Naxos Island

These pages relate the personal vacation experiences of two South Africans, Debra and Matthew Perks, in Italy and Greece during September-October 2001. The site has the following pages - the Introduction Page (includes Rome), a Page on San Gimignano, Pisa and Florence, a Page on Venice (and the ferry trip to Patras), a Page on Piraeus and the ferry to Santorini, a Page on Santorini Island, this Naxos Island Page and finally Athens.

Like Santorini, we were greeted by a multitude of agents wanting to get us to their accommodation establishments. We wanted to stay in Naxos Hora or main town. The first place we were taken to was not good so we hiked off down towards St Georges Beach - accompanied by yet more agents along the way. The idea was to put the bags down and try to find a place ourselves. This strategy worked and we stayed on the top floor of the "Hara Studios" just up the road from the beach, with facilities almost as good as those we had had on Santorini. Communicating with our hosts was not easy, but both parties were happy with the deal that was struck.


Below left is a picture of one of the inumerable churches of all sizes and localities in Naxos and throughout Greece - this one on an island in the harbour. In the middle is a dawn photo from the harbour area looking towards St. George's beach where we stayed. At left is a street scene in town. The people are shown selling local cheese and wine. The street itself is lined with shops and restaurants, and is the main tourist area in the vicinity of the harbour.

This is a picture of one of the restaurants on the same street. The owners work really hard at drawing passing customers in. Greek food is the obvious focus from gyros to souvlaki to oktopoti (below) which we had to try. Very firm flesh, tasty but pricey compared to other meals. In general the food was great - with Italian pizza and English breakfasts available for those in need of more variety. Looking back at the photos is a reminder of how important the experience of food, deciding where and what to eat and sampling the food (and wine and beer) were.


	Local beer quality, in both Greece and Italy came as a pleasant surprise - names like Mythos and *"A" Beer* (Greece) and *Peroni, Birra Moretti* and *Nastro Azuri* (Italy) bring back fond memories. Some of the local house wines took some getting used to, but of course they had to be tested - it was our duty as tourists.

The fun of having the moped on Santorini made it a must on Naxos as well. Naxos is also the biggest of the Cyclades islands. Busses are available, but do consume time and obviously don't have the same freedom of choice in where to go and how long to spend at a place that appeals. The guy at Mike's Bikes in Naxos town was great - giving us a map and a quick rundown of the attractions on the island and routes to take. The first moped we had had a few minor problems, but Mike's did replace it that same day. A 3-day rental allows for a quick tour of the whole island.

Our first trip was up the west coast to Appollonas and back on an inland route via Koronida and Koronas. The Kouros (ancient statue of a man) - above centre - lying incomplete in a quarry near Appollonas is 10m in length. We wondered how they would have raised these enormous statues to an upright position all those centuries ago.

	The characteristic churches dotted throughout the landscape in Greece are also present here - many in extremely inaccessible places, but all well maintained.
The roads that wind along the coast and through the mountains of Naxos offer extraordinary scenery. Sadly the Cyclades were suffering a drought - no winter rains had been followed by a long dry summer. This was very evident on both Santorini and Naxos. A green countryside must be even more beautiful.

The next day's trip was inland to Chalkio and to see Mt. Zeus (the highest point on Naxos). Near Mt. Zeus we spotted one of the most inaccessible churches of all, high on a nearby peak. The "marble town" of Aperathos is a quiet and beautiful place worth visiting to see its numerous marble buildings.

Chalkio is located in the centre of Naxos Island and is a village that seems untouched by outside influence. Surrounding the village are ancient olive groves with stone retaining walls. Gnarled trees testify to their own many years of existence. An atmosphere of indescribable peace can be experienced on a walk through the countryside here.

	On the way back to town we took a detour to the Dimitra Temple site. The site has unobtrusive signposting with explanatory text for visitors. The road back to town beyond Vivlos provided another opportunity for a scenic photograph with yet another church.
Our last two days were spent nearer to Naxos town. The beach at Mikri Vigli provided good shelter from the north wind that was really blowing. The absolute clarity and calmness of the sea were typical of the other beaches we had seen - in Santorini as well as Naxos. The picture below right was taken in Naxos harbour to illustrate the water clarity - on that day it was possible to see the harbour sea-bed.

	Naxos town buzzes with tourist activity and is great for shopping and food. It also has an interesting historical centre with the Venetian Castle as a focus. We had a pleasant morning exploring the narrow alleys flanked by the well-maintained buildings of old Naxos, and visiting the local Museum.
Our last sunset on Naxos was a day later than planned. We stayed an extra day there rather than rush back to Athens (there was also major confusion about our SWISSAIR flights back home...but that's another story (may SWISSAIR management be condemned to airline food for the rest of their lives). The morning of the 6th October we waited to board "Express Santorini" again for the trip back to Athens.

Information on the pictures:
Pictures taken using a Fuji Finepix 2400Z using a resolution of 1200x600 pixels and a "Basic" compression setting. Thumbnails on these pages are 150x150 and the larger images have been generated at a width of 750 pixels to keep file sizes small enough to load. Copies of the original full size pictures are available (File size +- 300Kb) for those interested.
Mail Matthew Perks with any request.
Copyright 2001: Matthew Perks