- Day 13: Naxos, Mykonos and Flight Home (or not)
- Days 11 and 12: Naxos Relaxation
- Day 10: Iraklia and Koufonissi Day Trip
- Day 9: Naxos Mount Zas
- Day 8: Naxos Beach Day
- Day 7: Folegandros to Naxos
- Day 6: More Folegandros
- Day 5: Folegandros
- Day 4: Santorini to Folegandros
- Day 3: Oia and Kamari
- Day 2: Firostefani
- Day 1: Flying into Santorini
Friday, 19th July 2019
Today we leave Folegandros and head to our final island, Naxos. To say I was excited would be an understatement! Naxos is one of my favourite Greek islands, and as my friend has never been, I was looking forward to showing them around. I was a little sad to be leaving Folegandros, though, as it’s such a fantastic, chilled-out island and I had made some great memories I knew I would look back on with joy in the years to come.
Our ferry was at 11:30, and we still needed to get tickets at the port, so with our bags already packed, we headed to Pounta for one last breakfast. At 10:45, we were back at the hotel and ready to take the minibus back to the port – again very kindly laid on free of charge by Polikandia.
Tickets purchased, we had a quick stroll around Kavarostasis, before settling in the shade and waiting for the ferry to arrive. It would be the longest ferry ride of our trip, as unfortunately, the route took us back via Santorini, with stops at Ios and Koufonissi before it reached Naxos. It was a fairly calm day though, and the journey passed smoothly, especially after the obligatory beer(s) on board!
After departing the ferry, we walked across the harbour area in search of the minibus for Naxos Resort Hotel – our accommodation for the next 6 nights. We quickly located it and climbed aboard, setting off immediately as we were the only guests arriving on that ferry.
The hotel is just a few minutes south of Naxos Town, right on St George’s (Agios Georgios) beach. It’s a superb location, as I knew from previous visits to the area, and I couldn’t wait to get settled in.
The hotel itself is lovely (check out my review here), as is the pool area, but I must confess to being somewhat disappointed with the room. It was pretty small and dated, with fairly weak air-conditioning, but it was good enough for us and we didn’t feel the need to complain.
The first order of business was a dip in the pool!
By this point, it was late afternoon so we just settled for sunbathing around the pool until the sun started to fade, then went back to the room to shower and dress for the evening.
On the walk into Naxos Town, we stopped in at several car rental firms to enquire about prices. Our plan was to hire a small car for a single day so that we could explore some of Naxos, including doing the hike up Mount Zas that I had done with Ed the previous year.
With a car booked for two days’ time, we proceeded to the harbour area in search of dinner, ending up at Dal Professore and enjoying a fine, if slightly expensive, meal. I then showed my friend through all the back streets of shops behind the harbour, leading up towards the Kastro.
After stopping for a drink or two along the way, we then returned to the hotel for a well-earned sleep.