boat tickets. The port authority wants each passenger's name, gender, nationality and birth date when you book. Allow half an hour to reach the quay.
• Pick-ups. The bus tour collects only from the areas named above, and the Small Cyclades cruise includes no transfer.