Apeiranthos village in Naxos

At a glance: East coast of Naxos, around 38 kilometres from Naxos Town along winding inland roads. A small former mining port that shipped emery from the mountains above, now a quiet fishing village with a pebble beach and a handful of seafood tavernas. Best suited to travellers who want an out of the way corner of Naxos with genuine industrial history.

Is Moutsouna worth visiting

Moutsouna sits far enough from Naxos Town that it sees a fraction of the visitors the west coast beaches do, and that distance is exactly what gives it its character. For much of the 20th century this small harbour was the export point for emery, a hard abrasive rock mined in the mountains above, carried down to the coast by an extraordinary aerial cableway. Today the village is a peaceful fishing community with a pebble beach and simple, good value seafood tavernas by the water. It suits travellers who want a slow, uncrowded day on the quieter side of the island, ideally combined with a stop at the mining villages of Koronos or Apeiranthos on the way.

Highlights

• The pebble beach right in the village, calm and rarely crowded compared with the west coast resorts
• The remains of the emery loading station where ore was once transferred from the cableway onto ships
• Traces of the aerial cableway itself, visible in places on the mountainside above the village
• Waterfront tavernas serving fresh, simple seafood, popular for a long, unhurried lunch
• The winding mountain drive to reach the village, passing through Naxos’s least visited interior villages, including the marble village of Apeiranthos

The village built by the emery trade

Naxos held a near monopoly on high quality emery in Europe for centuries, with mines dating back to the Bronze Age worked in the mountains around Koronos and Apeiranthos. Moutsouna’s importance came from its role as the export harbour for that trade, and between 1929 and 1982 an aerial cableway stretching around 8.7 kilometres carried roughly 340,000 tonnes of emery down from five loading stations in the mountains to the port here. Built between 1926 and 1929, the system used 72 iron pylons and around 170 wagons, and stayed in active use until 1978. Its surviving installations, at Stavrolagada in the mountains and at the old shipping station in the village itself, are now recognised as one of Greece’s significant industrial monuments.

Where Moutsouna is

Getting to Moutsouna

From Naxos Town: Moutsouna is about 38 kilometres away, around 50 minutes to 1 hour by car, following the inland road through the mountain villages.

By bus: Seasonal bus services run from Naxos Town towards Moutsouna. Check current routes and times on the Naxos bus timetable.

By car or taxi: See getting around Naxos and Naxos taxi for prices and booking details.

Arriving on Naxos: For ferry routes and journey times to the island, start with how to get to Naxos.

Where to eat

Moutsouna’s tavernas make the most of what local boats bring in, serving fresh fish and simple seafood alongside classic Greek dishes, many with tables set right by the water. It is the kind of place where a lunch can comfortably stretch into the afternoon, with far less pressure on tables than the busier resorts on the west coast.

Where to stay

Moutsouna suits travellers looking for a quiet, low key base away from the island’s main tourist areas, with a small choice of rooms and studios rather than large hotels. For a private villa with a pool elsewhere on Naxos, see Naxos villas with a private pool.

The beach at Moutsouna

The village has its own pebble beach, calm and generally quiet even in the busier summer months. It does not yet have its own detailed beach guide on this site, but sits in pleasant contrast to the more developed sand beaches on the west coast.

Best time to visit

Spring and autumn make the long drive out to Moutsouna especially worthwhile, with cooler temperatures for exploring the old mining remains and quieter tavernas by the water. In summer, the village stays noticeably calmer than the west coast resorts even in August, making it a good day trip destination when the main beaches are at their busiest.