I went to Paros many years ago and things now may be different…. For this reason I kindly asked to a friend of mine Panayotis to double check my memories and add some tips :) He loves Paros and he will buy a house there !! my next location for holidays in Paros!
Thanks Pan for your precious help !!!
Some info about Paros – ελλ. Πάρος
Paros is located in the center of Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea, in front of Naxos and near to Mykonos.
Comparing to most of the Cyclades it’s a quite big Island – it takes 1 hour of car to go from the South (Alyki) to the north (Naoussa).
In Paros you will find traditional villages, typical of Cyclades, with whitewashed cubic houses in narrow streets + exciting nightlife ! and amazing long sandy beaches and crystal waters …….
There is a small airport but if you are coming from abroad with a Charter probably you will land in Mykonos and then you will take a boat from there to reach the nice port of Parikia, in Paros.
To check out your trip by boat, the best official source is OpenSeas.gr. To arrive by plane, check out Airtickets.gr.
Paros is a perfect destination for friends, couples and teenagers too!!!
Let’s go to my trip
Paros was my second trip to Greece. We booked our holidays from Italy with a very low cost tour operator (now it is not working anymore and I can understand why ….. ) with formula roulette – therefore we didn’t know exactly which was our location in Paros. The only thing we knew was that Paros was in the Cyclades and that in August was quite windy – and it was !! For 5 consecutive nights we slept hearing the wind wistling outside …..
Our studios was located in Alyki, a very small town in the south and honestly not very much connected with the bus with the rest of the Island. I am talking about the bus because it was the cheapest way to move in the island – I didn’t have a lot of money and renting a car for 2 people was quite expensive….. Honestly I do not recommend rent a scooter since the island is quite big and quite windy too
After taking the bus so frequently we knew the bus driver, we knew the time schedule by hart and we improved our technique to get the sit on the bus :) on that issue pay attention to Greek Giagia’ (grandmothers) they will try to steal your sit and do not care if you are waiting for a person that will be sitting next to you… J
Once we went out of the tiny and quite town of Alyki – and we went to Naoussa – we tried whatever we could to change our location – unfortunately with no success. Still I must say that Alyki was very nice, the port/beach was very pleasant with amazing crystal waters, nice tavernas with good food but too quiet for a young couple …
Where to stay
There are countless hotels, houses, apartments, villas that you can get a room in Paros, you can Google and find many choices to suit your taste & budget. My friend Pan recommends some villas close to Golden Beach, that were built only in 2009 and have not been advertised a lot yet, so you may have a chance to rent one for a week. They are the ideal place for couples or families, 4 villas around a swimming pool, just 100 meters from the white sand. Check them out at goldenseavillas.gr, or call the friendly hostess Margarita at +30 697 7902728. Ask her for a better rate than the ones she has on the website, tell them you are Panayotis friends (‘Pan the president’ is the password).
Beaches
Everywhere you go you will find nice, sandy beaches with clear crystal waters. Also the beach close to the port of Parikia Livadia is wonderful!
On most of them you will find umbrellas with nice tavernas where you can eat and take some refreshments.
There is an ultra trendy beach where all teenagers meet – it’s like Mykonos’s Paradise Beach – Pounda Beach, close to Livadi Beach. All other beaches are for friends, family, great for relax and enjoy the sea.
I recommend Kolimbithres because it is very impressive (close to Naoussa)– it looks like Sardinia in some way. It is not very big but the huge blocks of granite sculpted by the wind are smooth and you can stand on them.
Pan’s favourite beach is Golden Beach. His dream is to build a house there when (and not if) he becomes a millionaire. Golden Beach is a long stretch of wide beach, close to Drios. The bus will take you there. It is one of the most popular beaches in Paros, with fantastic cafes, infrastructure and watersports. The good thing, is that it’s so big, and it rarely becomes so crowded that you can’t find a nice spot to sit under an umbrella. Golden Beach was the venue for the world windsurfing championships in 1993.
Towns
Parikia is the main town in Paros and main harbor too: Paros is very connected with other islands of the Cyclades and some tourists just jump to Parikia to have a quick walk on the Chora. The Chora is nice, with its characteristic narrow streets. You can find nice shops and tavernas.
Naoussa – small Venice ! When I visited Naoussa I felt in love with this beautiful fishing village. Actually I may say it is one of the prettiest towns in Cyclades I visited.
There are small canals, lot of tavernas, bars and clubs facing them and this is the town for night life ! Discos / clubs are open until down.
Since you are in Paros I would suggest to visit Antiparos, a small island a mile to the west of Paros. There is a famous stalactite cavern to visit and nice beaches too. Definetely worth a trip if you have transport, and car-ferries go every half hour or less from the port of Pounta and take 10 minutes to get across.
Ciao !
φιλακια
ps A huge thank you to my dear friend Christos that gave me the pictures of Antiparos and Lefkes ! ευχαριστω !!
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