Why Paros Is The Greek Island To Visit Instead Of Mykonos

HERE’S THE THING ABOUT Mykonos: everyone I know who’s been swears it's the best island they’ve visited, leaving behind the likes of Mallorca and Ibiza. My hotel concierge on Paros put it more bluntly: Mykonos, he said, is where the island goes to be trashy for money.

I went to Paros for two reasons. One, I wanted a quieter, cleaner beach holiday with sandier beaches. Two, Paros is the island people settle for once Mykonos has priced them into a one-way flight home. Well, that’s the story I told myself going in, anyway.

I spent three days finding out I had it all backwards. Paros isn’t the consolation prize. It’s the whole damn point.

Even if you can’t spare the day in Athens, show up 30 minutes before your ferry boards or you will be physically absorbed into a scrum of Scandinavian backpackers and Greek grandmothers, all moving faster than you.

Take the fast ferry. It’s two and-a-half hours, smoother than the horror stories suggested, and if you’re smart, you’ll be unconscious for most of it. (I took the motion sickness medication anyway, despite being known for having an iron stomach.)

P.S. 72 hours doesn’t come close to actually knowing Paros. You’ll leave without touching Lefkes, without walking the Byzantine Path, without seeing most of what’s on the map. But if you’re the kind of person who island-hops—Naxos, Crete, the endless list of Cyclades you’re supposed to see before you die—this is exactly how you do Paros without half-assing it.

Parikia, where the ferry docks, will tempt you to stay put. But rent a car, point it toward Naoussa, and give yourself 20 minutes to watch the island completely change along the way. Go straight to Maremma, because the mussels saganaki and octopus alone will make the whole trip make sense.

Naoussa at night is where the island starts to feel like you’re in a better, cleaner, more premium version of Mykonos. The alleyways are stuffed with linen shops and beautiful boutiques. Get a sunset drink at Come Back Bar, but if you only trust me on one thing, walk further inland to Sante and order the Aperol. Dinner is Stilvi, non-negotiably: the carpaccio and the sea bass fillet are the kind of dishes you think about on the flight home. When it comes to late night drinks, go to Axinos for one drink to warm up before heading to Agosta, where it feels like the entire island has funneled itself into one room to dance.

Close it the way everyone closes it: a two-euro gyro from one of the shops that stay open until 4am, eaten standing on the street next to a mixed crowd of drunk 23-year-olds and unbothered 70-year-olds, both equally committed to the bit.

Rent a small boat early and spend the morning at Aliki, a quiet fishing town in the island’s south-west that’s definitely worth exploring. Then make your way to the stunning Blue Lagoon. You actually do not need a boating license to rent many of the small boats there—a 20-minute tutorial is enough for you to manage it. Pack cheese, sandwiches and some wine, and you’re good to go for the day.

From there, make your way to Faragas and then Pirate Cave. Tie your boat to a buoy and swim up inside the cave and sunbathe in the small opening. If you go early enough, before the big tourist boats come, you feel like you have the whole world to yourself.

In the evening, make your way back to Parikia and explore it during sunset. Once the day-trippers clear out, it turns into something genuinely worth wandering, and having dinner here after two nights of Naoussa’s noise feels like a good break. Head to Bountraki for a meal or one of the countless restaurants that line the coast there. Stay in Parikia for a night cap, and then make your way home.

A seven-minute ferry gets you to Antiparos, but don’t let it take up the whole day—you only need until mid-afternoon. Go see the Cave of Antiparos: it’s the only vertical cave in Europe, 85 metres down, with stalactites older than most of recorded human history, which is a genuinely strange thing to be casually looking at on your last full day of vacation. After, you should head to Soros Beach Club to rent a beach bed and rot like Europeans do and enjoy a boozy-lunch.

Back on Paros, close it out in Naoussa again—because apparently that’s just the shape this trip takes—or opt for something earlier and lighter at Ouzel Halaris if you’re not feeling the fatigue. If there’s anything left in you at all, end the night at Itria or Fouska bars in Naoussa.

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