Fun fact: my first word was “cheese”. So now you understand the strong affinity I have for the dairy product, you know how ecstatic I am to be handed plate after plate of Naxian cheeses by one of the Greek island’s most esteemed producers, Nikola Pittaras.
I hungrily devour chewy saganaki drizzled with honey, a rich 12-month-matured Naxos gruyere PDO and a sour xynotyri. Meanwhile, Nikola sits down at our sun-dappled table with his wife and son Manolis – who help him run his award-winning and sustainability-certified business – and regales us with stories of singing bedtime lullabies to his 220 “girls”. These “girls”, we discover, are dairy cows considered an extension of the warm-hearted Pittaras family.
Part of this family is exactly how four TTG Sustainable Travel Ambassadors and I feel as we sit beside these Naxos locals in a courtyard owned by Nikola’s neighbour, Juliana. We’re not far from the small, mountainside village of Kourounochori, on her family’s 15th-century organic farm that grows olive trees, vegetables and fruit to this day without electricity.
Juliana is exactly as you’d imagine a Greek grandmother – fiercely knowledgeable, endearingly bossy and a serial overfeeder. This morning, she’s giving us a Naxian Experiences (naxianexperiences.com) lesson in wood-fire cooking, teaching us how to prepare and cook stuffed peppers, courgette fritters, lamb stew and flaky cheese pies; all in the traditional Naxian way.
Feeling as stuffed as the peppers after our self-prepared lunch, we say a sad goodbye to our new Naxian friends and continue with our packed TTG Sustainable Travel Heroes fam trip itinerary.
WALK THIS WAY
On a section of Naxos’ many combinable walking trails, we come across the fallen Kouros of Flerio marble statue, which – wildly – dates back to 570 BC. It’s in an unassuming spot frequented only by Naxos’ felines and is a nod to the island’s marble-making history. So too is the ancient sanctuary at the Flerio Water Spring, the second historical site we have entirely to ourselves.
Visitors are likely to find more company on the 32-mile coast-to-coast Naxos Strada hike, which runs through the charming villages of Apiranthos, Filoti and Chalki. I fall in love fast with this trio of towns when we visit with Natasa from Smirili Nature Experiences (smirili.com). The settlements have the sought-after aesthetics of Santorini and Mykonos but provide a blissful serenity not possible on Greece’s more crowded islands.
In Chalki, we weave past cute cafes, craft shops and jewellery stores to Vallindras Distillery, where we learn how kitron liqueur has been distilled from the fruit and leaves of the citron tree in this building since 1896 – and, of course, sneak a taste of this Naxian tipple.
Our kitron tasting trail continues at Ergostasio Olive Mill in Kaloxylos, where we discover how they add the native fruit flavour to olive oil. Spoiler: it’s moreish. We learn that a tour and tasting here is extensive, enriching, and a perfect choice for both foodies and history buffs.
BEE AT ONE
If you’re thinking the agents and I are eating our way around Naxos, you’re right. The Panagiotakis family’s Naxos Bee Farm project is another gastronomic and cultural highlight of our Smirili itinerary. The young entrepreneurs let us brave their bees to scoop warm honey from one of the 200 hives using our index fingers, then serve us honey-soaked dumplings and share how they use the wax to make and sell candles and medicinal balms. It’s a hard slog spinning so many plates but essential to ensure no effort or material is wasted – this is simply the way of life on Naxos.
Having explored beyond the trodden tourist track – and been bewitched by the island in the process – we allow time to see Naxos’ largest town, Chora. This is where visitors will find medieval architecture including an enchanting castle, as well as a host of shops and restaurants.
Dining on sensational souvlaki at Sto Ladoxarto, we enjoy sweeping harbour views stretching out to Naxos’ most iconic structure: Portara, which is also known as the Great Door or Temple of Apollo.
We decide to take a stroll onto its peninsula to get a closer look at the marble door. Our resulting view can be found on many a postcard and so Eleni Skarveli, director of tourism (UK and Ireland) for the Greek National Tourism Organisation and our guiding light for the fam trip, insists we strike a pose for a photo with Portara. We bundle together for one final group shot and I say, with a big, fully satisfied smile on my face: “cheese”.
Book it: Audley Travel offers a seven-night trip to Naxos from £3,020pp (based on two travelling). Staying at Naxian on the Beach, including breakfast, flights from Gatwick via Athens, private transfers, a private Naxos Island tour, a private village hike and a shared catamaran trip; audleytravel.com/greece
