Well if you thought Naxos was a calmer, quieter contrast to Santorini – Paros and Antiparos take it down another notch. You can feel that Paros is smaller than Naxos and the capital town of Parikia is much prettier in my opinion, and wasn’t crowded in mid June.

Swayed by the overwhelmingly positive feedback travellers seem to echo about Paros – smaller but very similar to Naxos, more traditional and less touristy, I spent a few nights there, it’s also popular for day trips from Naxos – being only a 30 minute ferry ride away.

Above: a different kind of street art in the floor of Chora.

Parikia 

The capital of Paros is a pleasure to walk through, it’s not narrow and hilly like the Chora in Naxos, its more open, and flatter with less of the ‘lost in a labyrinth’ feeling, but its still a very pretty little old town, with countless shops and boutiques, cafes and places to eat, close to the port and a beach strip.

Above: the one thing I could not get enough of throughout my time in Greece was lemon sorbet/gelato honestly, it’s always refreshingly good, except for some places that add sugary syrup to it…yuk. This place in Paros Chora became a regular haunt….and seemingly a haunt for the clarinet busker below.

This busker was also working the crowd at the ferry port while we waited for our (45 min late) ferry, he was singing the exact same tune over and over, he recognised me and didn’t ask for money that time – he put a smile on most people’s faces, hard not to really, a cheerful tune, musical flair, and he’s got a bit of charisma and liveliness compared to the beggars you tend to come across in Paros:

Begging

You’ll notice a lot of this on tiny little Paros.

Paros was the only island I really noticed any begging worthy of note. The begging was frequent and usually from small children (I wondered why they weren’t in school at the time). I think I mentioned in a previous post that local intel confirmed that these particular individuals were not Greek, they were Bulgarian and apparently come onto Paros to work as “professional beggars”. Often an older child will go around with a couple of younger children, sometimes in a pushchair, begging tourists, I think I encountered this at least once per day.

A child/minor was also working the tourist crowd at the ferry port as we awaited our ferry – though very few offered any money, it’s not really something to be encouraged and definitely a concern….are these children forced to beg, and are they doing it for their own families or other questionable adults….whatever the answers, it’s a worrying picture.

Night time Parikia Tip: there are also lots of restaurants up the road from the port – in fact there’s a whole long strip. During the day it seems as though there’s hardly anyone around, not much happening – but at night, my gosh it comes alive, it’s where everyone heads (in Parikia) for the bright lights and action of the evening – and more places that looked redundant by day are all lit up ready for customers. You will no doubt encounter restaurant managers wanting to lure you over, and even asking if you can come back to them regardless of ordering any food because they’d like to have a drink with you etc….especially you ladies lol.

Naoussa  

This is the place most people think of, or have seen pictures of when it comes to Paros – the party capital and Mykonos of Paros so we’re told, a quiet fishing village by day that comes alive at from sunset onwards, better for nightlife, fancy restaurants and expensive boutiques.

Even this more expensive party town, Naoussa, that’s thought to be more modern and sophisticated that pretty little Parikia, had a cosier, quieter vibe when walking through it during the day, than the other islands I visited, it feels small, more compact.

Yes, it’s very apparent that the shops have more high end designer prices, but arguably less interesting things to browse than the abundance in Parikia, much of which is on a par with Santorini prices!

Budget friendly?

If you’re looking for the most budget friendly locations in Greece, the Cyclades are not the forerunners for that – not if you want to do lots of shopping and eating out, Crete on the other hand, felt notably less pricey – we’ll talk about Crete later.

Beaches

You’ll hear a lot of travellers say Santa Maria Beach is best beach on Paros and near to Naoussa – 10 min drive, with a cosmopolitan feel. I can’t comment as I didn’t go, but we did venture to Golden Beach, another one that seems to come highly recommended on the review sites etc.

Golden Beach – worth it?

The beach has golden coloured sand, indeed.

Unless you really really feel you want to, don’t go out of your way to visit this one if you’re short on time. It’s probably fine if all you want to do is lay flat on the sand and tan (in the relentless scorching heat) since there was barely anywhere with shade, hardly any beds/umbrellas and not much to do, hardly any shops or restaurants, just a vast empty looking beach with quite shallow water by the shore.

We headed back up to the bus stop after around 15 mins to head back to Parikia.

Funnily enough – it seemed like most of the people who had been on our bus were doing the same thing because they were all at the bus stop waiting to return as well. What a shame.

On the buses

The bus schedule claimed the next bus to Parikia would be at 5pm, but an unscheduled bus showed up at 4.30pm, so take the schedule with a pinch of salt and see if you can gab a surprise bus.

After the 5pm, there wasn’t another bus scheduled until 7pm!!!

The bus from Parikia’s bus terminal to Golden Beach came in at 3 euros each way per person – not bad because it’s quite a long drive.

Note: you buy your ticket before you board, get them from the bus terminal near the windmill/ next to the ferry port. It makes sense to buy a return ticket unless you’re not planning to head straight back where you started.

Keep a keen ear for when the driver calls out your stop, especially if you’re not sat at the front, it wasn’t clear when he announced Golden Beach and it’s only due to overhearing another tourist say she was going there and noticing her get up to leave the bus – prompting me to check with the driver, just in time.

Also, the big digital clock displayed on the bus in big red numbers was one hour behind the correct local time. Always make sure you have the right time on you.

Dusty cars and other car related points

Was this due to the recent dust blowing over from the Sahara (apparently) or is this the norm?

…and while we’re on the subject of cars, what is it with Greek drivers doing this all the time???? Parking on zebra crossings, and using them to drop people off and pick people up, sometimes blocking the whole crossing for pedestrians 😡

Observation: seems like there are no such things as traffic wardens in Greece, I didn’t see one anywhere, ever, and drivers seem to do just about whatever they like on the roads.

TIP: more-often-than-not cars will not stop for you (in Greece generally) if you just stand at the curb waiting to cross a road. You have to step out and start crossing, then cars will stop, but of course be careful with this. You’ll quickly cotton on, and I’ve since heard it from locals that this is how it works. Even at Zebra crossings, cars don’t tend to stop unless you start crossing (or unless they decide to PARK THERE ).

Lefkes 

Lefkes is a place everybody loves to say they’ve visited when on Paros….showing an appetite for the real Greek way of life, no frills. Its lovely, don’t get me wrong, the main thing you’ll notice is that it is very, very quiet, with barely any people around apart from the odd tourist, but probably not anything you haven’t seen before on the islands.

The checklist I’d heard about for Lefkes was:

• Great views of the island
• local village life
• mountains
• sheep
• hikes
• pottery
• jewellery
• crafts
• honey
• figs 

Fancy building a home on Paros?

Well local intel confirmed you need a minimum of 2 acres of land if you want to build a house and that’s to stop Paros becoming like Mykynos – cramped and over crowded.

Security

Clearly not much of an issue on Paros. One AVT rental company in Parikia just had them all lined up on the main road with keys in all the ignitions….ready to go!!

Antiparos

Meanwhile, a short sail away across the water, Paros has a cute little sister island named Antiparos.

Antiparos is smaller still, and very slow paced – celebrities love it apparently. Tom Hanks has a home there and numerous celebrities have been spotted holidaying on this tiny little island, including Whoopi Goldberg (in case you’re interested 🤔).

There are regular ferries from Paros to Antiparos each day, you could stay over, as there are hotels etc, but it’s also a popular day trip and included in some of the full day island tours.

Antiparos felt like a miniature Greek Cyclades island, to be admired and hopefully never spoilt.

Good advice from a local Antiparos business….assuming you want to travel, it’s fine if you don’t – but I’d recommend giving it a go if you haven’t tried it yet 😉

As for eating well, no-brainer.

Keep as far away from processed foods as possible, the fresher the better is a good rule of thumb and I think traditional Greek food certainly ticks this box.

Back on Paros 

Above: an empty syringe on the busy part of the beach one afternoon, and there is also a lot of litter along the sea front near the port. People throw plastic bottles and rubbish over the wall and into the sea frequently, by the looks of things.

Paros was certainly great for some down time, a break from all the busyness and the last of the Cyclades islands I visited, but by no means the least.

I’ve got more Greek Island Hopping insights to come on Crete, last island stop.

In the meantime, if I haven’t read your Greece travels posts, do let me know so I can head over to take a look – it’s always interesting to see how other people felt about the places we visit 🤔

Have a fabulous week ahead, keep well and safe travels if you’re on the move 🤗 💫

Back on the ferry again. Off to Crete!