A Naxos walking tour leads through the Old Town lanes and the Venetian Kastro of Naxos Town and out along the causeway to the Portara. Plan the rest of the trip with Greece Tours.
Where do the walking tours go?
Through the Old Town of Naxos Town, up the lanes of the Venetian Kastro, into the Archaeological Museum, and out along the causeway to the Portara, the marble doorway of the unfinished temple of Apollo.
The Kastro is the walled Venetian quarter built above the harbour.
The Old Town lanes below it are covered, vaulted and narrow.
The Portara stands on the islet of Palatia at the end of the causeway.
How long is a Naxos walking tour?
The island tours run longer because they leave Naxos Town by road.
What is the Kastro tour?
A walk into the 13th-century Venetian castle above Naxos Town, past the tower houses of the Venetian families, the Catholic cathedral and the museum, with the guide telling the story of the Duchy of the Aegean.
Marco Sanudo founded the duchy on Naxos in 1207.
Coats of arms still sit above the doorways in the Kastro lanes.
What is the Portara?
A marble doorway about 6 metres high standing alone on the islet of Palatia at the harbour entrance, all that was built of a temple of Apollo begun in the 6th century BC and never finished.
A short causeway from the harbour reaches it on foot.
The doorway frames the sunset from the town side.
It is the first thing arriving ferries see.
What is the sunset walk?
The Castle walking tour also ends at the Portara for the sunset.
Evening is the coolest hour for walking the lanes.
Is there a free walking tour in Naxos?
Guests pay the guide what the walk was worth at the end.
Places are reserved online before the start.
It covers the Old Town and the Kastro in a single loop.
What is the food walking tour?
The eating side sits at Naxos food tour.
What does the museum tour cover?
The tastings are of Naxos products taken during the walk.
The museum building itself was the Commercial School.
Who guides the walks?
Certified licensed guides from the local operators, who run the Old Town tours, the sunset walks, the food tours and the island tours, and arrange private versions of every tour on request.
Groups stay small on the town walks.
Guides run the tours in English.
What do you wear and bring?
Shoes with grip for the marble lanes and the Kastro steps, water in summer, a hat for the causeway to the Portara, and cash for the free tour’s tip.
The Old Town lanes are worn smooth and slippery in places.
The causeway has no shade at all.
The island page sits at Naxos.
How do you book a Naxos walking tour?
Book online before arriving in high summer, pick the tour by its length and its theme, and ask the operator for the private version when the group wants its own guide.
Operators run the town walks daily in season.
The kitchen side sits at Naxos cooking class.
What does a Naxos walking tour see in the Kastro?
The Venetian quarter on the hill above the town, entered through the Trani Porta gate, with tower houses, coats of arms over the doorways, the Catholic cathedral and the museum in the old school building.
Marco Sanudo founded the Duchy of the Aegean here and built the walls.
Descendants of the Venetian families still live behind some of those doors.
The lanes are paved in marble and narrow enough to stay shaded.
What does a Naxos walking tour see in the Old Town?
The vaulted lanes below the Kastro, the Bourgos quarter, the market street and the waterfront, where whitewashed arches close over the alleys.
The Old Town was built inside the walls for the Greek population.
Shops and workshops line the market street from the harbour up.
The lanes are covered in places, which keeps them cool at midday.
What does a Naxos walking tour see at the Portara?
A marble doorway about six metres high on the islet of Palatia, all that stands of a temple of Apollo begun in the sixth century BC, reached by a causeway from the harbour.
The lintel alone weighs many tonnes and was cut from local marble.
The temple was never finished and its stone was taken for other buildings.
The doorway frames the sunset from the town side.
How long is the walk to the Portara?
About ten minutes from the town square along the harbour and the causeway, on level ground with no shade.
The causeway is a raised path with sea on both sides.
It fills with people in the half hour before sunset.
Wind crosses it on most days.
What does a Naxos walking tour cover in the museum?
The archaeological museum inside the Kastro, in the old Commercial School building, with Cycladic figurines, Mycenaean pottery and Roman mosaics.
The school once taught the writer Nikos Kazantzakis.
The collection covers the island from the Neolithic period onwards.
Entry is arranged by the guide on tours that include it.
Which Naxos walking tour suits the evening?
The sunset walk, which crosses the Old Town and the Kastro and finishes at the Portara as the light drops behind the sea.
The lanes hold their light for a short while after the sun goes.
The causeway is the busiest point of the evening.
Tavernas on the waterfront open as the walk ends.
Where does a Naxos walking tour go outside the town?
To the marble villages of the interior: Halki with its distilleries and towers, Apeiranthos with marble-paved lanes, and the kouros statues lying in the quarries at Flerio and Apollonas.
The kouroi are unfinished marble figures left where they cracked.
Apeiranthos sits high on the slopes of Mount Zas.
Zas is the highest mountain in the Cyclades.
What do you wear on a Naxos walking tour?
Shoes with grip for the polished marble lanes and the Kastro steps, a hat for the causeway, and water in summer.
The marble underfoot is worn smooth by centuries of use.
The Kastro climb is short but steep in places.
There is no shade between the harbour and the Portara.
When does a Naxos walking tour run?
Morning for the Kastro, the museum and the Old Town, and late afternoon for the sunset route to the Portara.
Midday heat in summer pushes walks to the two ends of the day.
Spring and autumn keep the lanes comfortable at any hour.
Winter shortens the daylight and closes some of the museums early.
Does a Naxos walking tour suit families?
Yes. The route is short, the town is compact, and the causeway to the Portara is flat enough for children to walk.
The Kastro steps are the only climb on the standard route.
Tours stop for breaks in the shaded lanes.
The harbour beach sits beside the end of the walk.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a walking tour in Naxos?
Is there a free walking tour?
What do the walks cover?
The Old Town, the Venetian Kastro, the Archaeological Museum and the Portara.