Shopping

Hora is a fine place for shopping, both for value and variety. Zoom (tel. 22850/23-675), on the waterfront, is the place to head for books and magazines. To the right and up from the entrance to the Old Market is Techni (tel. 22850/24-767), which has two shops within 20m (66 ft.) of each other. The first shop contains a good array of silver jewelry at fair prices; farther along the street, the second and more interesting of the two features textiles, many hand-woven (including some antiques) by island women. Nearby, Loom (tel. 22850/25-531), as its name suggests, has hand-woven fabrics and garments.

On the paralia next to Grotta Tours is tiny Galini (tel. 22850/24-785), with a collection of local ceramics. Also on the paralia, the venerable Promponas Wines (tel. 22850/22-258) has been here since 1915; the local kitron liqueur is a house specialty, along with a wide variety of Naxian wines. If you want something to eat with your wine, head along the paralia to the OTE, turn left on the main inland street, Papavasiliou, and proceed up the left side of the street until your nose leads you into Tirokomika Proïonda Naxou (tel. 22850/22-230). This delightful old store is filled with excellent local cheeses (kephalotiri, a superb sharp cheese, and milder graviera), barrels of olives, local wines, honey, spices, and dried comestibles.

There are a lot of shops on the streets leading up to Kastro, and since the streets are winding and cross each other and seldom have visible street signs, I'm just going to suggest that you wander and keep an eye out for these. There are a great many jewelry shops, many selling cheap trinkets imported from China, some with local work. You'll see the difference. Near the main entrance to the Kastro, Paraporti (tel. 22850/25-795) has an appealing selection of local and off-island crafts. The Byzantium Gallery (tel. 22850/22-478) has reproduction and original icons as well as a wide range of church art and gifts. Techni (tel. 22850/24-767) has side-by-side shops selling traditional weaving and embroidery (understandably, since all is hand-done, is not cheap, but is lovely) done by Naxian women. In the kastro itself, Antico Veneziano (tel. 22850/26-206) has just that -- antiques from the island's Venetian period -- as well as glassware, woodcarvings, and old weavings from throughout Greece. This is a lovely place to browse; it's in a handsome Venetian-period house. Tip: As you wander, keep an eye out for Elia (tel. 22950/24-884) a delightful cafe/restaurant on the old market street up to the kastro. This is a lovely spot to break your walk for a coffee and a snack. If you want to break your walk at the accurately described "highest elevated restaurant in town," head to Oniro (tel. 22850/23-846; www.oniro-naxos.info). Oniro is perched outside the main entrance to kastro, and unless they only serve sawdust, I want to eat there soon