Moving Day - Naxos to Syros 🇬🇷

It's time to move on from our lovely seaside place. Don't worry—we’re heading to another one. Just after 9am we set out to catch the bus. Our ferry was at 11:30am, but after seeing the buses full on Saturday we wanted to allow plenty of time. We walked past our usual stop and into the village, hoping for a better chance since we’d noticed lots of people waiting there on previous days.

Expecting a 9:30am bus, we were anxious when it still hadn’t arrived by 9:45am. At least 12 people were waiting, many with luggage like us. When it finally did arrive it was quite empty, which helped the stress levels recede.

We hopped off at the port, and I went to the bakery to grab something for lunch on the ferry. Then we found a small taverna that didn’t look open and asked the owner if he minded us waiting in the shade. He wasn’t opening until 6pm, but he was fine with us using his table and chairs.

The ferry we booked was a fast catamaran—expensive at €60 each, but we didn’t have much choice. We debated a lot about our next destination and settled on Syros instead of Mykonos. Those were the two alternatives that best suited our onward journey.

Mykonos sounded overly touristy and a bit crowded —busy and loud. Syros is a less-visited island. There may not be much to see, but we’ll hopefully enjoy a more authentic Greek island experience.🤞

The ferry route takes just over two hours and goes via Paros, Mykonos, and Tinos, so we got to see the harbours of those other islands along the way. The boat was very rocky—it was hard to even walk while finding our seats. The fast ferry doesn’t seem as stable as the big one we took from Santorini to Naxos.

The two hours passed quite quickly, and soon we were being hurried off. Syros harbour and the ferry port are right in the main town, just like Naxos. I had the bus station marked on our map, but we spotted a bus sign in the opposite direction and closer by, so we headed there. When the first bus arrived and we told the driver where we were going, he directed us back down the road. We should have trusted our original plan, but it didn’t matter—we still got to the right place in time to catch the 3pm bus to Finikas, a small beachside village at the far end of the island where we’ll be staying for the next four nights.

The route was high and winding, with lots of tight corners. The bus ducked down into two side villages, one called Kini and the other Galissas. We got dropped off at Voulgari Beach, which sits between Finikas and another small village called Poseidonia. We’ll check out the local area tomorrow.

The man at the apartments gave us a great introduction to the island and the different sights to see. The apartment itself is very nice—one of the best small ones we’ve had, recently renovated by the look of it. Only $145 NZD per night—great value!

We walked 900m to the supermarket for the usual supplies: milk and basics. They didn’t have much in the way of fresh meat, so dinner ended up being luncheon, capsicum, hummus, carrots, crackers, beer, and chips.

Beer and chips made for a good pre-dinner snack as we sat on our terrace overlooking the pool. The pool looks inviting, as do the beaches. We’ll report back on those tomorrow.