Ia - beach of Baxédes

 

Evaluation: This short hike goes to the beach of Baxédes, on the northern coast of Santoríni – nothing spectacular, but the beach is definitely more peaceful than the other overcrowded beaches of Santoríni. This can be an extension of the hike from Firà to Ia. This hike gets an evaluation of *.

Estimated time: The hike from Finikiá to the sea only takes 35 minutes (AWT). From Ia to the beach of Baxédes itself thus takes a little under one hour. Obviously, you also have to go back till the bus stop of Finikiá, which lasts for another 30 minutes.

Route description: You can start this hike from anywhere in Ia; you just walk through the main street in south-eastern direction until you reach the asphalt road to Firà near the church. A couple of hundred metres further on, at the Market Oia with the imitation windmills, you take a donkey trail off the left, in between walls. The path to Firà departs on the right of the mini market.

This trail leads directly towards the sea all the time, the sea which you can distinguish far away in front of you. Watch out NOT to take a right after 5 minutes, NOR a left, into the fields. Your route rather looks like the bed of a river; it runs in between high walls, it is sometimes overgrown and it is littered with plastic. After about 20 minutes the trail gets clearer, though. You continue in between fields and you can see traces of donkey dung. Because of the shrubs it is better to wear long trousers and some decent shoes. If you doubt which way to take you should continue in the direction of the sea all the time.

About 25 minutes later you get to a large gravel road, which you follow to the left for a couple of hundred metres. You then take a similar, fairly large trail off the right, in between walls and again in the direction of the sea. At this point you can get an idea of the old Santoríni: small fields, vineyards, and dusty roads – completely different from the artificial Ia.

After another 10 minutes you cross the asphalt road and you arrive at some houses, among which the tavern Parádisos. Near a little chapel you finally get to the beach, with plenty of large boulders. If you are looking for a more pleasant beach you have to continue for about ten minutes alongside the sea, in the direction of the parasols on the black beach of Baxédes.

To return to Ia you have two options:

(1) You can either follow exactly the same way back: 10 minutes along the beach, then the path on the left to the gravel road; you take a left for a short while and then the path on the right again until the Market Oia. Over there you can find a bus stop to go back to Firà.

(2) Another possibility is to leave from the beach of Baxédes itself. Near the Cantina Oasis you then take the asphalt road inland, going up slightly. After 20 minutes on this asphalt road you can take an ancient trail straight ahead, at a bend to the right and near the first beautiful house with a palm tree. This trail brings you to the rather authentic village of Finikiá. Higher up, in front of you you can distinguish the main road Ia - Firà and you walk in that direction. After some 30 minutes you get to the main road, near the villa Agnadi. Straight ahead there is a path that could bring you to the chapel of Stavrós, on the hike from Firà to Ia – but that is still more than two hours further on. On the asphalt road you can find a bus stop to take you back to Firà after some 100 metres on the right. You can also walk back to the far western end of Ia in order to watch the famous sunset…