Day 6 – Naxos: Plaka Beach, Aperianthos & Rotunda

We started our day at 9am & walked to Chcoolat Creperie – a creperie that offers regular crepes and vegan crepe options. I’m not vegan, but I am dairy free, so I appreciate the vegan lifestyle, especially when restaurants have vegan cheese options. We ordered 1 savory crepe (bacon, mushroom, tomato & vegan cheese) and 1 sweet crepe (banana, apple & walnuts, drizzled with maple syrup). The crepe itself was also vegan & gluten free and the savory one was the best crepe I’ve ever had in my life. For my vegan friends – the trip to Naxos for this crepe is worth the journey. And like I mentioned in my last post I’m noticing a LOT of vegan option restaurants in Naxos compared to Paros.

After breakfast we took the motorbike down to Yazoo Beach Bar at Plaka beach. Plaka is rated one of the best beaches in Greece – the water is bright clear blue and you can see the mountains of Paros in the background which reminded me of the beach view at Lanikai in Hawaii. Yazoo Beach Bar was sold out in terms of lounge chairs so we just went to the guy next door (the chairs looked equally as comfy and they had better umbrellas). The different umbrellas are basically how you tell it’s a “different beach bar” even though it’s literally the same beach and same view. The only difference is the food you can order for beach service. So we were still at Plaka Beach just at Souvlucky instead of Yazoo. The chair didn’t cost anything we just had to spend at least 40 euro on food/drinks which was easily do-able so we snagged a front row seat. Again it just goes to show that Naxos is more budget friendly because in Paros you had to spend 40 euro just to rent the chair and any food/drink you ordered was added to the bill.

Around 1pm we left our towels on the chairs and walked up to lunch at Yazoo Summer Bliss beach bar. I finally got the amazing fresh salad I had been craving since yesterday. It was a grape salad with shaved Naxian Gruyère cheese, crushed nuts, and honey vinaigrette on top which made it extra delicious. We also ordered the Fish roe spread and Portabella mushrooms. Overall a healthy lunch but oh so delicious. The produce in Greece is incomparable to anything that you order in the states — I mean who knew a salad & grilled vegetables could be THIS GOOD?!

Around 3pm we had enough of the beach and biked back to Naxos Town to shower and change for dinner. We biked 40 mins through the mountains, and around very windy roads, but Stelios is an excellent driver and I never feel unsafe on the bike. We went all the way to Aperianthos, which was the village that was recommended to us by everyone we met in Paros to check out during our stay in Naxos. We saw the Tower of Zevgolis – it belonged to the Somaripa family of Venetians feudal lords and today is occupied by their ancestors. We also passed through some cool village shops with local pottery, art, and herbs, but overall I thought the village of Aperianthos was very underwhelming. At least the bike ride up the mountain was fun and filled with amazing views, plus we had some time to kill before dinner.

Our dinner reservations tonight were earlier than usual at 7pm because we wanted to get a good seat for the sunset. The restaurant was called Rotunda and it was a 5 minute bike ride from the Chora of Aperianthos. The restaurant was nestled into the side of the mountain with a clear glass half walls lining the perimeter. Upon arrival they were very busy and it looked like we were going to get a 4th or 5th row table, but to our surprise that was just the outdoor bar area for drinks and there was a whole other side for dining. The hostess sat us right at the front row table by the glass for optimal breathtaking sunset views. We were ecstatic to have this seat.We enjoyed Carafes of Rosé, a Naxian cheese plate that consisted of cow Naxian Gruyère cheese, Ksinomizithra , Feta, & Goat Gruyère, fresh jam, bread sticks, and olives. The small cheese plate is MORE than enough for two people, I can’t even imagine how big the large is. We also got Saganaki covered in oats & black sesame with orange confit, and flavored with Ouzo. Stelios said it was the best Saganaki he’s ever had because it’s normally not prepared that way. And last were the Cod Fish Croquettes over beet root (they were ok). So we sat back, enjoyed our meal, and took in the beautiful view of the mountains down to the valley, beach, and the ocean, with a remarkable sunset casting over it — it was truly remarkable. At the end of our meal we received 2 Dessert shots on the house (a mix of Raki, cinnamon, honey, and clove). This entire amazing experience (dinner & a view) was all for only 46 euro. And we got to enjoy the afterglow sunset for another hour – which to be honest is my favorite part.

Around 9:15pm we decided to head back, but when we started the bike Stelios saw the gas gauge was almost on E – YIKES! In Paros we only filled up the bike once for 4 days, but I guess that trip up the mountain burned up all the gas and the gas gauge wasn’t updated when we initially parked. I stayed positive on the ride down but I’m pretty sure we were both nervous about making it 13 minutes in the dark to the nearest gas station. I kept yelling out to Stelios on the way down – 8 minutes to go! Only 5 minutes away! Only 2 kilometers more, we can walk from here if we have to! But alas we made it. THANK GOD. The rest of the drive home was very dark and a bit sketchy around certain bends, so we drove with our high beams on the rest of the way and cruised down the mountain nice and slow since we had a full tank of gas.

Once we got back to the Chora (downtown) Naxos we parked the bike and stopped for gelato at Milkato. Our Airbnb host recommended this gelateria over others, plus they had dairy free options. I got the dark chocolate sorbet (dairy free), it was thick & creamy, and a decadent rich deep chocolate flavor. Stelios got Stratiachella and Ferraro Rochet gelato which he said was delicious. After enjoying our late night dessert & people watching we called it a night around mindnight, since we had an early day planned tomorrow.