Paros is an island in the Cyclades region of Greece and is becoming a very popular destination to visit, for good reason. We spent 4 days here and absolutely loved it. The island is an excellent mix of historical and quant Greek charm and modern amenities, and has something for everyone from great beaches to fun ATVing and adorable traditional villages (think winding alleyways, white buildings and pink bougainvillea).
If you’re planning a trip here, here are some things to consider:
Where to Stay
There are 2 main villages where most people stay on Paros: Parikia and Nauossa.
Parikia - The main town right off the ferry port and where you’ll likely enter Paros if you’re taking a ferry. This town houses the old market area, which is now home to lots of shops and restaurants. I’ll sound like a broken record, but it’s exactly what you’d imagine of a traditional cycladic village - winding alleys (no cars), white houses, blue domed roofs and pink bougainvillea. We opted to stay here based on price and are very glad that we did. This was our AirBnB and we loved it. It has about ¼ of the crowds of Naoussa and more economical food and drink options, plus allows you to walk to and from the ferry which is super convenient!
Naoussa - The traditional fishing village of the island, settled right on the water, which has now been overtaken by modern shops and restaurants. Our taxi driver, who grew up in Naoussa, said most locals have moved out into the “suburbs” since it’s been overtaken with trendy spots to eat and hang out. Everything here seemed a bit more expensive than Parikia and was definitely more crowded, but it’s a must visit (or stay) for sure. The shops and restaurants are literally directly on the water and everything we ate here was incredible!
Other Villages:
Lefkes - Located in the hills above the water, Lefkes is a traditional settlement with adorable shopping and restaurants. Given it isn’t located right by the beach like the two villages above, it’s not as popular of a place to stay, but there are some amazing Airbnbs and hotels that you can stay at here for cheaper than the other places. If you don’t stay here, you have to come for a visit. It’s home to the insta-famous spot below and a great place to get lost and wander through the alleyways.
Antiparos - This is actually a teeny little island located just 5 miles off the coast of Paros and accessible only by ferry. It is filled with stretches and seemingly private beaches and massive houses (apparently Tom and Rita Hanks live here). It’d be really cool to stay here, but we just did a day trip which was my favorite day on Paros, more below.
Getting Around the Island
The most popular modes of transportation are ATVs and motorbikes. I 100000% recommend renting one of them because it’s an excellent and fun way to get around the island. We rented ATVs from Stratos Rentals close to the Parikia port, which was great. I did see a ton on offer when we got there at many rental companies, but it was quick and easy to book ahead and saved us money so I’d recommend doing that! Generally, I felt really safe ATVing around the island, even on the main roads with cars who are accustomed to passing if they have an opportunity.
If you’re not comfortable with either of those options, you can rent a car on this island, take a taxi (the fare from Parikia to Naoussa was 20 euro) or they have public bus transportation. But the ATVs gave us so much flexibility and were cheaper than trying to taxi from place to place!
Things to Do
Walk around Parikia
This is the main port city and the site of the old market. Today it's filled with lots of cute boutique shops and restaurants where you can get things spanning from inexpensive souvenirs to high end dresses. I spent one day window shopping and then had brunch (at 2pm obviously when the Greeks are waking up) at Cafe Distracto Creperie, which was a delicious salmon benedict. We also ate most of our dinners here and particularly liked Little Green Rocket for asian-mediterranean fusion, Apollon Garden and Cuore Russo (make a reservation in high season). The main street spans the water with cute tavernas and little spots to jump into the ocean. You can easily get lost here for a day shopping, eating and cooling off in the sea.
Bar hop in Naoussa
Naoussa is Parikias chic older sister. The main difference is that this town is situated literally right on the water where many of the bars and restaurants’ tables teeter dangerously close to the edge of you falling in. It seems Naoussa has been “chosen” to be the trendier of the two main cities, and it has taken to the task well. The boutiques are somehow even higher end where you can buy things that you’d see in Barneys (if that’s still a thing?) in the US. And the food is next level. We had some amazing cocktails at Fotis All Day Bar and Come Back bar both right on the water and our favorite dinner of the trip at Yemeni Taverna. The food was incredible (dolmas, shrimp tempura, and of course Moussaka). BUT all of this comes with a price…mainly literally a higher price tag + a lot of crowds. We either ATV’d over here or took a taxi one night which was 20 euros each way.
Day trip to Antiparos
THIS. This was our favorite day. Antiparos is where Tom and Rita Hanks live…so if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me! But seriously, it’s an amazing little island filled with coves of private beaches and delicious eats. There are two ferries that get you there, the people ferry and the car ferry. We took the car ferry because we had the ATVs which runs about every 30 minutes and is 4 euros if you have yourself and a car (I think it’s 1.50 just for yourself). We had no real plan so we just zipped around on the ATVs towards the back half of the island and found a beach without anyone around. We swam for awhile then wandered over to a dock with a few fish restaurants. We chose Captain Pipinos which has a dock right over the water where you enjoy your meal. The food was so fresh…crab salad, greek salad and a seafood risotto (plus a liter of wine that my sister mostly had to finish herself since we were driving… thanks for taking one for the team Christine!). I might be biased into thinking this was my favorite meal because we were accompanied by an adorable kitten and hordes of adording kids (adoring the kitten not us), that made it so memorable. One of the Swiss girls named the kitten “Whiskey”, which we found a little concerning at the age of 7 but…who are we to judge! Overall, a great way to spend a day exploring and getting a lovely taste of the Hanks lifestyle.
Explore Lefkes village
If you’ve ever seen an Instagram photo of Paros, then it’s likely been in the village of Lefkes. The most famous shot is of a traditional Cycladic white village house on the corner of an alley with an awning of bougainvillea hanging overhead, the quintessential Cycladic Greece. We of course had to take a shot here (a photo, not a real shot which my brother in law Ryan had at around 10 am that day when he ordered coffee and the bartender offered him one, who would say no?), and it didn’t disappoint. It is hard to find, but if you search “Bougainvillea House” it does come up…just keep searching! Otherwise, just wander the streets. We went to the main church and admired the views of the village on the hilltops. Then walked into a couple stores, including a ceramic and art gallery owned by a guy who lived about a stones throw away from us in California, and now calls Lefkes home. Small world! He recommended Aranto for lunch, and it was one of the best lunches we had. Grilled lamb, cheese stuffed chicken breast, green risotto and a salad with some crisp white wine, overlooking the hills of Lefkes. Just get there early because they started to turn people away!
Relax at the beach
And of course, there are a ton of beaches and beach clubs to relax the day away. We went to Krios Beach club and it was a great place to hang out for the day. Chairs were 30 euro per pair on the water, kinda pricey, but the service and food were actually really good for beach club status. We didn’t get to hit all the beaches but we were also recommended Kalogeros Beach where they have the mud that you can cake on your face and arms to give you beautiful glowing skin. Paros Kite Beach is known for wind sports given its position on the windy side of the island and we saw a ton of kitesurfers enjoying the waves. There are a lot of different options to rent a beach chair and enjoy for the day just in case you need to
Overall, Paros was probably my favorite island to visit in the Cycladic region of Greece. It really did have something for everyone and gave you the charm of what you’d expect from the Cyclades without the insane price tag of Santorini or Mykonos (which the Greek people call “Countries of their own”).
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