Paros

Deciding which islands to visit in Greece is probably one of the hardest things when planning your holiday there. There are roughly 6000 islands, with over 200 being inhabited. Even if you were on a reaaaaally long holiday, it would still take hell lot of time to see them all. Obviously, some of them are much more famous with tourists than others, so I was trying to find just the right balance between touristy and unique when planning my family holiday.

Paros attracted me with its beautiful beaches, stunning little towns and good public transport options for getting round the island. It turned out that the beginning of October was just the perfect time to go, as the days were still hot, but manageable and there were few tourists around. Also, after I booked my trip, I learned that one of my now best friends is from there, so she sent me some stunning photos from her holiday in the island. I could not wait to go!

If I remember correctly, it took us roughly 4 hours to get from Piraeus Port to Paros by slow ferry. The journey itself was really relaxing and we even managed to spot some dolphins.

As soon as we got out of the boat in Parikia (Paros port town), we found a brilliant little spot for lunch, called Hellas Taverna. I have to say their Gyros (kebab style dish) was one of the best ones I tasted in Greece.

We had a short walk around Parikia and were astonished by its beauty. There were little streets, with white houses and beautiful blossoms everywhere. Wandering in these beautiful little and almost empty streets felt like a dream…

We then caught a bus to Naousa, where we stayed for the next couple of days. Our accommodation had a beautiful balcony with the view to the town and a bit of Aegean sea. It was also really close to Piperi beach, which was convenient for the family with different interests in beach life (I absolutely hate lying on the beach for hours).

Naousa felt much smaller than Parikia, but it was cosy and had some interesting streets to explore as well.

The next day we decided to walk to Kolimpithres beach, which was just over 3km (or 2 miles) away. When we got there, the beach turned out to be really different from any I’ve seen before. There were beautiful rock formations everywhere and several sandy parts of the beach were separated from each other by these rocks. Finally, I didn’t mind spending a day on the beach since I could do some rock climbing too!

I have to say, I imagine that during the season this beach gets packed and I don’t think I would want to be there with the crowds. Otherwise, highly recommended!

We also found a perfect place near the beach for lunch, with loads of happy cats and the biggest baklava slices!

The walk back to Naousa was fabulous. It was just before the sunset, so warm evening colours were making the landscape even prettier.

…we also spotted a very creative cat. Clearly proud of its work 🙂

Getting out of Paros wasn’t as straightforward as we thought it would be. Why? Well the transport workers decided to go on strike exactly the day we had to leave. We weren’t informed about it, so we’re waiting at the port for a while and only when the ferry was “late” we checked to see what was happening. We managed to get tickets for the fast ferry later on that day, which were much more expensive. I have to say that the journeys on slow ferries were much more enjoyable, with more space to relax outside, so I would never pay for the fast ferry again (unless I had no choice).

Two and a half days were definitely not enough for this stunning island and I would like to go back there for at least a week. Strangely, I have a feeling I’ll definitely find myself wandering around the streets of Parikia again one day….