Where the port actually is
Naxos has one commercial port and it is right in the middle of Chora, on the waterfront directly below the old town, with the Portara visible on its islet to the north. This is unusually convenient: you step off the ferry into the town rather than into an industrial zone twenty minutes away, as at Santorini's Athinios or Paros's Parikia extension. The Kastro is a five-minute walk uphill, the bus station is on the quay itself, and Agios Georgios beach is ten minutes on foot.
What disembarkation is like
Greek ferries dock stern-first and drop a single ramp that vehicles and foot passengers share. It is loud, fast and looks chaotic; it is not. Stay to the side of the ramp, let the cars and lorries go, and walk off with the crowd. In peak August a large Blue Star can put 1,500 people onto the quay in about twelve minutes, so the waterfront is briefly very busy and then empty again. If you are meeting someone - us included - agree a landmark rather than 'at the port': the whole quay is the port.
Picking up a rental car at the port
There is no terminal building with rental desks at Naxos port. Every local agency operates on a meet-and-greet basis: someone stands on the quay with the car and the paperwork. We track your vessel's actual arrival rather than its scheduled time, so a two-hour delay out of Piraeus is our problem and not yours, and we deliver at no surcharge regardless of the hour. Bring the driving licence, an International Driving Permit if your licence was issued outside the EU, and a card in the main driver's name. The handover takes about ten minutes including the walkaround.
Parking, and the mistake that gets cars towed
Do not park on the quayside itself. The waterfront strip immediately in front of the ferry berth is an operational area and vehicles left there are towed routinely, often within twenty minutes, and the recovery process eats an afternoon. There is free parking in the large lot north of the port near the Portara causeway, and paid parking south along the waterfront. Chora's old town is entirely car-free - do not attempt to drive into the Kastro lanes, which are stepped and barely wider than a person in places. Park at the edge and walk in.
