A Riverbank Adventure at Naxos island

Get to see two traditional villages, hike into a hidden oasis of lush ravines, streams, lagoons, abandoned water mills, and old settlements.

Overview

You’ll start your hike at Kinidaros, a scenic village nestled amid marble quarries towering over it. At one time or another, most of the village men have been quarrymen but Kinidaros is famous for a completely different trait: Music! For the Kinidaros locals music comes first. Most of them are skilled musicians, everyone plays an instrument (or two or three), and everyone keeps the Cycladic folk music tradition alive and well.

You’ll leave Kinidaros behind to walk on a dirt trail which gives you the opportunity to gaze at the awesome marble quarries from a distance. The dirt trail turns into a cobblestoned path that takes you all the way down to the river. The views of the nearby mountains as they blend with the deep blue of the Aegean, the lush greenery that awaits you below, the path itself which actually traverses a small ravine cannot be beaten.

As soon as you reach the riverbanks, the landscape changes completely. The 18th-century, double-arch, stone bridge known as Mill of Hadji stands guard over everything and once you’ve walked past it towards the riverbank, you’ll notice the difference: the air is cooler, shady spots abound, and vegetation is rioting next to abandoned watermills, lagoons, and small waterfalls, while crabs and water turtles make their way at the water’s edge next to oleander bushes and plane trees.

A little later, the trail takes you past the serene, small, country church of Aghios Georgios in the fertile Lagada area and a majestic four-arch water mill. You continue making your way surrounded by plane trees and reed beds until you reach the 18th-century tower of the Pradouna Elders. At that point, you enter the traditional farm settlement of Mesa Geitonia.

Last, the trail takes you to Eggares, an old, quiet farming village in the embrace of a fertile plain where you’ll have the chance to visit one of Naxos’s oldest remaining olive mills: recently renovated, the Eggares Olive Press dates back to at least the late 1800s when it pressed locally-grown olives for the village community. At Eggares, we’ll share a great, leisurely meal at one of the village’s best traditional tavernas.

Then our transport will take you back to your accommodations!

Itinerary

• Meeting time ****(pick-up transfer from your accommodations) 8.30
• Hiking 9.00 - 12.30
• Visit το the local Olive Press Museum 12.30 - 12.45
• Enjoy delicious meal 12.45 - 13.45
• Transfer back to your accommodations 13.45

Highlights

• Convenient roundtrip transportation to and from your hotel.
• Get to see two, picturesque, traditional villages and experience local life.
• Explore the tranquil side of Naxos with its stunning riverbank, lush vegetation, wildlife, lagoons, and small waterfalls .
• Visit one of Naxos’s oldest remaining olive mills dating back to the late 1800s.
• Enjoy a delicious meal at the end of your hike.

DISTANCE: 7,1 km / 4.4 mi

SUN EXPOSURE: 60%

ALTITUDE: 448 m / 1469 ft

ASCEND: +183 m / +600 ft

DESCEND: -541m / -1774ft

Participation requirements

• Ages 12+
• Basic physical condition