Sleeping in Sicily

Advantages: Good Restaurant, Excellent Staff
Disadvantages: A bit far from the resort centre

...Our recent honeymoon saw us visiting Sicily for the first time, looking for a hotel somewhere that you've never been before is quite disconcerting. You have to rely on reviews, star ratings and photo's found around the Internet. On a trawl through Expedia I came across the Sant Alphio Garden Hotel, a four star hotel in the resort of Giardini-Naxos. Looking at a map I noticed that the resort wasn't that far from Catania, where we were flying into and was close to other areas that we had thought we might like to visit, The photo's all looked quite nice too and the hotel itself looked clean and spacious. As an added plus the hotel also has an indoor spa and pool in addition to an outside pool, which I imagine would be delightful in the summer although at the beginning of March it looked a little too cold to venture into, not even in...

josarah 11.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sant Alphio Garden Hotel, Giardini Naxos

Spiros... A Stunning Little Greek In Naxos

Advantages: Close to The Beach
Disadvantages: The Rooms in the Original Building are Quite Dated

...The Choice... My passion for browsing holiday brochures on cold dismal nights continued, the hubby fancied the Cyclades- a group of Greek Islands scattered across the Aegean sea of Greece - for a change from our usual choices of Crete, and Kos etc.- and as ever it was left to me to choose the appropriate dwelling for our two weeks.away. I decided on Naxos, only accessible by ferry via a chartered flight to Mykonos (if partaking in a package), the largest Island in the Cyclades.. The week before Christmas of 2004 I booked and paid a small deposit of £90 to Kosmar - a Greek holiday specialist in the UK - the balance of £600 was due the following June - plenty of time to save. The hubby wanted to book flights and accommodation separately but I like the security of a package holiday! The Outbound Journey We leave Brum...

gizmogizmo 31.10.2006 (03.03.2007) · Read review
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Review of Hotel Spiros, Naxos

Good little bed and breakfast

Advantages: Good location, nice breakfast
Disadvantages: Small hotel- though this is necessary a bad thing

.... The rooms were pretty big with en-suite bathroom, private balcony offering a great view of the bay, tv, phone, and air conditioning and heating system which the guests can control. The room was very clean, as was the bathroom. There was plenty of drawers and a big cupboard for storage of clothes- something i found very useful. Price of rooms range from about £30-£80 a night. Overall I would definetly recommend Hotel Palladio for anyone looking for a reasonably priced 3 star hotel in Giardini Naxos....

mcduff16 10.02.2006 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Palladio, Giardini Naxos

Classical Music on a Budget with the NAXOS label

Advantages: Classical music collecting on a budget using NAXOS
Disadvantages: no other record label reviewed

...Classical music – how to buy on a budget? This genre is a huge universe of material dating back at least 500 years. It is intimidating to contemplate starting a collection, even for some classical music lovers, due to the sheer size of the repertory, or repertoire, if you prefer. Moreover, the classical repertory is subdivided by composer, era, style of music (mediaeval, romantic, baroque, etc), region, types of instruments (and voice), size of ensemble (from solo to symphony), etc. In this op I will try to lower the intimidation factor to build a collection; part of which includes the fine NAXOS record label. Recommended reading: Jaxle’s op on “Classical Music and Young People” (30.01.2003) which makes a very good case for exploring the classical genre. How to get started in classical music? Start...

rowlandw 06.02.2003 · Read review
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Review of Everything that starts with C ...

One of my favourite islands

Advantages: excellent food, cheap, golden sandy beaches
Disadvantages: outside of Naxos town there is very little nightlife

...Having booked a week's holiday in Santorini and being extremely disappointed (dirty, very touristy and way overpriced!) a friend and I decided to escape to Naxos. The journey was quick (2 hours by ferry) and Naxos was almost the complete opposite of Santorini. We travelled in early October, but whilst the winds of Santorini were raging, the sun beat down on Naxos' beautiful (and completely deserted!) white and golden sands. We found accomodation by walking across Naxos town towards Agios Georgios Beach. We found the Galaxy Hotel after 10 minutes walking near the beach (there's a link to this hotel on www.naxos-greece.biz). As it was almost completely empty, they let us have a beautiful room overlooking the pool for 50 euros a night (30 quid!). This included an ample buffet breakfast, which included honey and yoghurt that we couldn...

lrhhart 29.11.2003 · Read review
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Review of Naxos (Greece)

Hidden Mediterranean Treat

Advantages: Beautiful place
Disadvantages: Uphill climbs in some places.

...clearly see Mount Etna in the distance. Along the streets at night are artists, performers,singers, musicians etc. The streets come alive at night with outdoor music being played, artists paint charactures and so forth. There is a bar near the end of the main street which is based on these steps. There are cushions all up the steps with little wooden table to put your food on. When you order your drinks you get free snacks, such as crisps, nuts, peppers etc. It is a real indie bar with a social and fun atmosphere. To get to the beach in Taormina you have to get a cable car down to Giardini Naxos. However when we got in the cable car it was about 40 degrees and it broke down half way back up which wasn't very nice at all. The beach isn't all soft and sandy, it's rocks and pebles but lovely crystal clear water. It's easy to get...

djs89uk 05.09.2006 · Read review
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Review of Taormina, Sicily

Taormina

Advantages: Beautiful Culture and Scenery
Disadvantages: Mad Drivers in traffic choked streets!

...Taormina - Undeniably special, a very pretty hillside town and one of our favourite Sicilian holiday locations. Although expensive to stay here it is well worth coming here. Taormina is high on Monte Tauro so you have to travel downwards to the two bays below if you wish to visit the beach, Giardini-Naxos. We stayed in Villa Belevdere, via Bagnoli Croce, situated in the cliff, views absolutley stunning of the Bay of Naxos. We stayed here in early September, and loved the gardens and pool. Although there is no restaurant in the evening here, the local trattorias are only a few minutes stroll away. Very busy place during June and September, very crowded with tourists in the main street Corso Umberto, but what an atmosphere! Music everywhere, and street entertainers! Absolutely fantastic. You walk alot here, as it is the best way...

MoiraAnn 21.04.2004 (22.04.2004) · Read review
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Review of Taormina, Sicily

Sicily not kicked quite so far - weakling Italy

Advantages: Nice people, good food and wine, weather
Disadvantages: Driving is scary

...not to the same standard as the UK (although you may argue that if you wish!), there are quite often large pot holes and 3 lanes of traffic side by side on what is effectively a dual carriageway. I'm sure you'll get through it though and actually come to enjoy it. The following day, having arrived safely at our hotel with only a minor mishap we decided to drive to Céfalu on the Northern Coast. Rather than take the motorway round the island I had spotted a scenic looking route that would take us past Mount Etna and over the tops to the other coast. Off we went on a gloriously sunny day and started up the winding mountain roads. I will say at this point that the scenery around the hotel which was on the outskirts of Giardini-Naxos was quite pretty. There were villages perched atop craggy rocks and beautiful coastal towns, then there was...

josarah 06.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sicily (Italy)

Music for Meditation

Advantages: A good introduction to sacred music
Disadvantages: A rather niche album on which those into the genre will find nothing new

...Introducing people to a new genre of music is often best accomplished through compilation albums, particularly where the music in question is not what one would really consider "mainstream" listening. Compilations enable one to listen to a range of music which, although of a type, will often vary quite a bit. I've found this to be particularly true of the classical genre. Some classical pieces can feel very inaccessible to the novice listener and concertos, sonatas and symphonies can go on for what seems like an age. So, when the time came for me to introduce someone to sacred works I decided that compilation was the way forward. As a label Naxos are well known for producing good quality but cheap recordings and were one of the first labels to open up the classical market challenging the more established labels to produce...

CareBear 15.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Requiem - Classical Music for Reflection & Meditation

Cycladic Heaven

Advantages: A Bit Of Unspoilt Greece
Disadvantages: None!

...Having spent two weeks in Naxos last year we decided to do a two centre this year with a week in Paros to start followed by a week in Naxos. I must say that although Paros was beautiful I was itching to get to Naxos!. Paros's main town Parikia is a bustling port - with endless ferries coming into the harbour. The old town is a beautiful little maze, nice boutiques and expensive restaurants - sometimes well over our budget. We found an excellent fish taverna in the old square. After visiting Noussa - I have to say I would have prefered to have stayed in this resort, more condensed, a beautiful harbour - ( with squid drying) and lots to do. (Water taxis to excellent beaches). Then to Naxos - the sunsets, the people, the food, the ambience, absolutely fantastic, we played backgammon watching the sun go down and enjoyed Greece coffee...

gizmogizmo 22.12.2003 · Read review
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Review of Cyclades (Greece)