How To Get From Athens to Naxos (2026 UPDATE)

You have 2 ways to get from Athens to Naxos: by ferry or by plane. I am explaining below which one is the best and most efficient method, depending on your situation.

I truly believe that the absolute best way to get from Athens to Naxos is by ferry.

Here are the 3 options you have basically:

	How Long Does It Take	Cost*
Ferry (from Piraeus port)	3.5 to 5.5 hours	40 to 80 euros
Ferry (from Rafina port)	4 to 5.5 hours	40 to 80 euros
Flight (from Athens Intl. Airport)	40 minutes	150 to 250 euros

The cost fluctuates a lot and may differ; always check Ferryhopper for ferry costs and Booking.com Flights for flights

naxos port island greece — *Naxos port can get quite busy during the summer months (May-October)*

There are several ferries per day from Athens to Naxos that take from 3.5 to 5.5 hours (depending on which ferry and port you choose), and it’s a relatively quick and easy way to travel to the island compared to the check-in process at the airport. As a rule of thumb, if the ferry to a Greek island takes more than 5 hours, then it’s better if you fly to the island.

You can always search directly from here for the available ferries to Naxos:

Ferryhopper is the largest and safest website in Greece to book your ferry tickets from Athens to Naxos, but you can also use it just for checking timetables and prices between Athens and all Greek islands.
Booking.com Flights has all the available options for flights from Athens to Naxos (JNX is Naxos’s airport code) with all possible airlines (Aegean, Olympic, Sky Express)

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It’s obvious that whatever I am explaining in this post applies to the return trip from Naxos to Athens as well.

naxos port and ferries — *The famous “Portara” of Naxos with the Naxos ferry port in the background*

Keep reading…

ATHENS TO NAXOS TIPS:

You have 2 options for getting from Athens to Naxos: by ferry or by plane.

Best way to get from Athens to Naxos: By Ferry (3 to 5 hours) because it’s simply faster and cheaper; the flight is still worth checking as it’s roughly 40 minutes, but you need to consider the check-in process that can take more than 1.5 hours

Best Website for Ferry Prices & Timetables: Ferryhopper

Athens has 2 ports with ferries to Naxos: Piraeus (or Pireas – PIR) and Rafina (RAF). Piraeus is the largest port with more ferry options in general, but Rafina is closer to the Athens Airport (El. Venizelos), and it may have ferries that suit your schedule better; in my honest opinion, you should choose Piraeus port if you decide to take the ferry to Naxos

The ferry port for Naxos in Piraeus Port is E7 (on Google Maps)
(but always check your ticket as this may change)

Between April and October, there can be more than 7 ferries a day from Athens to Naxos (from Piraeus Port or Rafina Port); there are far fewer ferry options in the winter (November-March)

How long is the ferry ride from Athens to Naxos? It varies from 3.5 hours to 5.5 hrs; the same applies for the ferry from Naxos to Athens
Can you reach Naxos from Mykonos instead of Athens? Yes. The Mykonos to Naxos ferry takes about 30 minutes on a high-speed boat and up to 1 hour 30 minutes on a conventional ferry.

How much does it cost to take a ferry from Athens to Naxos? It changes every year, but in general, it can cost from 40 euros to 80 euros per person

You must book your ferry online, and you can then enter the ferry with the barcode that will be in the email that will be sent to you. This will be written in the email you will receive from Ferryhopper, and it is now the system that most ferry companies use, BUT some smaller companies may ask you to get a printout from a kiosk that is outside of the ferry, and it is this printout that will allow you to enter the ferry. As a rule of thumb, if your ticket you got through email from Ferryhopper, has a barcode, then you can enter the ferry directly.

How long is the flight from Athens to Naxos? The flight is around 40 minutes long, and checking in is usually quick, but you have to be 2 hours in advance of the airport, as with any flight in the world.

Best Way to go from Athens Airport to Athens main ferry port (Piraeus) to take any ferry is by taking the Athens Airport Bus X96 (X96 Bus Route – X96 Bus runs every 20-30 mins) – X96 Bus ticket costs 6 euros (adult) and 3 euros (kids) or buy an ATH.ENA Card

Best Way to go from Athens Airport to Rafina Port is by taking another bus (which is called KTEL) that runs around every 1 hour from the Airport.

Direct International Flights to Naxos: There are no international flights to Naxos, as the airport serves only domestic flights to and from Athens

The Best Airline to fly from Athens to Naxos is Aegean Airlines (Check flights on Booking.com Flights)

Strikes in Greece: strikes can happen anytime in Greece and for any means of public transportation within short notice; usually, they may happen on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays; yes, they may mess up your trip but they are necessary for the hard-working people of Greece so that they can have decent salaries and benefits for their lives. So, get over it and try to find some alternatives for your trip (a taxi is usually the best option).

Strong Winds – Ferries Cancellations: in case there are strong winds (which can be pretty common in August in Greece), then the Greek Port Authorities may stop all ferries from departing, so bear in mind this is also a possibility that can mess up your trip; as an average there might be 4-5 days during the summer months that this can happen so get prepared

Business Seats on Ferries in Greece: In my opinion, they are not worth the extra money, as you only get a bit more space and a slightly quieter area to sit, but even the standard seats are very spacious

The Ferry Schedule for all Greek islands is announced only 2-3 months before the actual trips, so if you cannot find any scheduled ferries for your trip 3 years from now, please check again 2 months before your actual trip.

Ok, so let’s see all the available options from Athens to Naxos (that also apply to the return trip, Naxos to Athens):

Athens to Naxos Ferry Schedule

seajets ferry greece — *The SEAJETS Ferry departing from the port of Naxos΄; these are usually the fastest ferries to any Greek island*

The Ferry Schedule from Athens to Naxos is only announced a few months before the actual dates of the trips, which means that the times for the busy summer months of May, June, July, August, and September are only announced around February or March of the same year.

However, there are not that many changes usually, as there are usually ferries that depart sometime in the morning and go through several islands.

Here is an Example of a Ferry Schedule from Athens to Naxos in September from Ferryhopper:

athens to naxos ferry schedule — *This is a typical Ferry Schedule from Athens to Naxos in the summer months (May, June, July, August, and September); note the different departure ports (Piraeus / Rafina)*

This is just an example of a ferry schedule!

For the latest Ferry schedule, always check on Ferryhopper.

The winter ferry schedule is less frequent, with probably 1-2 ferries a day.

ferry ticket Greek islands blue star ferry highspeed — If you book your ticket through **Ferryhopper** you are going to get a link through email where you can download the tickets with the barcode that looks like this (it will open up in your browser, and you can just screenshot it); this ticket will have your seat number as well, and it is individual for every passenger, so kids and vehicles will have their own barcodes and separate tickets

highspeed ferry greece — *Highspeed and Seajet are usually the fastest ferries to the Greek islands*

ferry Greek islands inside — This is the Economy Class (or regular seats) on the *high-speed ferry*

economy class space seat greece — *I am not the tallest guy in the world,* but I had plenty of space in the economy seats of Highspeed 4

business class seats ferry greece — *The business class seats were almost similar to the economy class, but this may differ slightly from ferry to ferry; in my opinion, they are not worth it on any ferry*

seat nuimber ferry greece — *It might be tricky to locate the exact seat number that is on your ticket, but you can always ask the crew of the ferry*

food ferry Greek islands — Unfortunately, there are no restaurants on any of the ferries, but there are plenty of options for nibbles, sandwiches, and Greek pastries in the small shops that are called Everest and are pretty much on every ferry

luggage space ferry Greek islands — *There is always plenty of luggage space on board any ferry, but you need to be careful, as these are unattended*

ferry Greece outside space highspeed — There is always an open space on any ferry (smoking is strongly prohibited everywhere), but its size depends on the ferry itself; usually, the slowest ferries (Blue Star) have the largest outdoor spaces, and the fastest ones (catamaran-style Highspeed and Seajets) have more limited outdoor spaces

BLUE STAR FERRIES

Bluestar Ferries are the biggest you can take to go to Naxos and are the most stable, but also the slowest (5.5 hours to arrive)

No matter how bumpy or windy it is, you won’t feel much on Bluestar Ferries, but in case there are strong winds, the Greek Port Authorities may not allow any ferries to depart, for safety reasons.

Almost all ferries from Athens to Naxos visit other islands before they arrive at Naxos, which can give you a very good glimpse of some other Greek islands too, before they arrive at their destination. You don’t get to see much, but it’s nice to feel like you are on a small cruise!

The best way to check the available Blue Star Ferry schedule is to visit the Ferryhopper website.

They run all 365 days per year, and there are basically 2 ferries per day from Piraeus port to Naxos: one in the early morning and one in the afternoon.

Check the exact timetables on Ferryhopper.

Where can you book Blue Star ferry tickets from Athens to Naxos?

I highly recommend you book your ferry tickets online through Ferryhopper before you even land in Greece. It is the easiest and safest way to guarantee you are going to get a seat. In fact, for July, August, and September, I recommend you book the ferry tickets online at least 1 month in advance. To be honest, you will always find a seat on a ferry, but if you are planning to get your vehicle on the ferry, then you need to book very well in advance, as there are limited spaces for cars and motorbikes in their garages.

BE CAREFUL THOUGH:

As long as the email you receive from Ferryhopper has a barcode on it, you will be fine to enter the ferry with this. It will be very clear in the email you will receive from them, though. Otherwise, you will get instructions on how to get the printout ticket, as some smaller ferry companies don’t have a barcode system on their tickets (very old-fashioned indeed…). This is not a problem, however, and all you have to do is go to a kiosk outside of the ferry itself, and people there will print out the ticket for you. Ferryhopper will give you instructions on where to go exactly.

How much does a Blue Star Ferry ticket cost?

For the latest prices, always check theFerryhopperwebsite.

FLIGHTS TO NAXOS

The best and cheapest website to book or search for flights to Naxos is Booking.com Flights, as it has all the available options (including any available low-cost airlines like Ryanair).

santorini flight plane — *Aegean Air is the best Greek airline that can take you to Naxos*

A few useful info to have in mind when booking your flight to Naxos:

Naxos airport on Google Maps
Athens Airport Code is: ATH (Athens)
Naxos Airport Code is: JNX
Every plane that lands on Naxos takes off after 40 minutes to fly back to Athens.
The exact times of the flights change and they are not the same throughout the year, so make sure you get the right times from Booking.com Flights,as it will give you all the available flights immediately.
There are more flights from Athens to Naxos between April – October (high season)
If you book your tickets well in advance (6 months), you could probably find some very good deals with return tickets.
The cost of the flight from Athens to Naxos may come up to 250 euros during the high season (April-October)

The airlines that fly from Athens to Naxos (April-October) are:

Aegean Airlines (Olympic Air is the same airline with a different brand name)
Sky Express

naxos airport greece — *Naxos airport is pretty small compared to other Greek islands, and it only serves domestic flights to and from Athens*

There are no direct international flights to Naxos as its airport cannot accommodate those.

The only flights that it serves are to and from Athens.

In my honest opinion, it’s not worth flying to Naxos, and you should only choose it instead of the ferry if you get sea sickness. The time you will spend going to the Athens airport (2 hours in advance) and the whole check-in process is not worth it, in my opinion. The fast ferries only take 4 hours to get to Naxos and they are much hassle hassle-free than taking a flight.

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO PIRAEUS PORT

athens x96 bus airport — *X96 is the Athens bus that will take you from Athens Airport to Piraeus ferry port*

The easiest and cheapest option to get to the Athens ferry port called Piraeus is by taking the bus X96 that stops just outside the Athens airport.

X96 bus takes between 50 minutes to 80 minutes (depending on the traffic) to go to the Athens ferry port (Piraeus), and the X96 bus route to Piraeus ferry port is the following:

This is how to get from the Athens airport Exit to the X96 and X95 bus stops just outside of the airport:

Naxos Ferries depart from E9 Port Gate, so you have to stop at the bus station, which is called: STATION ISAP (this is also a metro station).

Or in Greek : ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ ΗΣΑΠ

In case you feel lost, you can just ask the bus driver (they always speak English if you speak with a very clear accent like an Italian mafioso in a way… ????)

But in reality, you will find some brand new GPS screens showing you where you are:

athens bus gps — *GPS screens are showing you where you are on the X96 Athens bus*

The X96 bus runs 24/7 and there is a bus every 30 mins roughly (in Greece time runs in a very strange way…so never expect something to be on time…that’s just a small tip from Greeks…you’d better get used to that unfortunately).

But there is an X96 bus every 20-30 minutes, so there will be one for you too!

Click here to see all the stops of X96 Bus (from Athens Airport to Piraeus Ferry port to Naxos) and the live timetables

For the X96 bus, you have to buy tickets from a kiosk which is just outside of the bus stop (and also just outside of the airport, just follow the “Bus” signs in the airport).

For adults, the Athens bus ticket (called “ATH.ENA) costs 6 euros, and for kids (under 6) it costs 3 euros.

You can also take a taxi from the Athens airport to the Piraeus Ferry port, which costs 50-60 euros, but it’s really not recommended because it’s not worth it in my opinion…

The X96 bus is pretty fast, and it costs only 6 euros!

Also, BE CAREFUL:

Sometimes the X96 Athens Airport Buses say: “AEROLIMENAS-PEIRAIAS”

Don’t get confused.

This is a Greek version of saying: “Airport – Pireaus” , so it’s the same really…

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO RAFINA PORT

ktel bus rafina airport — *This is how the KTEL bus that will take you from Athens airport to Rafina port looks like – they depart from a different bus stop than X96, and they usually have orange and white colours*

The easiest and cheapest way to get from Athens airport to Rafina port is by taking a KTEL bus. These are different buses from the blue ones (like X96 or X95), and the bus stop is just across the street from the airport exits (see picture above). You can buy the ticket on the bus from the driver, and it costs around 3 euros (there might be a slight difference every year).

The timetables for the bus Athens airport to Rafina are on the following table, but you should always check the official website of KTEL Buses for the latest timetables:

ktel bus rafina port timetable — Athens airport to Rafina Ferry Port Timetable, but for the latest Schedule,s always check the **official KTEL Website**

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO CENTRAL ATHENS

athens bus x95 — *X95 is the bus that will take you from Athens airport to Syntagma Square (central Athens), but you also have the option of taking the metro (subway)*

To go from Athens Airport to Syntagma Square (the most central point in Athens), you have to take either the metro from the airport (it’s overground for some stations and then it goes underground) or the bus X95, which will take you to Syntagma Square within 30-40 mins.

The X95 bus stop is next to the X96 bus stop, and the tickets are exactly the same and are sold from the same kiosk.

This is the Bus X95 route (from Athens airport to Syntagma square – central Athens):

You can also take the metro line 3 to get to Syntagma Square from the Athens Airport.

Check on this link the timetables for Athens metro lines

These are the timetables of Athens Metro Line 3 to and from the Airport (there is a train every 36 minutes):

athens metro line 3 timetables — *Athens Metro Line 3 (Piraeus Port – Central Athens – Airport) – Click to Enlarge*

You have 2 options to get from Athens to Naxos: by plane or by ferry. My honest recommendation is to take the ferry instead of flying because a flight costs around 3 times a ferry ticket, and you won’t be saving much time, to be honest.

If you do take the ferry, make sure you have plenty of movies loaded on your tablet, a crossword, and books in hand… (it’s also a good idea to have some food with you because even though there are some snack shops, they might not have everything…). You also get to see some other Greek islands before you arrive in Naxos (ok…it’s just the port, but you can still take a selfie with another Greek island in the background).

For me, the best way to check timetables and even book your ferry tickets online has been Ferryhopper for the last few years, and I highly recommend it to everyone looking to get a ferry to Naxos from Athens.

I still remember the days when I was a kid (or even recently…) when, as a family, we had to visit a specific travel agency to book and get the ferry tickets, but these days are long gone! No matter how you choose to travel from Athens to Naxos, it is for sure that your heartbeat will rise when you are approaching the island… And there is no way you won’t be surprised by the amazing blue colour of the Greek sea!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long is the ferry ride from Athens to Naxos?

The ferry ride to Naxos is usually 4 hours with the fast ferry (Seajet, Highspeed), but it can also be up to 5.5 hours with the slower but cheaper ferry (Blue Star Ferry).

What is the best way to travel from Athens to Naxos?

The best way to travel from Athens to Naxos is by ferry because it is relatively quick and easier than going through the hassle of another flight.

Is it better to fly or ferry to Naxos?

It is better to take the ferry to Naxos because the fast ferry takes around 4 hours, which overall is the same time you’d spend with the plane (including the check-in process and security), and flying is way more expensive. Also, by taking the ferry, you get the opportunity to see a few more Greek islands before arriving in Naxos.

How To Get From Athens to Naxos

How To Get From Athens to Naxos

Compare Greek island ferries in one search

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ATHENS TO NAXOS TIPS:

Athens to Naxos Ferry Schedule

BLUE STAR FERRIES

Where can you book Blue Star ferry tickets from Athens to Naxos?

How much does a Blue Star Ferry ticket cost?

FLIGHTS TO NAXOS

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO PIRAEUS PORT

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO RAFINA PORT

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO CENTRAL ATHENS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long is the ferry ride from Athens to Naxos?

What is the best way to travel from Athens to Naxos?

Is it better to fly or ferry to Naxos?

Compare Greek island ferries in one search

Plan Your Trip: Recommended Travel Partners

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