Azalas beach rewards travellers who want the east coast of Naxos at its quietest. This small sand-and-pebble bay sits just north of the harbour of Moutsouna, tucked below tamarisk trees and terraced gardens that meet the shoreline. The water runs calm and clear, sheltered from the strong meltemi wind that batters the west-coast beaches. A … Read more
The emery mines of Naxos carved an industrial world into the island’s northern mountains, far from the beaches most travellers picture. Naxos held one of the planet’s richest deposits of emery, a stone so hard it dressed grindstones and polished glass across Europe. Smyrida, as locals call it, turned villages like Koronos and Apeiranthos into … Read more
Moutsouna sits on the wild, unspoilt east coast of Naxos, a small fishing village that most visitors reach only after a slow, scenic drive over the island’s mountains. It faces the open Aegean, with a sheltered bay, a handful of houses, a short beach and a couple of tavernas serving the day’s catch. Once the … Read more