We travelled to Greece in July 2022. It was our main destination for our (much delayed due to COVID) month-long honeymoon. We didn’t want to spend all our time in Greece on islands, which meant we had to choose carefully. Suzanne really wanted to experience the stereotypical white buildings with blue roofs but did not want touristy Santorini in the summer. Enter: Paros. It is part of the group of islands called the Cyclades, and day trips to nearby Santorini and Naxos are available. You can reach Paros by ferry or by plane.
Not to be confused with “Poros”, Paros has the amenities one would look for from a relaxing Greek getaway. We saw some beautiful scenery, amazing beaches, and those blue and white buildings you go to Greece to find. It will be easiest to get around by car (or scooter) but travelling by public bus is possible as well. The main towns to stay in are either Parikia or Naousa. We stayed in Parikia, so this guide will be from that point of view (though easy to adapt to Naousa). We have included a map at the end to help you visualize your itinerary. If you want to see where we ate while on Paros, check out our Gluten Free Guide.
Here’s what we did during our 4 days (5 nights) on Paros:
Arrival Day: Arrival and exploring.
Day 1: Lefkes, Kalogeros Beach, Piso Livadi, and the Butterflies Nature Reserve
Day 2: Naousa & beach time
Day 3: Beach day
Day 4: Antiparos day trip
Departure Day: Departure
DETAILS
Arrival Day:
Arrival day! You’ll either arrive via ferry at the port in Parikia or at the airport. You may have transportation provided by your accommodation, or you may need to find a taxi or rent a car. You can take the bus, but they were busy during peak season (July). Once you arrive at your accommodation, you can check in and spend your late afternoon/evening exploring the town where you are staying (Parikia or Naousa).
We stayed at the Akrotiri Hotel, located about a 10-minute drive from the ferry in Parikia. The hotel picked us up, along with some other guests, and served us lemonade upon arrival. The hotel is up a long hill, so walking back from town can be tough. The views, however, are spectacular! (That’s the view from our room in the picture). A truly impressive breakfast is available each morning. They had a local baker who provided many of the baked goods, and an in-house cook who made the frittatas, pancakes, and such. They always had cold cuts, cheeses, yogurt, and toast, but the pastries and hot food varied each morning. There was also a pool on site.
Once we had arrived and checked in, we decided to make the long walk into town (Parikia). We decided a car would probably be a good idea and rented one last minute. There are many places you can rent cars (or scooters) from, but most last-minute cars available will be manual. Book a car rental well ahead if you’d like an automatic. If you plan on doing a day trip near the end of your stay, or visiting Antiparos, you won’t need the car for all your days on Paros.
DAY 1:
Today you will venture east of Parikia to the village of Lefkes. You can take a public bus or drive if you’ve rented a scooter or a car, which will take you about 20 minutes. Lefkes only has about 500 residents, so it is quite tiny. Enjoy walking through the alleyways and exploring the village. Lefkes is a very quiet wander, with not many people out and about (at least in the morning). It is a slow-paced village where people enjoy the simple pleasures of life, like treating yourself to a refreshing homemade lemonade at Kafeneio Marigos in front of the cathedral. If it’s hot, cool down with an ice cream at Meli Cream on your way out of town. When you’re done exploring, continue driving east towards the coast.
You can continue east, then south and drive around the island of Paros for the remainder of the day, stopping where you like. If you want to spend some time at the beach, make your way to the hidden and quiet Kalogeros Beach. Here you can partake in the clay baths, covering yourself in the clay found at the edges of the beach, a popular activity amongst the locals. As you continue to make your way around the island you may enjoy stopping in Piso Livadi, a small seaside village. We chose to continue driving around the perimeter of the island, passing beaches (such as Golden Beach and Paros Kite Beach) as we went. As you near your return to Parikia, you will pass the Butterflies Nature Reserve, a small park with lush vegetation and butterflies hidden throughout. You can make a quick stop here if you like, about 30 minutes, and a welcome break from the heat in the shade of the trees.
Tonight, walk around downtown Parikia (or Naousa if this is where you are staying), wandering in and out of the alleyways and checking out the local shops.
DAY 2:
After your breakfast and morning coffee, head towards Naousa. This is about a 15-minute drive from Parikia, but also doable by bus. It may be hard to find parking when you arrive, but there are some free lots available on the edges of town. Walk around the waterfront, through the alleys, and into the local shops. Enjoy a coffee, lunch, or ice cream at the waterfront and people watch!
Once you’ve had enough of town, find a beach nearby. Santa Maria is a popular beach, but likely to be busy. Lageri is another gem, tucked away and not very busy. There is a chunk of rough road to make your way through, but once you arrive you will find clear water and clean sand. A heads up about Lageri – this is a naturist beach and people of all shapes, colours, and orientations enjoy coming here (we were surprised to find people without swimsuits, we didn’t know this before going!). If this isn’t your jam, there are many other wonderful beaches nearby you can enjoy. Turkou Ammos, Agioi Anargyroi, or the previously mentioned Santa Maria are all good options (though we did not personally visit these three).
Enjoy dinner in Naousa tonight! It has a different vibe lit up at night, the streets bustling and full of people dressed up. You can either stay in town after your beach time and go straight to dinner, or head back to Naousa after showering at your hotel for a later dinner in line with Greek dinnertime. We highly recommend Safran! It was by far our favourite dinner we had while in Greece.
DAY 3:
If there are activities we haven’t included in our itinerary, today’s the day. Perhaps a day trip to Santorini or Naxos, renting a catamaran, or trying some watersports. If you’re opting for a day trip or boat rental, you may be able to return your rental car this morning.
For us, day 3 was a relaxing day. We chose to explore more beaches rather than stay by the hotel pool – when in Greece! Tsoukalia is a nice beach with some shade if you’re looking to try a new beach. However, the water is quite rocky in many places. We thoroughly enjoyed Kalogeros (the clay beach), so we ended up returning here for part of our beach day as well.
Before heading back to your accommodations after dinner tonight, head to the port and check out the schedule for the pedestrian ferry to Paros. It runs every hour, so you don’t want to miss it! Get a good sleep tonight, you’ll be a up a bit earlier tomorrow.
DAY 4:
Today will be an early morning. Return your rental car in Parikia if you haven’t already. Afterwards, head to the Parikia port where you will take the pedestrian ferry to Antiparos. The ferry only runs during tourist season, takes 30 minutes, and costs 7 Euros each way. It runs once per hour, so make sure you arrive on time (or early), or you’ll be waiting a while for the next ferry. There is another ferry that can accommodate cars if you’d like to bring your rental along, located south of Parikia in Pounta. This ferry is only a 7-minute ride, and costs 7.30 Euro for the car and another 1.50 Euro per person each way.
Once you’re on Antiparos, the day is yours! We chose to explore the town before heading to Sunset Beach (Sifneiko) to try our hand at the beach. It was quite busy, so we continued north around the tip of the island, with spectacular views and cliff sides. If you want some beach time, we highly recommend passing the nudist beach towards Paradise Beach (just south of the nudist beach). Here you will find crystal clear warm water and white sand – perfection! There is a smaller island that you can walk to due to how shallow the water is (but we’re tall, though low tide might be fine if you’re not). There are some caves to the south of the main town if you are interested, but some research said they can be hard to get to. Grab some gelato before leaving the island.
When you’re done with the island, take the pedestrian ferry back to Parikia. Enjoy your last night in the town!
Departure Day:
This will be the day you depart, or if you’ve chosen to extend your stay on Paros, perhaps you’re taking a day trip or spending more time relaxing at the beach. If you’re leaving Paros, you can depart via the ferry from Parikia port or the tiny airport that’s just south of Parikia (which is what we did).
We hope you enjoyed our “4 Days on Paros” itinerary!
HOW TO USE THE MAP: Click on the Wanderlog logo in the bottom right corner to open the full-size map up in a new tab. There, you can choose to just look at one day at a time or see all of the days on the map at once (click the 3 squares in the top right to choose). You can also export the map to Google Maps, share the map with others, or save the map.
A little helpful tip: Matt Barrett’s page is an excellent resource to help you plan your trip to Greece!