This summer for our annual pilgrimage to Greece (and my 20th visit to the country!) we decided to revisit the Cyclades.
After finding cheap (for summer holidays) flights to Santorini we decided to split our time between there and one other island. I weighed up almost every option and eventually settled on Paros for its mix of sandy beaches, sugarcube buildings, bougainvillea-laced streets and buzzing atmosphere.
Paros did not disappoint. I think it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in Greece and it’s just the right amount of trendy. For now..
However, it was very overpriced in places – I’m looking at you 70 euro sunbeds – and I think this might be a direct result of all the hype surrounding the island lately. (More on that later.)
Where to stay in Paros
Undoubtedly the best decision we made was choosing to stay at Sea Swell Villas in Santa Maria. Sea Swell is a collection of 2 traditional villas and 1 apartment with stunning landscaping and generous shared pool only a 5-minute walk from Santa Maria Beach.
We stayed in the top floor sea view apartment, which had 1 double bedroom, a full kitchen, sofabed and separate pull-out bed in the living room and a huge terrace with plenty of space to relax and enjoy the views. (It sleeps up to 2 adults and 2 children.)
We didn’t realise the pool is actually shared with 2 other small properties (Sand Key Villas & Villa Soleil Santa Maria) but it was never busy. Everyone seemed to stick to their own schedule, setting off to explore Paros rather than spend all day at the pool, and 9 times out of 10 we ended up having the pool all to ourselves.
Just 10 mins drive from Naousa, Santa Maria is an upmarket area in the north of Paros with lots of luxury villas but no main village. There are a couple of popular restaurants close to the villa, including Siparos and Taverna Katsounas, and some beach bars on Santa Maria, but you pretty much need to drive everywhere for food and groceries.
We found the main beach at Santa Maria quite busy (I think there was a beach party there a couple of times during our stay that seemed to attract young people by the bus-load) so we would drive to secluded Mikri Santa Maria 4 minutes away instead.
We loved this sandy cove with calm shallow waters and rock pools that are perfect for children. We did not like the price of hiring sunbeds and umbrellas though – between 40 to 70 euros for the set depending on what row you’re in – so we would simply sit on our towels or swim for a few hours and then head back to the villa when we needed shade and refreshments.
The nearest proper supermarkets are in Naousa. These had everything we needed for breakfast and snack time and we dropped into Afros Sip and Bites on the outskirts of town a few times for take-away coffee and brunch. (Their banana bread is incredible. As are the acai bowls, cinnamon buns, toasted sandwiches.. you get the idea!)
The apartment was fully air conditioned, had lots of storage, a good coffee machine and even a handy washing machine that I used several times in 5 days to freshen up our swimwear.
We found Sea Swell really relaxing, incredibly beautiful, conveniently located and well-priced for Paros. It was the perfect place for us to stay while exploring what the island had to offer and I would definitely recommend it.
Book Sea Swell Villas at Santa Maria
More places in Paros we shortlisted to stay are:
We booked our hire car through Discover Cars and picked it up and returned it to the port in Parikia where is where the ferry from Santorini arrives/departs from.
What to do in Paros
We came to Paros to relax so our schedule mainly revolved around swimming at beaches in the mornings and chilling by the pool all afternoon. We’d venture into Naousa of an evening if we wanted sophisticated dining and people-watching but also loved having a more traditional dining experience at Lefkiano in the peaceful village of Lefkes.
Some of the places we highly recommend visiting in Paros are:
Kolymbithres Beach
The unusual rock formations and calm shallow waters of Kolymbithres Beach make it one of the most popular beaches on Paros. It has quite an unusual set up though as due to the number of rocks on the beach the sandy areas where you can sunbathe are quite small and disjointed.
We arrived around 10am and had no problem parking and getting a space to lie our towels near the water. However, the beach did start to fill up quickly so if we had come any later we’d probably have had to shell out 45 euros for some very rickety looking sunbeds!
Set back behind the beach are a number of tavernas where you can grab takeaway coffee and snacks or dine in. Maremma comes highly recommended, particularly if you like seafood. We chose to dine at Paros on the Rocks as it was near where we’d parked and we really enjoyed their salads and service.
More great beaches in Paros are: Monastiri, Mikri Santa Maria & Golden Beach
Lefkes
Only 20 mins from cosmopolitan Naousa, this peaceful village nestled amongst hills near the centre of the island feels like a world away.
We came for an evening stroll along part of the Byzantine Path and ended up staying for dinner at atmospheric Lefkiano Restaurant.
If you’re visiting during the day then Café Marigo is a great place to grab a freddo espresso, it’s right by this gorgeous bougainvillea tree I couldn’t help taking a million photos of.
Lefkes is probably one of the most Instagrammed parts of Paros after Naousa, but it’s still super peaceful and not overrun with influencers. (She says, knowing she is one of them!)
More traditional villages to explore are: Prodromos, Marpissa
Antiparos
I admit I was confused when everything I read said one of the best things to do in Paros is to visit Antiparos. I couldn’t understand why we needed to visit another island when we hadn’t explored all of the one we were on yet. But I pushed aside my doubts as we hopped on the car ferry and guess what, Antiparos is wonderful!
As you can imagine, Antiparos is like a condensed version of Paros – it’s just as bougie but a little bit quieter. The port is a really beautiful mix of chic boutiques, trendy coffee shops, traditional tavernas and more bright pink bougainvillea than I have ever seen in my life! It’s really easy to explore here on foot and even if you do the 7-minute ferry crossing and just explore the port area it’s worth it.
We had bought our car but spent so long shopping and sipping artisan coffee in town that we didn’t have the time or inclination to go very far afterwards. Instead, we drove 2 minutes to Fanari Beach and enjoyed eating lunch with a sea view and listening to the dj playing relaxed tunes.
As we weren’t staying long we didn’t hire sunbeds (again they were in the region of 70 euros for the set but they did look comfy and have bar service) so we walked to the public beach of Paralia Psaraliki and swam there instead.
Getting there and back was really easy. The ferries run between Pounta and Antiparos about every 20 minutes and the crossing takes less than 10. We paid 10 euros each way for the car and 3 passengers. It’s only a couple of euros if you’re a foot passenger.
Naousa
Naousa is the cosmopolitan, bougie heart of Paros. It’s known for its nightlife but we’re talking Aperol Spritz by the water’s edge as the sky turns pink rather than nightclubs and 2-for-1 cocktails.
The old port and whitewashed winding streets are unbelievably pretty and while there are some very upmarket boutiques and restaurants here there are also some affordable souvlaki houses and quaint souvenir stores too.
We spent a couple of evenings in Naousa and experienced a disappointing meal on the first night at Moschonas Restaurant because we hadn’t prebooked/ fully researched anything and our heads were turned by the pretty location and a sign promising pastitsio.
(10 minutes after ordering the pastitsio we were told it was sold out and the risotto we ordered for Miles was so bad they offered to take it back and bought him out something else).
But the next evening we had a great value gyros at Allas Souvlaki + More, followed by gelato at Nonna Crema and a run around the park for Miles before bedtime.
On our last evening we treated ourselves to an elegant evening next to the water at Luaz. (Reserve in advance.) This was a spenny meal but the food was delicious and the staff were lovely, making a recommendation for dessert that turned out to be the most delicious thing I ate all week.
It suited us well to be based near Naousa because there was so much variety in terms of restaurants. I’d describe the evening atmosphere as buzzing but not overly busy – at least that was the case in mid-July. We had no problems driving into Naousa and parking each evening. Parking was mostly free across Paros but here in the centre of Naousa it was 8 euros for 24 hours.
Names to know in Naousa are: Barbarossa Restaurant, Sigi Ikthios, Tsachpinis-Ouzeri, Linardo, Yemeni Wine Restaurant, Come Back, Statheros Resturant, Shosho Paros, Almond in Paros, Pita Frank.
Parikia
We didn’t get to properly explore Parikia as we just had a few hours here between checking out of our villa and hopping on the ferry. From what we did see though I thought it had a lovely atmosphere and felt a bit more lived in and authentic compared to gentrified Naousa.
I think if you were planning a shorter, more budget-friendly stay in Paros then Parikia would be a good base. Particularly as you have a couple of beaches and beach clubs nearby that I’ve heard are better value than in Naousa.
Places that were recommended to us in Parikia are: Ammos, Livadia Beach, Arodo, Exesion, Koutouki, Café Symposium Paros, Dash Coffee & More.
Getting there & getting around
The most popular ways of getting to Paros are:
- Flying there (via a connection in Athens)
- Taking a ferry from Athens (approx 3.5 – 4.5 hours)
- Taking a ferry from neighbouring islands in the Cyclades
As mentioned before, we flew to Santorini and took a ferry to Paros. (Mykonos is closer but we were there in 2019 so decided to come via Santorini.) We prebooked both the outbound and return journey using Ferryhopper. I booked our tickets about 3 months in advance and this meant we could choose the best times/shortest durations on offer.
We travelled with Golden Star Ferries on the way out. The ferry made one stop in Ios and the journey time was 2 hours 10. It cost us 111 euros for 2 adults and 1 child.
For the return we took a Seajet that stopped in Naxos. The journey time was 1 hour 40. This cost us 131 euros.
Our outbound ferry was extremely punctual but the return was delayed by 15 mins. Seajets sent us a text to let us know and we tracked the ferry from Mykonos, taking shade in a café until we could see it was approaching.
I was anxious about taking the ferries as I’d seen videos on Tik Tok claiming boarding was like the Hunger Games and the crossings can be really choppy but this was not our experience. I was actually really impressed with how easy it was and thought the process of boarding/unboarding was pretty seamless.
While people do pour off the ferries and wait in a huge bunch to get on, the whole thing takes less than 5 minutes. As mentioned, we waited in a nearby café at the port in Paros (we sat in a waiting room in Santorini) and then when boarding begins you wheel your luggage straight up the ramps. Suitcases are left on the lower deck with the vehicles, staff will tell you where to put it depending on where you’re getting off, and then you head upstairs to your assigned seats, showing your e-ticket on your phone to staff before going up. The ferries don’t hang around long, we’d actually left the port in Paros before we’d even got to our seats, but it was so smooth I didn’t realise we were moving.
The facilities on the ferries we took were brilliant. The seats had chargers and tray tables and you could buy wifi access for 3 euros if you lost mobile data connection while at sea. There were a couple of café/snack bars on each of the ferries we took and lots of clean toilets. We moved from our assigned seats to ones near the window as the ferries weren’t full on the days we were travelling.
Miles thought it was great fun and really relished the travel days so getting to/from Paros felt like part of an adventure rather than a chore. I will 100% be doing more island hopping on the Greek ferries in future.
Is Paros worth the hype?
Paros was recently named the “Best Island in the World” for 2025 by readers of Travel + Leisure and I feel like this accolade could be a bit of a double-edged sword.
From my perspective, I’ve got to be honest and say that Paros was not quite what I was expecting. I had read that it would be like Santorini and Mykonos 20 years ago but I went to Santorini and Mykonos 20 years ago and I don’t think they were as bougie as this! We did base ourselves in possibly the most upmarket area on the island though, so our experience may have been different if we’d chosen to stay elsewhere.
I was really surprised by how many international accents I heard. We heard a lot of American, Australian and South African accents and while I’m not saying this is a bad thing it just stood out to us as we are used to hearing more Greek being spoken in Greece!
Is Paros good for families?
That being said, we had a wonderful time and I actually think Paros is really well suited to families who want an elevated but authentic villa holiday with all the convenience that comes with being somewhere fairly touristy. (Going to more off-the-beaten path locations is not exactly convenient when you have young kids.)
Paros is easy to get around by car, you can get familiar food stuffs in the supermarket and we felt welcome everywhere we went. Paros doesn’t have any large resorts with kids clubs and waterparks (a plus for us) and a lot of the boutique hotels are adults-only, but we definitely saw a lot of families enjoying holidays in Paros so it’s easy for little ones to make friends at the beach.
Excluding the overpriced sunbeds (which we never paid for anyway), we found Paros quite good value for a stylish holiday. Self-catering some meals bought the food costs down and wandering pretty towns, sea swims and window-shopping cost us nothing!
Overall, we had the best time even if it was a bit more bougie than our usual Greek holidays.
I’m glad we went but now I have my sights on Serifos, Sifnos, Folegandros, Milos, Naxos, Astypalea…. the list is growing!
If you’re looking for an equally scenic but more laid-back and less-touristy experience in Greece, then I would recommend Limeni in the Peloponnese.
If you’re looking for better value then take a look at Corfu.
For jaw-dropping beaches we recommend Lefkada and for an underrated gem consider Samos. Read more in my guide to the best Greek Islands for families.
Our holiday was planned and paid for by us. This article contains some hotel affiliate links which means I make a small commission at no extra expense to yourselves if you make a booking via one of my links.
