Greece - Part 3 : Paros

Paros

 

Every place in Greece we visited got a little more quiet and, IMO, a little more beautiful.  

Iconic Paros Town

We landed in Paros and had prearranged a car from Paros Trust Rental as advised by our host, Apostolis.  Dimitri met us at the port with a sign and we walked to the car.  It was so easy, I’d highly recommend you reach out to them if you are renting a car in Paros.  We were staying just outside of the port at Villa Ble Paros so our host, Apostolis came down to the port on his scooter to meet us and guide us back to the house.  

Villa Ble Paros

View from our house

The house and the view were so beautiful.  Just a 10-15 minute walk from the port, we appreciated staying just outside of town on a beautiful quiet property.  Each morning we got pastries from the nearby shop and had breakfast on the patio, we were able to do laundry and hang dry the items out on the line, and just really enjoyed the stay.  While I found that I personally enjoyed the town of Naoussa over Parikia, I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again.  Having a car meant it was easy and quick to get around and the parking is easy everywhere. 

As a side note, everyone on Greece uses WhatsApp so make sure you do too.  Also, our visit to Paros was days 6-8 on our trip, so we intentionally picked a place with a laundry washer as we each only brought one carry on luggage for the whole 16 day trip.

Kolymbithres Beach

Since we arrived early, we dropped our stuff, got settled, then headed to Kolymbithres beach for some relaxing.  This beach is known for its lunar-like landscape and unique features.  The kids had fun in the water while we wandered around and lounged on the sand.  Eventually it was time for food. 

Naoussa Town

Ragout at Almond in Paros

Greek Wedding Celebration

The first night in Paros we headed to Naoussa town. Many blogs will tell you Naoussa is a party scene or tourist trap, and maybe it’s more crazy in July/August, but we found it just the right amount of charm and liveliness.  We even stumbled upon a Greek wedding celebration at one of the open air restaurants and it was so much fun to watch.  As we wandered around, we paused to have cocktails at a cute cafe before heading to Almond in Paros for dinner.  We stumbled upon this restaurant and the atmosphere drew me in.  The food was really good and I had the ragout which was amazing. While here we also picked up a few cheap beach mats.  These proved clutch for the next 7 days in Paros and Milos.

Byzantine Path

Our first full day in Paros we visited a few small towns and hiked part of the Byzantine Path, the oldest ‘road’ in Paros at over 1000 years old.  We started in Lefkes. It’s only a15 minute drive (the island isn’t big) and I recommend just parking at the free parking area.  I thought we could get “closer” to the start of the hike and accidentally took us down a road so tight I wasn’t sure we’d make it out without damaging the car.  After that stressful experience we went back to the parking area and was pleasantly surprised to find clean public bathrooms right below the steps. 

Once finally parked we wandered the streets and admired the view from the Church of the Holy Trinity up on the hill.  From here you can see the Byzantine path and to start you just head down that way till you see the marked sign. 

Walking this path we could feel the history and imagine ourselves as traders walking to the market to sell and trade our goods.  The kids had fun discussing what they would have brought and traded as we walked.  Note that this isn’t a particular lot long or hard walk but it is uneven as you are walking along some of the original marble, which Paros is known for mining.  (Side note, you can still visit the marble quarries on Paros but we didn’t on this trip).  

After ~2 miles we came to the edge of Prodromos town. As you wander into town you’ll come across 1 of 2 cafes and around the corner is the bus timetable.  We weren’t fully sure how we wanted to get back to Lefkes, but found that the next bus was about 45 minutes out and that seemed perfect (note they only come every 2 hours or so).  So we wandered, found some cats (so many stray cats in Greece) and then hopped the bus back to our car (2.50E/pp cash).

After getting the car we drove to Marpissa which is one of the cutest, most iconically Cycladic villages we visited.  We’re taking white houses with blue doors, pink flowers, tiny stone alleyways. We ate lunch here at Charoula cafe which was so delicious - Greek salad, kebab, tzatziki (best, we had) and they even gave us little free ice cream pops at the end. We spent the next hour or so wandering, finding cats, and enjoying the small town.  If you're in Paros, you must visit and you must eat here.

Piso Livadi Beach

Lastly we headed more south to Piso Livadi beach.  We enjoyed lounging and swimming on this beautiful beach with its crystal clear turquoise waters.  Simply gorgeous. 

Aliki Beach Area

Balcony Tou Aki

The next day, our second on Paros, was our beach day.  We started at Golden Beach (Chrissi Atki beach).  Parking is easy, just go near any beach club like Blue and you’ll find the lots.  The sand is soft and the water clear for what seems like miles in all directions.  Unfortunately the winds were also strong off the north side and though we were south, the fine sand of the beach kicks up easily and sand blasted us too much for comfort.  So after some time in the water we decided it was necessary to find another beach that was better protected. We were also getting hungry, so we headed for Aliki beach and had lunch at the recommended Balcony Tou Aki.  The food was delicious and the table was right on the water.  It was perfect.  Making it more perfect was the kids running off to the beach while we sat and finished our wine.  We ended up staying at this area for much of the afternoon.  I was able to pick up a bucket and two shovels and the kids had so much fun on the beach trying to catch fish, digging, and finding cool rocks.  The beach is also partly protected from the wind with more compacted sand so it was less prone to being picked up by the wind.  

Santa Maria Beach

Our last day in Paros was a long day, as our ferry to Milos wasn’t until 6:30pm.  I wanted to spend it at a beach club, lounging on comfy chairs under an umbrella.  After visiting the church of 100 doors in Parikia (Panagia Ekatontopiliani), we headed to Santa Maria beach and it did not disappoint.  Clear blue waters, nice sand, and a beach club for drinks, lounging, and food.  We opted for a front row chair set (50E) and picked a corner chair so we could easily watch the kids, view the water, and make sure we were up wind from anyone smoking.  We stayed until about 4:30 when we had to head back to port.  

After meeting Dimitri to drop the car, we wandered around and I picked up a Hamman towel that is simply lovely.  It may be my new favorite for its quick drying and ability to quickly repel the sand.  Though we didn’t have enough time this trip to visit the island of AntiParos we know it’s an easy day trip that we will definitely do next time!

On to Milos!