Naxos has many gorgeous villages waiting to be explored. If you only have time to visit a few, here are my recommendations for the best hilltop villages in Naxos that you should definitely add to your itinerary.
Halki
Halki was the first village we visited in Naxos, and I have to say it was probably our favourite. There is so much to see there, we could have spent a lot longer exploring it. A few hours just didn’t seem long enough.
We hopped off the bus – there are a couple of bus lines that pass through the hilltop villages several times a day, and made our way down the main pedestrian laneway in the village. We strolled past cute tavernas, alfresco cafes and laneway vendors selling fresh produce and other wares, towards the main village square. Our noses started to pick up the most delicious aroma of roasting meat, and as we rounded the corner, we found its source….. an open-air rotisserie belonging to the nearby restaurant. Yum!!
The village is so pretty, like something from a postcard. Colourful bougainvillea compete with overhanging canopies of grapevines to provide shade to passersby. Every time we turned a corner, we wanted to take another photo.
We decided to taste the locally produced Kitpon citrus liqueur at a cute taverna offering several signature cocktails made from Kitpon. The waitress explained the different varieties of the liqueur and its varying degrees of alcohol and sugar content. We both agreed, the cocktails were delicious!
Before catching the bus to the next village, we had time to see one of the churches in the village. We chose the 11th century Byzantine church, which was a short walk through an ancient olive grove away. It was beautifully preserved, still with its original frescoes on the walls.
Filoti
The second village we visited was beautiful Filoti, located at the base of Mount Zas. The village is built into the side of the mountain in an amphitheatric style, affording wonderful views down into the valley.
The village itself centres around a small square on the main street. A huge plane tree shadows the square, providing shade over cute alfresco cafes and tavernas. From the town square there are several main pedestrian streets heading further up that you can explore. Gorgeous painted doors, colourful furniture and classic cycladic paving make for beautiful pictures.
At the end of one of these streets is a gorgeous, white-washed church, and next to the church is a little museum of village life. It is free to enter, they just ask for a small donation, and we enjoyed wandering through this original village house that only turned into a museum last year, in 2022. Different rooms of the house display artifacts from different areas of village life. One room depicts a traditional kitchen, one displays religious relics from the neighbouring church, and one focuses on the agricultural life of the village.
We were drawn to the colourful chairs outside the Old Theatre Coffee Shop and decided to stop for a coffee and an ice-cream. Our friendly waitress, who has lived in Filoti her whole life, gave us some insights into village life.
Filoti attracts visitors of all ages. Some use it as a base to hike up Mount Zas to reach Zas Cave, which according to Greek mythology, is the birthplace of Zeus. It is quite a challenging hike according to one young American hiker we met who had just finished the trek. Do your research before attempting it. For visitors like us, we just wanted to see as much of Naxos as we could and explore not only the beautiful coastal towns and beaches, but also mountain villages and traditional village life. When exploring, there is always time to find a shady spot, in this case under the shady Plane tree, raise a glass and watch the world go by.
Apiranthos
On our last day in Naxos, we chose to explore another hilltop village, this time our destination was Apiranthos, known for its houses made of fine marble.
This hilltop village also offers stunning views back down the valley and like Filoti, has a huge Plane tree offering visitors a shady retreat in the main village square. We spent time wandering the pedestrian paved streets, doing a little shopping and following the clearly set out tourist map of the village which points out significant sights along the way.
We stopped at a cafe with gorgeous views of the valley for lunch, which consisted of a variety of different Naxos cheeses and wine! Delicious!!
We misread the bus timetable and missed our bus back to Naxos town…. maybe just a little too relaxed after our long lunch?? There was only one more bus heading back to town and we were determined not to miss it. We headed to a cute little cafe, with a rooftop terrace, for a coffee with a view and kept a close eye on the time.
Back to the bus stop we headed, for the last ride home and discussed our thoughts on Naxos – authentic, relaxed, scenic, cultural and affordable.
