Naxos Island Greece
Greece

28 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

Crystal Cruises (2 Cruises)

SeaDream Yacht Club (2 Cruises)

Silversea Cruises (14 Cruises)

Windstar Cruises (10 Cruises)


Frequently Asked Questions

On the quay at Chora, the island capital, a five-minute walk from the Portara, the marble doorway standing alone on its islet at the harbour entrance and now the emblem of Naxos.
The marble gateway of a temple of Apollo that was never finished, raised in the sixth century BC under the tyrant Lygdamis. A causeway links its islet to the quay and the walk takes about fifteen minutes. Work stopped for lack of funds, leaving this threshold open onto empty sky.
The Portara and the Venetian Kastro quarter fill the morning, then take your pick: Agios Georgios beach at the edge of town, or a loop to the inland villages of Halki and Apiranthos, which takes half a day.
Yes, Agios Georgios starts at the edge of town. Sandy bottom, shallow water, taverns on the sand: the family formula par excellence. Plaka and its dunes lie a few kilometres further south.
Halki, 16 km away, with its old mansions and kitron distillery, and Apiranthos, 25 km away, a marble-paved village clinging to the mountain. The temple of Demeter, a rural sanctuary from the sixth century BC, sits 17 km out in open countryside.
A liqueur made from citron tree leaves, distilled at Halki since the nineteenth century. It is one of the island's most typical souvenirs, along with graviera cheese from mountain flocks and potatoes famous across the country.
Yes, distinctly. Unlike its arid neighbours, Naxos farms and grazes: citrus, olives, cheeses, mountain flocks. It is the largest and most fertile of the Cyclades, and a call here has a rural flavour the archipelago rarely offers.
Buses and taxis leave from the quay. Inland distances are modest but the roads wind: allow extra time and agree on the return with your driver if you head for Apiranthos.
The euro and Greek, with English understood in the shops of Chora. Bring cash for mountain villages and small cheese dairies.
At sunset. The local ritual is to watch the sun drop through the marble gateway, from the islet or from a waterfront terrace. The stone shifts from white to amber.