Next stop - Naxos.

After a few hours on the boat from Paros we found ourselves on a new island with new things to see and do. At first we thought our hotel was a fair distance from the port as the free minibus pick up seemed to take forever to get there, however, due to all the one way streets it turned out to be much closer. Many of the hotels offer this service if you let them know in advance.

Because we had arrived by midday we had the rest of the day to explore Naxos town. There are two main attractions in the area; the castle and the temple of Apollo. We first headed to the castle which is hidden within a maze of shops and restaurants. This is similar to what we saw in Naoussa, however, I found the one in Naoussa nicer and less confusing. The castle isn´t really a castle, but an old city within the walls of the town. At the top of the hill there is a church as well as a museum and what remains of the castle.

You have to pay to enter the archaeological museum but Javi and I managed to get for free since we went 20 minutes before it closed. The women told us that if we were quick we could enter. I think it was only €3 to go in, but unless you know a lot about history it would just be a quick visit since there wasn´t anything to read or to give you information.

We made our way back down the hill and then headed to the area of Grotta. Although this is highlighted on the map as a must see, we didn´t find what was to be seen. There are great views though of the temple of Apollo from the other side.

The temple of Apollo is a big door like monument and is best seen at sunset. The first day we went up to see it we got there too early for the sunset and we weren´t too keen to stick around for it, but we did go back on our second day and it is worth doing. The sunset is beautiful and if you can capture that moment when the sun is shining through the temple then it makes a fantastic photo. Sunset when we were there in August was just after 20:00 but there were a lot of people so you need to be patient to get the perfect picture.

Like in Paros, it is a great place to hire a moped, buggy or quad to visit other parts of the island. Unlike in Paros, we had more time and decided to do it. You can get a basic scooter for about 25 euros, but since Javi has a bike licence he could get a more powerful one, which obviously costs more money. We paid €40 and a little bit extra for the full insurance for a 125cc and headed north to little villages and ruins out with Chora.

Our first destination was Apollonas, a coastal town where an ancient male statue called Kouros lies. The is about 50km from where we started and one of the most northern stops on the island. We stopped at few other places as we then headed down the east of the island and then cutting inland to head back to Chora and our hotel. Other stops along the way included Demeter´s temple near Sagri village, a few churches in Chalki and Koronida to see Mycenaean´s Tomb.

For the tomb, we got off the bike on the main road and had to following the not so clear signs through the village and along a dirt track to reach it. If people ask me what not to miss in Naxos, this definitely wouldn´t be it. It literally was an igloo made out of stones. I´m not sure why it is even on the map. One of the good things though is the typical Greek village, where, apart from idiots like us, doesn´t have tourists visiting so you can get a real feel of what Greek life is like.

We took the bike back at around 17:00 but we could have had it until 20:00, but we had a date with the sunset and Apollo.

We spent the time in between relaxing by the pool in our hotel and afterwards headed to one of the restaurants nearby. Like in the other villages and towns on the seafront they are a variety of pricey restaurants along the promenade, but we chose something further away and closer to the main square, which serves just as good food for a slightly cheaper price.

So with our free shuttle service to the port we awaited our third ferry of the trip.

Next stop - Santorini.