The secret Greek island that is better than Mykonos – and much cheaper

IF you rolled the best bits of all the Greek islands into one, like a juicy stuffed vine leaf, Naxos may be that.

It has it ALL — enough to stop even the most seasoned of island-hoppers in their tracks, a one-hop shop.

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Famed for some of the Med’s finest sandy beaches, it also does banging beach bars and nightclubs and yet remains agriculturally self-sufficient to the point it resisted tourism until the Eighties — and has still refused to sell out to its excesses.

Mother Earth is still boss here and the place is far less flash and expensive than fellow Cycladean isles Mykonos and Santorini — from either of which Naxos is reached by daily ferries.

The island’s 20,000 locals are outnumbered four to one by goats, and shepherds still traipse the mountain paths where tourist trekkers also fill their hiking boots.

Likewise, day-tripper boats dock next to fishermen offloading their catch.

In this still-rustic realm of the Aegean Sea, about 30 miles by 20, beyond its showpiece beaches are endless tiny, secret ones, many reached only by off-road Jeep, foot or boat.

“Naxos has the best beaches of all Cyclades . . . and best potatoes, cheese, fruits and vegetables,” proclaims our boat trip captain Nikos from the wheel of his galleon Michele as we dock by an itsy-bitsy shingle beach on neighbouring islet Kato Koufonissi.

Well, this OMG snorkel stop, after mid-morning snack of Naxian cheese, bread and tomatoes, proves Nikos right.

As Elvis tune Can’t Help Falling In Love plays and we plunge into the turquoise water, we are soon mask-over-flippers in love.

The shore-blimey moments continue back on Naxos, at Agios Sozon, where we swim up almost to the door of a teensy white chapel perched bang at water’s edge.

Legend has it that it was built by a shipwrecked merchant crew as thanks for cheating death, and made from mud laced with their cargo of WINE.

No boat trip is complete without a good cave, and Rina Cave, with its glowing “green” water, is just that, hidden away under a wild hillside like a pirates’ secret.

A day with Captain Nikos on Azul Cruises’ luxury sailing boat is about £70 per person but sure to be a holiday highlight.

You voyage until gone sunset when the sea turns to twinkling silver, all the more so after the limitless free wine served to wash down the earlier on-board BBQ lunch.

But if money is tight, no need to set to sea because there are lots of easier-access beaches to enjoy from land.

My wife Nicky and I visited for a week in still-hot September and stayed in the ancient Chora — island lingo for main town.

This wonderland of traditional alleys, bars and restaurants also knows how to party, big time, at rave spot The Ocean Club — and spills out on to the sweeping golden sand beach of St Giorgios Bay.

A short bus ride down the coast, and more Instagram-perfect sandy beaches await — naturist Maragas, wild Plaka and happening Agia Anna, where beach bars come alive in summer before chilling in September and October, and family taverna Gorgona serves calamari and whitebait straight off the boat.

We split our stay between the adults-only Princess Mare hotel and the family-friendly Astir, with pool.

Each is family-run and recently refurbished — the latter Chora-style, all earthy materials and white arches.

A double room in September, breakfast included, is from £65 at Princess Mare and £80 at Astir.

Both are a little more in high season but still great value.

After our daily big, fat Greek breakfasts, though, we did not dally long at our hotels because there was so much to see.

Liqueur distillery

Another holiday treat, for £85 per person, is a full day’s day’s island tour, including lunch, with operator Naxos Sun.

Our fabulously knowledgeable guide was Lida by name and leader by nature.

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You can tailor your tour but likely first up is the Temple of Dimitra, hewn of local marble dating to 580BC and bestriding a wild, chamomile-scented hill.

Judging by Naxos’s rich agronomy and gastronomy, this ancient Greek goddess of fertility has put in a good shift.

We then dropped in on potter Libertas Manolis and bought a Pythagorean Cup made to the design of the ancient Greek mathematician.

Complicated, but there is a hole at its base, under a hollow column that drains your wine if you top up too greedily.

Other stops included the “world’s oldest olive tree”, allegedly 5,000 years strong, as well as a traditional family-run olive press, and Captain Corelli-style mountain villages — Chalki with its liqueur distillery and church frescoes, marble village Apeiranthos, and Filoti where shepherds swap goat notes over coffee and trekkers stop for a Mythos beer on their way up Mount Zeus.

If all that leaves you hungry, good, as meals on Naxos are HUGE.

We found restaurants for all budgets in Chora — port-side with a view of the Temple of Apollo, or up the hill in the timeless town.

We feasted like Greek gods for about £50 a night, carafe of wine included.

Favourites included the Taverna of Naxos, Irini’s, Meze Meze, and Kozi.

The homemade taramasalata, Greek salad with mountain herbs, or village potato salad stacked with capers often had us floored before the mains of locally sourced pork, lamb or beef arrived.

Thankfully, the leftovers are fed to the goats, pigs and cows. So, everybody’s happy on Naxos.

Man and beast.