Naxos - a Cycladic paradise for all tourists (21st stop)

We arrive at the bustling port city of Naxos Chora around midnight. We walk along the long promenade and around us is pure life. Restaurants line up with bars, ice cream parlors, bistros, snack bars... We immediately notice the difference to Syros: this island is clearly more oriented towards vacation tourism. Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades with approximately 18,000 inhabitants. The pedestrian zone is wide, so the crowds have plenty of space. Naxos Chora is dominated by a castle complex built by the Venetians above the 30-meter-high hill of the city. The underlying citizen city has hardly changed since the Middle Ages. Our accommodation is in a typical white house with blue shutters, like many houses in the city. However, we are accommodated in the basement and have a total of 7 beds available. The ferry ride has exhausted us, so we go to sleep.

Because there are crêpes on every corner, we decide to have one for breakfast. There are benches on the promenade where we enjoy them. We finally want to have all the ferries secured. That's why we book a ferry to Amorgos as well as one from Amorgos back to Athens (Piraeus). We also negotiate a good price for accommodation in Amorgos. We were also recommended a day trip to Koufonissi, for which we also get tickets. We are happy that we get a 30% discount on everything again with our Interrail ticket. Then we finally want to rent a scooter to explore the island. But today we encounter a different problem. There are still plenty of scooters, but since we have no experience with them, no one wants to rent one to us. The roads in Naxos are apparently not easy to drive on, so we are advised against it. In the 5th store, we decide to heed the advice and rent a quad bike. Then we can finally start. We explore some of the beautiful, small villages in the interior of the island. Behind Naxos Chora, we climb the mountain in serpentine curves to the first village Halki. We start our visit at a Byzantine church about 1000 years old. It is located a little outside the village. In the background, high rocky mountains rise up. The small church with the paintings inside impresses us. After that, we walk through the small, winding alleys of the old town, which surprises us with its colorful colors. It's very pretty here, but we move on.
The next stop is Filoti. Here it looks like everyone imagines Greece. The houses are white with blue shutters, and the church also has a blue roof. But because the heat is already too much for us again, it will be a short visit. Our destination is the small village of Apirathos, the oldest village on the island. It is located at an altitude of 650m and has just over 900 inhabitants. The village is of special importance to the island, as high-quality emery is mined here. Many streets and walls here are made of marble. In addition, the village impresses with its nice alleys, cute shops, and beautiful flowers everywhere. We like the old charm of the village so much that we want to take a longer break here and have a coffee/tea. We also have a tomato toast. We've had enough of city sightseeing in the heat. There are still some sights on the island, but we don't have enough time for them. We choose a beach that we want to visit on the way back. We choose Plaka, the longest beach on the island. After some difficulties with orientation, we finally arrive there and start walking along it. After a while, we give up - well, it's just too long. Instead, we find a shady spot to relax. We do that for 1-2 hours until hunger drives us further. At a beach tavern, we enjoy Greek dinner at sunset (mushrooms in wine sauce and moussaka). The atmosphere is very nice and relaxed, but we have to return the quad bike soon. The many one-way streets in Naxos don't make it easy. In the end, we manage to do it and we go back to the promenade to sip a cocktail. We also write a bit of the blog here. Back in the room, we fall asleep exhausted.

Before we go on our excursion to Koufonissi today, we pass by the port to visit the Portara of Naxos. It is the ruins of an ancient temple with a preserved gate on a viewpoint overlooking Naxos Chora and the sea. It is extremely windy, and the waves crash against the shore. It makes for a very impressive sight. Our ferry is supposed to leave at 12:10 p.m., so we soon set off. Completely in vain, as we soon realize, because the ferry is already an hour late. We abandon our plan to walk around the island once. But we will definitely find something else beautiful. Already on the way to the island, we see the barren, desert-like landscape. The island looks very small from the large ferry. We decide to take a taxi boat to Pori. We want to go there because we have heard about the Ksylompatis caves. On the way, we also stop at Italida beach, which is already very crowded. With significant waves, we head towards Pori. We are no longer allowed to let our feet dangle in the front because it is too dangerous. We really enjoy riding the waves. When we arrive in Pori, it looks even more desert-like. Apart from the beach and the caves, there is only a kiosk and a few hiking trails. It is super windy on the whole area. While we stand at the cliffs, we almost get blown away. The crystal-clear water shines between the cliffs. There is a small tree on the beach that provides shade for us. The wind is so strong that we don't really feel like going into the water. Instead, we have a conversation with a theater student from Athens. She is on vacation on Koufonissi and when she accidently meets people from her homeland, she only says to us that Greece is a very small country. We always find it nice when it is so uncomplicated to make new contacts. But we have to go back soon because our ferry leaves at eight o'clock. So we ride the waves back to Koufonissi. For the return journey, we take ice cream and dakos (rusk bread with tomatoes, capers, and feta cheese) with us. That's how another beautiful day on the Greek islands comes to an end.

The ferry from Naxos to Amorgos leaves again around noon. So we have enough time to say goodbye to the city and the island once again. We eat Greek donuts (loukoumas) for breakfast, which resemble our Auszogene. We stroll through the narrow streets of the old town again and treat ourselves to a smoothie. In the end, however, we wait another hour for our ferry. Ciao Naxos!

P.S. no, none of the photos are filtered.