naxos

After six years away, hubby and I finally made it back to the Cyclades! But things have changed since our last visit to Greece—this time, we brought our toddler on her first visit to her family’s homeland.

Naxos is a beautiful place to stay no matter who you bring along, and I was especially glad we chose it as our first island getaway with the little one. Compared to other islands we’ve visited, I found it had more ruins, high quality dining options wherever we went, and a wider selection of beaches to visit. We stayed at the Naxos Green Village Hotel in Chora, the port city of Naxos, where we could easily walk to several shops, top-tier restaurants, the Castle of Naxos, the Temple of Apollo, and the beautiful (and shallow) Agios Giorgios beach. We took a few longer trips to Agia Anna and Agios Prokopios beach, but sadly we decided against renting a car to visit the Eggares Olive Oil Press, the Vallindras Kitron Distillery, or any of the mountain villages due to a heat advisory on our last two days. I will add some notes from family here to advise your journey if you wish to venture a bit farther from port than we did.

Naxos Green Village Hotel

I feel obligated to say a word about our hotel before launching into our activities on the island. Naxos Green Village Hotel is an excellent home base for families, for several reasons: the on-site shop and restaurant, Pantry, is run by a sweet family and boasts a play kitchen and bookshelf for kids to play alongside the owners’ children while parents shop, eat, or have a leisurely drink on the patio (frappe or mojito, you decide). The hotel offers useful amenities, including reasonably priced laundry services—which I’ve learned are a must when traveling with toddlers! There is also a massage studio, a reformer pilates studio, and a solid and simple weight room. Last but not least, the saltwater pool is a perfect blend of kid-friendly and grammable luxe, from the 2-foot deep play section to the in-pool sun beds… I would honestly stay here again for the pool alone.

Beaches on Beaches

Our daughter had a short tolerance for heat while we were in Athens, but in Naxos she could spend hours reapplying sunblock to play at the beach. Her favorite spot was Agios Georgios beach, because she could venture pretty far into the water without going beyond chest-level. It is also walkable from downtown Chora, a big plus for avoiding cab fare or sleepy transfers out of the car. And while every beach we went to had solid dining choices, Naxaki at Agios Georgios was my all-time favorite for its ambience, creative cocktails, and fresh and thoughtful dishes.

We also enjoyed Agia Anna, Agios Prokopios, and Maragkas Beach. Each beach is full of restaurants and bars with chaise lounge service and tables in the sand, a priceless convenience for when our girl didn’t want to stop building a sandcastle at meal time (which was every time). All of them offer a beautiful view of the sunset, but the slight westward curve by the small port at Agia Anna boasts a more direct angle if you’re seeking dramatic portraits by the sea. Hold down a spot at Island Bar around 7:30 and you should have space to take your photos before the crowds gather… by 8:00 pm, it gets more competitive. We had dinner at Palatia Beach restaurant just a few doors down, where we drank Aperol spritz ate mezze style while our kid ferried back and forth from the shoreline to our table between bites. I recommend the smelt!

We booked a family photoshoot with Spyros Plakidas, and I can’t recommend working with him enough. He suggested we walk from Maragkas Beach, just across from Paradiso Taverna, up the hill to the secluded chapel of Agios Nikolaos. I really appreciated his vision, easy rapport, and patience as we tried to get our daughter to stop playing in the sand long enough to smile at the camera. We had fun capturing memories despite the hot sun, and then Spyros gave us a list of restaurant recommendations where we could cool off down the hill at Agia Anna. He told us the calamari at Gorgona would change our idea of what calamari even was, and he was right! We never actually ate at Paradiso, but almost everyone we spoke to said it was a favorite so you should probably try it when you go. P.S., there’s a nude beach at the north end of Maragkas, if you’re into that sort of thing.

We spent the least time at Agios Prokopios, but we appreciated its natural beauty and the fact that the north end of the beach is undeveloped. We ate our fill with our feet in the sand at O Barbounis, where we found our favorite french fries and horiatiki of the trip—because yes, we had french fries and horiatiki at every single restaurant we visited. The fish was deliciously fresh and the moussaka was also the best I’d had in years.

Downtown Chora

Chora is a sweet little port city. At first I wasn’t so sure about staying in the main town, since my experiences on other islands had taught me this is the most touristy place to be. Since we were there a bit early in the high season and mostly kept away from the waterfront, we found quiet enough corners to enjoy ourself without too much of a crowd.

I did my best shopping at Butterfly Jewelry Store, Zoom Book Store, and Sun Ray Toy Store. The jewelry at Butterfly was well-made and safe for sensitive skin; Zoom sells books in Greek and English, and stamps if you’re trying to send a post card but can’t get figure out the random hours at the post office (it me); and Sophia and I were captivated by the mostly wooden and handmade curated collection at Sun Ray. The owner was very happy to demonstrate all the fun interactive toys and let my kid play with some of the display sets. She took home a box of wooden cherries and played with them for the rest of the trip.

Dining options were not as reliable here, in my opinion, but we had decent Italian food at Hug Me Naxos and gyros at Yasouvlaki. Our favorite option in town was another recommendation from Spyros, Metaxi Mas. It’s nestled in one of those labyrinthine alleyways that island villages are known for, complete with boughs of bougainvillea and a pack of well-fed cats. We especially loved their fried eggplant and tzatziki, but be prepared for some serious garlic breath if you order the latter.

Portara, or the Temple of Apollo

The “Great Door” at the Temple of Apollo is one of the most famous and prominent ruins of Naxos. It juts out on its own little peninsula at the northern tip of Chora, so it greeted us at port before we could even see the rest of the island. We had a nice little hike from the center of town, down along the waterfront, across the land bridge and up the hill to watch the sun set at the shrine to the Sun God. I recommend starting your ascent a little earlier than we did, more like 7:15 pm, but we still managed to spend 20 or so minutes in awe of another gorgeous light show above the Aegean. It was one of the busiest spots we visited on the whole trip, but there was a communal feeling of reverence watching the sun go down in the west and the full moon come up above town in the east. We even got to see a couple get engaged! I recommend bringing cash for the buskers (mostly teen musicians with impressive talent) and shoes with good ankle support if you’re prone to rolling yours (like me).

Eggares Olive Oil Press and Museum

Again, we didn’t actually make it to this special destination, but my sister-in-law said it was one of her favorites. You can watch the traditional method of olive oil production (no reservations needed), and visit the small museum for more information on the process. A great spot to pick up bottles of olive oil for souvenirs! Or for your own consumption, I won’t judge.

Vallindra Kitron Distillery

This recommendation also comes from my sister-in-law. At this distillery, you can see how the local kitron liqueur is made from the leaves of citron trees, a lemon-like citrus native to the island and much of Southern Greece. The liquor is one of three Greek aperitifs with a Protected Designation of Origin, and the Vallindras family have been producing it for five generations. In the distillery tour, you can see machinery from as far back as 1862, around the time that Grigorios Vallindras founded the workshop. Reservations required!

I would have loved to visit such a historic landmark, but I was happy to find a consolation prize of homemade kitron at Naxos Green Village hotel, sold by the owners of Pantry and fermented in glass jars for months at a time by their Yiayia. If you can’t make it out to Chalki, please stop by to see Dimitris and Despina!