Take your bike on the ferry boat
Cloudy spring day on a Blue Star ferry boat
When you think about getting your bicycle to Naxos to be actually able to ride here, there is one option that is reasonably easy and free: You can take the bike on the ferry boat. On the boat, the bicycle is considered as luggage, and your luggage travels for free with you. This is certainly the case for Blue Star Ferries (the main ferry provider for Naxos, year round).
I usually take my bike as-is, but I have a friend with a considerably more expensive carbon bike, who carries it in a bike bag. The main difference is that I might risk some scratches on my bike, but I can roll it onto the boat and carry any additional luggage easier.
My bicycle on ferry boat procedure:
- I get my ticket as usual.
- In the port I roll the bike onto the main door of the ferry boat (not on the smaller passenger side-doors, if they have opened them).
- There are the ticket controllers, either the ones for people entering here by foot, or the ones who check cars. I'll get my ticket checked by one of them (you keep the stub with you).
- At this point I usually tell them or the other workers that I'm taking the bicycle to Naxos, as they store stuff in different parts depending on which island you travel to. They'll point me where to put the bike, sometimes just pointing at the approximate direction, sometimes suggesting where exactly to put it.
- I carry a cheap, flimsy cable lock and a rubber packing strap, so I can tie the bike to some tube or rail and secure it from falling over. I'm not overly concerned with the bike being stolen, so the simple lock is good enough for me. I've never heard of incidents with luggage being stolen from the ship's hold, and someone trying to get a bicycle would probably raise some eyebrows.
- When we arrive I go down to the hold as early as possible (basically when the car drivers go down there). I'll get my bike and be out one of the first passengers.
I haven't tried this procedure in full tourist season. Things are much more nervous and crowded on the ferry boats then, room for luggage more stuffed. In principle the procedure will still hold. I suggest to come to cycle preferably in Spring or Autumn in any case, if there is any chance.
Sometimes I travel just with a 40 liter backpack and the bike. So when the boat reaches Naxos, I take in the island atmosphere and the pleasant rush that you feel when people stream out of the boat. Then I walk through the first 50 meters of chaos in the harbor, sit up and cycle along my merry way.