Naxos Beaches Guide: Every Beach & How to Get There by Car
Every beach worth your time, with real driving directions, parking notes and local tips from a Naxos family business.
Written by locals who drive these roads every day
Naxos has the best beaches in the Cyclades — and unlike Santorini or Mykonos, most of them are long, sandy, and never fully crowded. The catch: the island is big (the largest in the Cyclades, about 430 km²), the bus line only serves the west-coast strip, and the beaches locals love most are exactly the ones public transport doesn’t reach. This guide covers every beach worth your time, written by a Naxos family that has spent a lifetime driving this island — with the one thing travel blogs always skip: exactly how to get to each beach by car, what the road is like, and where to park.
The west coast classics (paved roads, easy parking)
Agios Georgios — the town beach
Shallow, sheltered and right at the edge of Naxos Town (Chora). Ideal with toddlers. By car: you don’t need one — it’s a 5-minute walk from the port. If you’re driving in from elsewhere, park in the free zone behind the lagoon side and walk in.
Agios Prokopios — the famous one
Regularly voted among the best beaches in Greece: a long arc of golden sand with turquoise water that stays clear all summer. Sunbeds and tavernas on the north end, emptier sand as you walk south. By car: 10 minutes / 6 km from Chora on a good paved road. Free dirt parking areas sit right behind the beach; arrive before 11:00 in July–August for a front-row spot.
Agia Anna — Prokopios’s little sister
A continuation of Agios Prokopios with a small fishing harbour, calmer bays and some of the island’s best beachfront tavernas. By car: 12 minutes from Chora; parking by the harbour fills early, but the lots between Agia Anna and Plaka almost always have space.
Plaka — 4 km of sand
The beach most people picture when they dream of Naxos: a seemingly endless ribbon of fine sand backed by dunes and cedars. Organised sections with sunbeds near the north end, wild and empty the further south you drive. By car: 15 minutes / 10 km from Chora. A paved road runs behind the whole beach with dozens of pull-in parking spots — pick your dune, walk over it, and the beach is yours.
The southwest — where the buses stop and Naxos gets wild
Mikri Vigla — wind and kitesurfers
A rocky headland splits Mikri Vigla in two: the north side catches the meltemi wind and is one of Greece’s best kitesurfing spots; the south side (Sahara) is sheltered and family-calm. Watching the kites with a taverna lunch is a Naxos highlight. By car: 20 minutes / 14 km from Chora, paved all the way; parking areas on both sides of the headland.
Kastraki & Glyfada — space for everyone
Long, quiet, dune-backed beaches with a few tavernas and rooms — even in mid-August you can find your own stretch of sand. By car: 22–25 minutes from Chora; the last few hundred metres are hard-packed dirt tracks that any small rental car handles easily.
Alyko — the cedar forest
Our favourite corner of the island. A protected juniper-cedar forest covers a peninsula fringed by small white-sand coves, next to an abandoned hotel covered in surprisingly good street art. Sunset here is Naxos at its best. By car: 25 minutes / 17 km from Chora, paved to the peninsula, then flat dirt lanes between the cedars — fine for any car. Park under the trees and explore the coves on foot. No facilities: bring water and an umbrella.
Pyrgaki & Agiassos — the calm south
Shallow, protected and almost silent, with a couple of tavernas. Where locals go in August. By car: just under 30 minutes from Chora on paved road.
The far side — beaches that need a proper drive
Apollonas — the north village beach
A seaside village with a sand-and-pebble beach, fish tavernas and the giant unfinished kouros statue lying in its ancient quarry above the village. Combine it with the mountain-road drive through Koronos — one of the most scenic routes in the Cyclades. By car: about 1 hour / 37 km from Chora on the winding but paved north road.
Moutsouna, Psili Ammos & Panermos — the empty east
Beyond Apiranthos the road drops to Moutsouna, an old emery-mining harbour with a beloved taverna, then follows a lonely coastal road south past Psili Ammos (fine white sand, cedars, usually a handful of people) to Panermos bay. By car: 45–60 minutes from Chora; paved to Moutsouna and down the coast, with short dirt spurs to the sand. Fill the tank before Apiranthos — there are no fuel stations on this side.
Lionas & Abram — pebbles and solitude
Two quiet pebble coves at the end of green valleys, each with one good taverna and crystal-clear deep water. By car: Lionas is 55 minutes via Koronos; Abram is 35 minutes up the northwest coast road.
Beach-hopping is why people rent a car on Naxos.
Free delivery at the airport, the port or your hotel — start at Prokopios, end at a sunset in Alyko.
Driving times cheat sheet (from Naxos Town)
| Beach | Time | Road | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agios Prokopios | 10 min | Paved | First swim, facilities |
| Agia Anna | 12 min | Paved | Tavernas, calm water |
| Plaka | 15 min | Paved | Space, dunes, sunsets |
| Mikri Vigla | 20 min | Paved | Kitesurfing, wind-free south side |
| Kastraki | 22 min | Paved + easy dirt | Quiet sand |
| Alyko cedar forest | 25 min | Paved + flat dirt | Coves, sunset, photos |
| Pyrgaki | 28 min | Paved | Shallow calm water |
| Abram | 35 min | Paved | Solitude |
| Moutsouna | 45 min | Paved, mountain | Taverna lunch, east coast |
| Psili Ammos | 55 min | Paved + dirt spur | Empty white sand |
| Apollonas | 60 min | Paved, scenic | Kouros + village day trip |
Which beaches can you do without a car?
Bus line #1 runs Chora → Agios Prokopios → Agia Anna → Plaka → Mikri Vigla every 30 minutes in season, and Agios Georgios is walkable. Everything else on this page — Alyko, Kastraki, the whole east and north — is car-only. A small economy car covers every beach listed here; if you’d like extra clearance for the dirt spurs, an SUV is a comfortable upgrade. See what car to rent for Naxos and our driving in Naxos guide for the details, or browse the hidden beaches you need a car to reach.
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