Bus Trip to Inland Mountainous Village of Apieranthos

Today we had planned an excursion by public bus to visit a small village high in the hills.

It’s in the middle of the island and is called Apiranthos. The bus departs at 8:15 am from near our apartment.

First, we had to catch the local bus into Chora. Once there, we bought additional tickets for the 9:30 am bus to Apiranthos. We arrived early to line up, as we wanted to be sure of getting seats. The journey was interesting—very narrow roads climbing quite high into the hills. I’m glad we decided not to hire a car or scooter for this. The bus driver was listening to what we assumed were Greek tunes on the radio, although they sounded more Turkish to us.

Alongside the road were some very old and gnarly olive trees. Perched on top of the remote mountain peaks were little white churches. I can’t imagine anyone visits those very often.

It took about an hour to reach Apiranthos. The first significant sign we saw pointed to a church, so we followed it down the hillside street and into the countryside. The rugged path was paved with old marble slabs, and we started losing height quickly. Was this really a good idea? We met two other people doing the same walk—one was a Kiwi now living in Singapore with his Singaporean wife. She said the walk to the church would take 25 minutes. Hmmm 🤔.

The marble walkway eventually gave way to a dirt track, and we had to go through a fence gate. Still no sign of a church. We continued a bit further but eventually I called it quits. The other couple sounded like they were going to keep going.

Back up the hill we went. It was hot! At the top, by the large church sign, we noticed a smaller sign—something was 25 minutes away, but the church itself was 1 hour and 15 minutes! Just as well we turned back.

At the entrance to the village was a large Greek church that was open to visitors. Inside, the decorations were unlike anything we’d seen before—lots of silver, hanging crystal or glass ornaments, and unusual pews that faced sideways rather than towards the front.

Next, we wandered into the narrow alleyways of the hillside village. It’s a lovely place to explore, very much like a maze. After about 15 minutes we ran into the Singapore couple again. They had also given up on the walk and were now looking for food. We kept exploring, climbing steadily upward, always turning corners and climbing steps toward what we hoped would be a view. Eventually, we reached what we felt must be the top of the village. There had been a partial view along the way, but none at the very top. Instead, there was—of course—a small church.

Heading back down, we finally found a nice view out over the valley. Near the bus stop we discovered a lovely marble-paved street lined with a few cafés. By now it was almost noon, so we stopped for lunch: toasted club sandwiches (egg and tomato) with fries and two beers—only €15. A great spot to sit, enjoy our food, and listen to the locals chatting. Not that we could understand them but it was nice to listen.

Further info about Apieranthos available here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apeiranthos

At 1:45 pm we caught the return bus back to Naxos Chora. We asked to be dropped near a supermarket to save walking from the port, but were left at the wrong one and had to walk to the one we wanted anyway. It was sweltering outside—another nearly windless day, just a light breeze.

Shopping done, we walked to the port to catch the bus back to Agios Prokopios. We made a quick stop at the local supermarket there as well to grab water and milk—we didn’t want to carry them too far!

Back at the apartment, the pool was the only place to cool off quickly. Thank goodness we booked a place with one.

We also sorted out the accommodation challenges from yesterday and linked in the remaining ferries. It feels great to have the next couple of stops locked in so we can fully relax.

Dinner tonight: an easy nachos meal. 👍