Cost of Living (Naxos, Greece)

Welcome to our cost break-down per city. The prices listed are the total cost for two adults, unless a per person or per day cost is also provided. All costs have been converted from local currency to USD at the time of purchase with exchange rates reflected.

Naxos, Greece

16-nights July 2026

HOUSING

HOUSING:

We traveled to the popular island of Naxos at the beginning of high season and chose our apartment because of the amazing rooftop sitting area. In fact, it had three outdoor sitting areas, a comfortable bedroom, and a large bathroom. Little did we know that the hostess would turn out to be the best most giving person we've met during our slow travel. Read about her in our story... BNB Guest vs. Customers.

An individual's perception of home may differ from hostels to luxury hotels, and the choice may change depending upon the country or the size of city. Right now, we use a combination of short-term rental platforms including AirBNB, Hotels.com, VRBO, Expedia, and Booking.com. Our accommodation choices are mostly 1 bedroom/1 bath apartments or hotel rooms within a modest budget category while living in small cities and big towns from 1 day to 1 month.

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

Content creators for travel information report the category of transportation very differently. Some include the cost of arriving into the new country or city and some do not. In full transparency, we will report both the local transportation cost and the long-distance arrival cost. The long-distance arrival cost will not be calculated into the per day cost since people will arrive to this destination from all over the world.

TRANSPORTATION:

Arrival: Naxos is one of the Cyclades islands located southeast of mainland Greece. Though it has a small airport, we chose to ride the ferry to and from the city of Rafina. The round-trip cost for two people to ride the 5-hour ferry was $238.00.

Local: Our apartment was located within walking distance of Naxos Town. We rode the public bus to a couple of beaches further away at a rate of $2.50 per person each way (cost $20.00). One day we rented an ATV to travel into the center of the island (cost $63.00), but we added this cost to the entertainment cost because it was fun too. ATV and scooter rentals seem to be more common than car rentals for tourists.

total local cost $83.00

($41.50/person)

FOOD-MARKETS & DINING OUT

Everyone needs to eat. Grocery store shopping and restaurant dining are viewed differently by content creators. Some will add restaurant costs into their entertainment budget. In this category we will include all grocery store shopping and dining out expenses.

FOOD

We had several grocery stores near our apartment with butchers and tyrokimaka (cheese shops). We ate in restaurants about 1/2 of all our meals, then cooked the rest of the time. Breakfast was the most common meal prepared at "home". Pictured here is a sample grocery store purchase with the total grocery costs being $322.00. Restaurant meals totaled $750.00. The total food cost combines both expenses.

total cost $1072.00 ($67.00/day)

ENTERTAINMENT

Entertainment is the third most expensive part of travel behind accommodations and transportation. This category includes entrance fees, tours, excursions, and shows. Food tours and dinner theater will also be part of this category because an entertainment is added to the food experience. Generally, slow travel entertainment costs will to be less expensive than the holiday vacations.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Naxos was our first real taste of Greece long term. We wanted to absorb all aspects of the tourism and local lifestyle. As stated above we rented an ATV for one day ($65.00) to get to the center of the island. Though there are public buses, times can be limiting for scheduled activities, and the easiest runs are to the beaches. We did spend time at the beaches where we rented chairs and bought some drinks and masks ($96.00). At the beginning of our Naxos stay we bought tickets for a full day island bus tour that took us to several tourist destinations in the small island villages including an archeological site, the Statue of Dionysos, an olive press, a ceramics demonstration, and a beach ($82.00). Additionally, we took a full day boat tour that made three stops including the one pictured here for cave swimming ($186.00). We visited some small museums on our own too ($20.00). Finally, we took a cooking class in the mountains and learned to make some authentic Greek food ($180.00). See those recipes in the Cooking in Greece article and in the Recipes of the Week.

total cost $630.00 ($315.00/person)

MEDICAL

Plan for the worst and hope for the best. No one likes to be ill hurt, but medical expenses should be part of the estimated budget for any traveler. We purchase an international medical insurance plan whenever we travel to cover catastrophic issues, but we also budget for our monthly medications. Anything purchased in a pharmacy will be included in this category on the month the purchase was experienced.

MEDICAL:

We had a safe and happy time in Naxos. No medical expenses were needed.

total cost $0.00

PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS

This is a category that should be expected in any budget but can look wildly different for each person. This category includes everything from personal maintenance to things cannot be classified in the other categories such as haircuts, massage, manicure, clothing, souvenirs, or household items to feel more comfortable in the accommodation. Some travelers or content creators omit this cost from budget reporting because it is so personalized.

PERSONAL/MISC.:

We chose to buy a few personal items while in Naxos. We bought a few gifts for others, but Shannon splurged on a new necklace and earrings as well as the printed dress pictured here.

total cost $150.00

RECURRING COSTS

These costs are dependent upon the person or couple. People who maintain a home while traveling may incur more costs than people who sell everything for full-time travel. By analyze your own budget before travel begins, you will better understand which line items can be omitted from life and which ones are constant, permanent costs.

RECURRING COSTS:

• Phone Bill:

  • Google Voice ($0/mo)

  • Airalo e-Sim ($36/mo)

• Internet when at home ($30/mo)

• International Health Insurance when traveling ($236/mo)

• Subscriptions

  • Cloud Services ($17/mo)

  • Music Services $15/mo)

  • Amazon Prime ($17/mo)

• VPN ($13/mo)

Base cost $98/mo.

When at home (add internet) $128/mo.

When traveling (add insurance) $334/mo.