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Very good value everywhere
Date: Oct 30, 2006
Naxos Review:
Nationality: British
Age: 50
Countries visited: 10-15
The Trip: I arrived on the island by Plane and Boat with Easy Jet and Blue Star Naxos. The trip was very good with no delays. The ferry is the best way to arrive, you have time to get into the 'island mood'
Reasons for going to Naxos: Discovered in Brochure/Magazine/Newspaper. Sounded good when I read about it. Visited for one day last year whilst staying on Paros and decided to go back to explore further
Idea before arriving: I've visited lots of Greek islands and they're all slightly different. I read up about this one and looked it up on various web sites. It seemed to be busy enough to be interesting, but not too crowded and big enough to explore by bus with contrasting areas - beaches, mountains, villages
- Island/Area : 10/10 A great location right in the middle of the Cyclades. You never feel isolated as you can always see other islands in the distance
- Landscapes : 10/10 Beautiful sea, mountains, agricultural land - it's got the lot!
Tree Covered : 10/10 Surprisingly green even at the end of August
- Beaches and Waters : 10/10 The best sand I've seen in the islands and crystal clear waters
- Cleanliness : 10/10 Spotless!
- Villages beauty : 10/10 The mountain villages are out of a fairy tale, especially Filoti.
- Main Town beauty : 9/10 The Hora is a bit more commercialized than I'm used to, but this is more than made up for by the lovely old Kastro
- Food/Restaurants : 10/10 The ones along the front cater to tourists, but get into the side streets and there are lovely garden tavernas with excellent home-cooking. Great value too
- Local People : 10/10 The best! Everyone was really friendly, helpful and generous. They also allowed me to speak Greek and didn't reply in English!
- Lifestyle : 10/10 So relaxing
- Activities : The beaches, bus rides and exploring were enough for me, but there were organized trips etc. if one wanted them.
- Excursions & Sightseeing : 10/10 Local buses offer a very good way to get around.
- Prices : 10/10 very good value everywhere, especially so in the quieter areas
- Authenticity : 10/10 Away from the port and the immediate surroundings, very unspoilt and authentic. Where else would you be invited to hold a ten-day-old goat?!
- Peace and quiet : 10/10 Again, away from the port area it's possible to find remote places offering much peace and quiet. Pyrgaki for example is like the end of the earth! (and extremely beautiful)
- Weather : 10/10 Wonderful. Still beautifully warm at the beginning of September
This is the biggest island in the Cyclades but that doesn't have to mean crowded. For people who want bars and clubs, they are there, but for those who don't they can easily be avoided. In the mountain village’s time seems to have stood still. As a tourist you can treat it just as another holiday spot or you can talk to the people and find out about local life. In other words you can make it whatever you want to
Opinion about the accommodations:
- General, for Accommodation : 10/10 a lovely room
- Location (surroundings) : 10/10 Away from any noise in what appeared to be a residential area, although there were quite a few rooms in to let
- Access (distance from town, beach) : 10/10 Only 5 min from the beach and 10 min slow stroll to the town
- Facilities (air-condition, telephone, TV) : 10/10 No telephone (but you don't need one as there are plenty of public phones), but everything else, including cooking rings and saucepans
- Comfort : 10/10 Lovely
- Service : 10/10 Excellent and very friendly
- Cleanliness/hygiene : 10/10 Brilliant
- Price : 10/10 Very reasonable, especially in mid-season
Opinion about catering:
- General, for catering : 10/10 Plenty of choice. A bit touristy on the front but more authentic elsewhere
- Quality of food/drinks : 10/10 Always very tasty and well made.
- Variety of dishes/drinks : 9/10 Again, better away from the front here the choices are more limited
- Cleanliness/hygiene : 10/10 Always spotless
- Service : 10/10 Sometimes a little slow (but that's the Greeks!), but always friendly and polite
- Environment : 10/10 Whatever you want you can find it
- Prices : 10/10 Always reasonable, more so in the small towns and villages
- Access (distance from town, beach, hotel) : 10/10 You can go as far or not as you want to. There's always somewhere to eat even in the smallest places
Opinion about attractions:
- General, for attractions - recreations : 10/10 You can do as much or as little as you want to
- Variety : 10/10 Ditto
- Infrastructures : 10/10 Easy to find out what is on offer
- Cleanliness/hygiene : 10/10 Always good
- Service/Guidance : 10/10 Ditto
- Prices : 10/10 Very reasonable
Opinion about Travel and Transportation:
- General, for travel & transportation : 10/10 Easy to get there from Piraeus or Rafina or by Air
- Transfers : 10/10 Met at the port and dropped off again
- Friendliness, information and help : 10/10 The friendliest people ever!!
- Service : 10/10 Great
- Ticket prices : 10/10 Good
- Cleanliness/hygiene : 10/10 Always good
- Safety/Security : 10/10 Safety - well, you don't judge by English standards do you?!
- Security, you can leave anything anywhere and it's quite safe
Opinion about local transportation:
- General, for local transportation : 10/10 Good bus service (check that the printed timetable is correct though!)
- Vehicle's conditions : 10/10 Good. Some of them have been replaced with brand new ones
- Service : 10/10 Good
- Safety : 10/10 These days they even have seat belts (but nobody uses them!)
- Tickets and prices : 10/10 A good system for buying tickets before you get on the bus, and a cheap way to get around
- Cleanliness/hygiene : 10/10 Good
- Conditions of roads : 9/10 Some are still dirt roads, but there are lots of recently improved ones
Opinion about the infrastructure:
- General, for infrastructure : 10/10 Good
- Tourist information (kiosks, maps, etc) : 10/10 Good in the area of the port
- Telecommunication : 10/10 Public phones are everywhere
- Health service : 10/10 There's a hospital if you need it
- Park & Public spaces : 10/10 Lots of children's play areas
Favorite things about the island/area
- Best Beaches : Agios georgios for plenty going on, Pyrgaki for remote beauty
- Best Villages : Filoti
- Best Activity : Swimming in crystal clear waters
There's something for everyone. There's lots of history for those interested in that, there are places to explore and there are bars etc. for those who want them
Negative opinion about the island
Not really!
Recommendations for future visitors
Find out what you can first to make sure that you get what you want to out of the visit. Talk to the local people - they will appreciate it, especially if you can manage a little Greek
Rating of the overall quality/organization/services of this island/area in comparison with other countries
10/10
More Information about Naxos: click here
Review Posted by:
Di_Ashton
Naxos Topic: General
Location: Naxos
Times Viewed: 647
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