Naxos Island, Greece - September 2025

Naxos Brief History/Information

Naxos was a major center for marble carving, and the island’s pure white marble made it famous. This marble helped build remarkable temples, especially the Temple of Apollo.

A local myth claims Zeus was raised on the island’s highest peak, Mount Zas (Zeus). Naxos features prominently in Greek myths:

• Theseus defeated the Minotaur, and he abandoned Ariadne.

• Ariadne was discovered by Dionysus, who fell in love with her.

What we did

We left Santorini for Naxos via the Sea Jets Ferry. Upon getting off the ferry, we were met by our tour guide ‘Alex’ from Naxos Sun Holidays who took us all over the island of Naxos (see ‘Places of Interest’ below).

After finishing our tour with Alex, we were taken to where we we spent three nights at the beautiful Castle Mansions Apartments located right in the heart of old town. Very easy to walk all around. We relaxed and settled in and then met our next tour guide ‘Liana’ for a walking tour of Naxos Old Town Tour with Wine Tasting and Dinner booked through Viator! This was a fabulous tour, taking us through the labyrinth of streets to get to fantastic places.

Places of Interest

What we did with our tour guide ‘Alex’ from Naxos Sun Holidays:

• Damalas Pottery - an amazing multi-generational pottery workshop of the Limpertas family located in Damalas village, Naxos, Greece. They are known for preserving ancient ceramic techniques, offering hands-on experiences for visitors, and creating unique, functional pottery. You can purchase the beautiful pottery and they will even mail it, but take special note…. This is a Cash Only establishment, and the delivery of items took about two months.

• Naxos Panagia Drossiani Church - the oldest Christian church of Naxos.

• Citron Distillary in Halki - They have been distilling the kitron liqueur from the eponymous citrus fruit in the same way since 1896. We sampled and then purchased.

• Apiranthos Village - known as the "marble village" for its marble-paved alleys, Venetian architecture, and rich cultural heritage.

• Portara - Temple of Apollo - The "Temple of Apollo" in Naxos is actually an unfinished ancient temple, with its sole remaining part being the iconic marble gateway known as the Portara.

What we did with our tour guide ‘Liana’ from Naxos Old Town Tour with Wine Tasting and Dinner booked through Viator:

• Naxos Cheese Koufopoulos - a selection of Aegean wines, perfectly paired with local cheeses, artisanal cold cuts. They had some amazing samples.

• Catholic Cathedral of the Presentation of the Lord - An old church in the heart of the Naxos labyrinth.

• Greek Store - Amazing olive oil tasting in an old refurbished store.

• Honey & Cinnamon - we were served delicious Orange Cake

• Apostolis - Delicious and very filling Greek dinner paired with local wine.