Naxos: call for a mini-bus in the mountain villages

The «Network for the Sustainable Development of Naxos» has submitted a new memorandum on transport links for the mountain villages of Naxos, calling for a circular municipal mini-bus route to be operated. The proposed route would connect the villages of the Northern Mountain Axis to one another — Koronida, Koronos, Komiaki, Skado, Mesi and Apollonas — and would end by connecting with the existing services to Chora. Initially at least three circular services a day are being sought, one in the morning, one at midday and one in the evening. The Network also proposes that the driver be a resident of the area, as the vehicle would not travel outside the mountain axis. The proposed vehicle, a small one, is chosen precisely because the area’s mountain road network does not allow large buses through at several points.

The practical problem described is a specific one: the last service from Apollonas runs at 15:00. From that hour onwards, residents and visitors without a car are essentially cut off, in an area where distances are long and the road network is mountainous. The issue particularly affects elderly residents who need to travel to health and administrative services in Chora, but also schoolchildren and young people who have no transport of their own. The area has a significant number of older permanent residents, while in the summer months it also receives visitors who arrive without their own means of transport.

The campaign is not new. In 2023 there were interventions by the Association of Koronida Residents of Naxos and protests in Skado, Mesi and Apollonas, while bodies in Komiaki described the timetable of the time as inadequate. In 2024 the matter was raised at the municipal authority’s accountability session, and two letters from parents led, according to the memorandum, only to a discounted ticket for ages 6 to 18. In July 2025 a documented proposal was submitted to the mayor, which the Network says went unanswered, while in June 2026 a detailed dossier followed at the Network’s second meeting. In the intervening years the issue would as a rule come back at the start of each school year and at the start of each tourist season, without reaching a permanent solution.

The crucial difference this year is institutional: in July and August 2026 the Municipal Communities of Koronida and Koronos passed formal resolutions, with the support of the presidents of all the mountain villages. The request to the municipal authority is now that a specific and clear timetable for the start of operations be announced. As the memorandum notes, «a service that people do not know about essentially does not exist», a point accompanied by a proposal for the timetable to be publicised consistently and widely. No response from the Municipality of Naxos and the Lesser Cyclades had been made public by Tuesday 18 August. More from the island in the Naxos section. The Network is also calling for the timetable to be clearly posted at stops and online, so that the service is known to residents and visitors alike.