What's on in Naxos, Greece through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Quiet — travelers describe it as quiet, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)

Peak crowds — Orthodox Easter, Easter holidays (Orthodox) in Greece

• Holiday

  Orthodox Easter

  10–13 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Naxos does Easter better than most of the Cyclades because it has villages rather than just a port. Apeiranthos and Filoti are where the Friday processions are worth walking up for. Source ↗

• Opening

  Rooms and ferries open up

  15 Apr – 25 May · usuallySummer season opens

  Hotels along Agios Prokopios and the fast ferries from Piraeus and Mykonos both come back around Easter, which is also when the wildflowers on the Tragea plateau are still out. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Potato harvest

  15 May – 10 Jul · usually

  Naxos exports potatoes the way other islands export marble, and from late spring they are sold by the sack at the roadside on the Chora to Sangri road.

Still on: Orthodox Easter (10–13 Apr), Rooms and ferries open up (15 Apr – 25 May (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  10 Jun – 15 Oct · usually

  The long west-coast sand at Plaka and Agios Prokopios shelves shallowly, so it warms early and stays comfortable well into October.

Still on: Potato harvest (15 May – 10 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Naxos Festival, Bazeos Tower

  1 Jul – 15 Sep · usuallyMajor festival

  Concerts, theatre and exhibitions through the summer in a restored seventeenth-century tower out towards Sangri, inland and away from the beach strip entirely. Source ↗

• Season

  The meltemi

  1 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The north wind is why the kite and windsurf schools sit at Mikri Vigla. It also makes the small ferries out of Chora unreliable for days at a time in high summer.

Still on: Potato harvest (15 May – 10 Jul (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Greek August, Summer holidays in Greece

• Holiday

  Greek August

  1–25 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Domestic holidays and the 15 August feast, when the mountain villages hold their panigiria and the ferries from Piraeus run full. Cheaper than Mykonos, but not in this fortnight. Source ↗

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 15 Oct (usually)), Naxos Festival, Bazeos Tower (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), The meltemi (1 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Greece, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 15 Oct (usually)), Naxos Festival, Bazeos Tower (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Sea warm enough to swim (10 Jun – 15 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Closure

  Out of season

  1 Nov – 31 Mar

  Naxos farms, so it stays inhabited when its neighbours empty, but the beach hotels and most tavernas shut and the ferry connection thins to a few boats a week. Source ↗

Busy — Christmas holidays in Greece, school holidays in 7 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Out of season (1 Nov – 31 Mar)