For our entire stay, Courtney insisted on calling Paros “Parosdise.” It’s a cheesy joke, but as always her heart is in the right place. And, to be fair, this place really is close to paradise.
We stayed just outside Parikia, the main port city of the island. For us, this was the perfect spot. It was a three minute drive into town, which was quiet and authentic (for the most part) and offered good dining options, though not much in the way of nightlife–which was fine for us as that wasn’t the goal of the trip. What I liked about Paros was its laid back nature and lack of development. It was missing a lot of the crowds from Santorini and felt a little more true to the Greek spirit.
We stayed at Akrotiri Hotel, and again I can recommend it fully. Marouso and her staff were incredibly accommodating, both through email correspondence before our arrival and then throughout our trip. They organized a rental car and a sunset cruise, they suggested beaches and day trips, and whipped up some of the best cocktails I’ve ever had (get the margarita, thank me later. get the mojito and thank Jared later. get gin on the rocks and buckle up). The rooms were comfortable and quiet and we loved relaxing on the veranda overlooking the pool while enjoying said cocktails. We loved it there and would go back in a second.
A quick word on ferries in Greece: Being the planner that I am, I bought our ferry tickets from Santorini to Paros ahead of time and organized a pick-up at the ticket office in Thira Port. Unfortunately, when we arrived we were notified that our ferry had been cancelled and we could either wait 9 hours and take a later ferry with the same company, or buy tickets through a different company and call later for a refund. We were anxious to get to Paros so we took the latter option, but I am still trying to get our refund (182 Euros for four people) and it would be great to not have to deal with this hassle. So, my advice is to wait to buy tickets until the morning of your trip. From what I hear cancelled or delayed boats are a regular occurrence and it’s highly unlikely that tickets will actually sell out. Despite your best intentions, in this particular case planning ahead may not be the best route.
Once we arrived in Paros, around 1:00, we relaxed by the pool for the rest of the afternoon and caught up on naps and gossip. That night we ate dinner at Koralli in Parikia and had a verifiable seafood feast. It was good food, but an even better sunset.
^^ I would really love to remember what Jared said to earn this kind of reaction. Priceless.
^^cuties to the max!!
The next day was beach day! As we were planning for this trip I kept reading that when staying in Paros it’s best to have a car as the beaches and main towns are pretty spread out along the perimeter. We organized our car through the hotel, which was very easy, considering that we had to have an automatic and many of the cars on the island are manual. It amounted to 40 Euro a day, which was certainly worth it given how much driving we did. It was also nice to have at night for getting to and from dinner since the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant.
We went to Martselo beach first, which was only 5 minutes away from our hotel, but it was my favorite of the trip. See that turquoise water? And the soft sand? And that easy-breezy spirit? Enough said.
We rented chairs through the Paradiso Beach Club, but brought our own picnic (meats, cheeses, fruit, crackers, beer–all day, every day) so I can’t comment on the food or service. The scenery, however, was incredible.
^^obligatory hot dog photo
After snacks we drove up toward Naousa, the fishing village, and had a late afternoon lunch at a little tavern across the bay from town. This might have been my favorite lunch. I can’t even recall the name, but don’t you find that sometimes the unassuming places on the side of the road have the best food? And cats? Lots and lots of cats. They’re everywhere here.
We drove further around the north end of the island and arrived at Santa Maria beach. This beach, like the last one, was organized, meaning it had chairs and umbrellas for rent, a tavern or two, and water sports. It was fun to watch the wind surfers (attempt to) do their thing, which looks impossibly hard and physically demanding.
That evening we indulged in a few spirits on the hotel’s veranda before heading out to dinner to watch the first game of the World Cup. Drinking margaritas is a man’s game:
That night we ate at Taverna Yiannoulis, which was great mostly because they catered to my sister and I who insisted on dancing our way around the restaurant (see note above on margaritas). The food was nice, but what was really special was the hospitality. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating and we liked eating with mostly locals.
Our last full day in Paros was spent at Golden Beach, or Chrisi Akti. There are a couple hotels along the stretch of sand, but for the most part it’s really quiet and low-key like much of the island itself. We saw a few windsurfers, but we never encountered any motorized water sports, which made it a peaceful and quiet afternoon.
That evening we cleaned up and we went out on a sunset cruise with Regaki as a final huzzah to island life. If we had stayed for a day longer I think we would have liked to take an all-day sailing trip, but as it was we wanted to maximize beach time and the sunset cruise ended up being a great compromise. We went out on the water for about an hour and a half and bobbed around a bit before skirting the perimeter of the bay. It was a beautiful way to see the island one last time.
Oh, Paros, we love you! You sweet, charming, sleepy little island. There is so much world left to see and so many places yet to explore, but methinks I will be back for a visit someday soon.
We really, really loved Greece. We took a long ferry back to Athens and were able to watch Greece in the world cup at a bar in Athens, which was pretty neat. We saw the Acropolis briefly on our bus into town, but other than that we saw next to nothing of the city. Next time! Have you been? Do you recommend it?
Island hopping is sort of the norm in Greece, though I wouldn’t have minded staying at both Santorini and Paros for a little bit longer. As I said before, this was honestly one of my favorite vacations and I know the location had a lot to do with it, but so did the company. I can’t imagine two people in the world who are easier and more fun to travel with. Courtney and Jared, you are the best! We loved having you both all to ourselves and laughing until our faces melted off. We love you so much!! (please come and visit and stay with us all the time, mmkay?)
Have you been to Greece? What did you think? Would you ever like to go? Or go back? We might take a quick weekend trip somewhere in July, but if we don’t our next stop is Charleston, followed immediately by Kansas City! We can’t wait to get back to our South Carolina friends and indulge in a few of the spots we miss so much. Gosh, I love traveling.
A Broad At Home 