Naxos 2005 photos-page 1

We spent about 16 days in Greece again this year from the 21st of August to 6th of September. Two of our friends were also there for the first week so we arranged to meet up on the island of Naxos. After flying to Athens we headed straight for the port of Piraeus to catch a ferry to Naxos. The ferry took about 3½ hours on a high speed ferry, the normal time is more like 5 to 5½ hours from Athens.

We initially intended to move around a bit between the islands, as we did in 2003, but decided to stay on Naxos instead albeit with a day trip to the neighbouring island of Paros, only 1 hour away. The island is very beautiful and mountainous but also has many great restaurants and bars without being too 'touristy'. Most days were spend just relaxing on the beach in front of our favourite beach bar, Trata, but we also hired scooters for 3 days to travel inland and explore the island. The mountain villages are really worth exploring with their brightly decorated houses and shady terraces. On our return we only spent 1 night in Athens but after visiting Plaka for the evening my impression of Athens is much improved over my last visit.