When we decided that the Greek Islands were our summer destination, we all agreed that Santorini was a must. But what other islands to visit?

We had almost 2 weeks in Greece and wanted to spend about 4 days in each spot (Athens was short changed, we only had 2 days as we departed).

After some research, we kept hearing about Paros and Naxos and this lesser known island of the Cyclades called Koufonisia. We loved the idea of spending some time on a small island that barely had any tourists, cars and had only one ATM in town.

Koufonisia was officially part of the itinerary. (Koufonissi in Greek)

After our few days in Santorini, we were headed from the port to Koufonisia and then onto Paros.

We had purchased our ferry tickets online from Seajets.gr before heading to Greece.

We had been cautioned by the hotel in Koufonisia that with only one ferry per day, make sure you have tickets and whatever you do, don’t miss that ferry.

Once we survived the Santorini port and found our tiny (in comparison) ferry tucked away behind the much larger ferries, the on board porter asked us as we get on if we are traveling to Naxos, Mykonos or Koufonisia (and maybe Amorgos as well).

They put your luggage in an area labeled for your island destination. Which is helpful because at this point, we didn’t realize that we would be stopping in Naxos while the boat continued on to Mykonos.

What first seemed like an inconvenience was actually a pleasant stop. When we arrived in Naxos, we were asked to get off for about 1.5 hours (a little bit of confusion here since we had no idea when we bought the tickets that we would be getting off) while the boat made the Mykonos round trip. (as you an see looking at the sample reservation above, it says 2.25 hours but makes no mention of a stop).

This stop gave us time to explore the port area of Naxos (conveniently without our luggage).

As the ferry pulls into Naxos port, you can’t help but notice the Portrara or Apollo’s gate. It was a short, maybe 10 minute walk from where the ferry pulls in. A very, very sunny and hot walk but well worth it. Stunning blue water all around, kids jumping in, adults cooling down by wading out a bit.

As you approach the ruin, but before you start walking up to it, there is a perfectly placed outdoor cafe that offers some much needed shade as well as easy access to a clean bathroom, cold Mythos. A beer never tasted so good.

The view looking back at Naxos town was breathtaking.

We had just the right amount of time to visit the ruin, have a drink and refresh. We headed back to the harbor and waited for the ferry to come back.

On to Koufonisia.