By air
Naxos (JNX), ~3 km; ferries from Piraeus
Europe · Greece
Naxos, Greece
The Cyclades' green, easy-going island
Getting there
Best time to visit
May to October — the season
Don't miss
The Portara
Plaka beach
The Kastro
Apeiranthos
Things to do
The beaches
The Portara at sunset
Hiking Mount Zas
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Rol1000 · CC BY-SA 3.0
What to pack
Swimwear
A quieter corner
The mountain village of Halki
Questions travellers ask
Is Naxos reached by ferry or by plane?
Both: fly into Naxos (JNX), about 3 km out, or take a ferry from Piraeus.
How should I spend my time on Naxos?
Hit the beaches, including Plaka beach, catch the Portara at sunset, and hike Mount Zas. Then explore the Kastro, Apeiranthos and the mountain village of Halki.
What months are good for Naxos?
May to October is the season. Pack swimwear.
What's Naxos known for on the plate?
Naxos potatoes and graviera cheese.
About Naxos
- Island
Where it is
Naxos is the largest island of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, Greece, with fertile valleys and Mount Zas, at about 1,000 m the highest peak in the Cyclades, rising at its centre.
History
In myth Theseus abandoned Ariadne on Naxos, where the god Dionysus found her and made her his bride. The island's marble was quarried from before 550 BC, and in 1205–1207 the Venetian Marco Sanudo conquered it and made it the seat of the Duchy of the Archipelago, building the Kastro that still crowns the main town; Ottoman rule followed in the 16th century.
People
Naxians speak Greek, and farming matters more here than on most of the Cyclades: the island is known across Greece for its potatoes, its arseniko and graviera cheeses and kitron, a citron liqueur distilled in Halki. Emery mining and marble working are old island trades.
Known for
- The Portara, the marble gateway by the harbour
- The Venetian Kastro in Chora
- Sandy beaches such as Plaka and Agios Prokopios
- Mountain villages such as Apeiranthos and Halki
- Kitron liqueur and arseniko cheese
Did you know?
Giant marble statues of young men, known as kouroi, still lie unfinished in the ancient quarries at Melanes and Apollonas, left where Archaic sculptors abandoned them.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.