We need your help please please please.
My husband and I are coming to Greece in the beginning of July for 12 days. We are between Naxos, Milos, Paros and Folegandros as our 3rd and possibly 4th island to visit. We are doing Mykonos and Santorini for sure but want to do a few more laid back but beautiful and explorative islands. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Many thanks
My husband and I are coming to Greece in the beginning of July for 12 days. We are between Naxos, Milos, Paros and Folegandros as our 3rd and possibly 4th island to visit. We are doing Mykonos and Santorini for sure but want to do a few more laid back but beautiful and explorative islands. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Many thanks
I recommend Paros. It's a lovely island and you can take the local ferry across to Antiparos for a little variety.
Please forgive me for butting into this post. We will be on Paros for 1 and a half day. What would be the best way to enjoy Paros? We want to see the best of what Paros has to offer. NOt very interested in night life.
With shuch a short time there, would it still be a good idea to ferry to antiparos? Thanks for any advice.
With shuch a short time there, would it still be a good idea to ferry to antiparos? Thanks for any advice.
The main village of Paroikia has a small archaeological museum. There are a couple of historical sites on the island and some very nice beaches and beachfront villages. If you're up for it you can rent motorscooters with automatic transmissions, which makes them extremely to operate, and be able to explore the whole island in that amount of time. It may even be possible to take them with you on the ferry to Antiparos.
Kodi, it certainly is possible to go to Antiparos during your short visit. The ferry from Parikia takes about 30 min (if you hire a car or scooter you can drive to Pounta and take it with you on the 10 min car ferry.
Would it be a good idea? Brotherleelove, get out your smelling salts, because I'm going to recommend staying on Paros. You only have a day and a half, and there is so much to see. Even without your own transport it's easy to get around Paros by bus.
Recommend you go to Naoussa, and if you feel like a swim take one of the little fishing boats to Kolymbithres Beach, which has unusual rock formations carved out by the wind and waves.
The beautiful inland village of Lefkes is also worth a visit. The road to the village winds through the mountains, and goes past the marble quarries for which Paros is so famous.
Parikia itself has much to see. On the way to the archaeological museum you pass by the 'Church of 100 Doors', and you can go inside to look around, remembering that people come there to worship. BTW, the musueum is closed on Mondays as I recall.
You can also walk around the old town with its winding passageways and Venetian kastro (castle). A little gem that many tourists miss is the ancient cemetery, just a few steps behing the ferry docks. It was discovered during a construction project about 20 years ago. You can look down into the excavation and see burial pots and graves. There is also a small building with some relics on display.
If you still have time after all that, come to Antiparos. Many day trippers go there to see the cave, which is interesting, not least for its 200 yr old graffiti.
Would it be a good idea? Brotherleelove, get out your smelling salts, because I'm going to recommend staying on Paros. You only have a day and a half, and there is so much to see. Even without your own transport it's easy to get around Paros by bus.
Recommend you go to Naoussa, and if you feel like a swim take one of the little fishing boats to Kolymbithres Beach, which has unusual rock formations carved out by the wind and waves.
The beautiful inland village of Lefkes is also worth a visit. The road to the village winds through the mountains, and goes past the marble quarries for which Paros is so famous.
Parikia itself has much to see. On the way to the archaeological museum you pass by the 'Church of 100 Doors', and you can go inside to look around, remembering that people come there to worship. BTW, the musueum is closed on Mondays as I recall.
You can also walk around the old town with its winding passageways and Venetian kastro (castle). A little gem that many tourists miss is the ancient cemetery, just a few steps behing the ferry docks. It was discovered during a construction project about 20 years ago. You can look down into the excavation and see burial pots and graves. There is also a small building with some relics on display.
If you still have time after all that, come to Antiparos. Many day trippers go there to see the cave, which is interesting, not least for its 200 yr old graffiti.
Thank you both so much. Looks like we will have lots to do and see. We are going to Paros from Mykanos, so I'm not sure how much time we'll have on that day, but we do have all the next day .It will be the day after that when we carry on to Santorini. Hopefully in Oct it won't be too crowded on any of our trip. We are really looking forward to it.
Returning to the question in the original post: I love Paros, but I'm not sure it squarely fits the desciption of "laid back" (my definition of a laid back Greek island being one I think I can ride a motor scooter on with a reasonable chance of survival). Compared to Mykonos or Ios it's laid back, but not so much relative to Naxos or Folegandros. (I've not been to Milos -- I must remedy that.)
I liked the craggy remoteness and open spaces on Folegandros very much, but ferry schedules can be a bit difficult to work out depending on where you're coming from and later want to go to. If it fits in neatly with your Santorini travel plans you might include it.
You will see a lot of well-deserved praise for Naxos in this forum, and I certainly think of it as being laid-back. It's also conveniently placed on the route to Mykonos and Santorini (as is Paros, of course, the Grand Central Station of Greek ferry routes).
I love Sifnos -- it's off in a different direction from most of the others, but it connects well with Paros. Matt Barrett's website catches the spirit of the place quite well: http://www.greektravel.com/sifnos. We stayed in two very different places on Sifnos: one right down on the beach in Vathi and the other in the hill town of Apollonia which is one of a series of pathway-connected towns which run down the high center of the island.
I liked the craggy remoteness and open spaces on Folegandros very much, but ferry schedules can be a bit difficult to work out depending on where you're coming from and later want to go to. If it fits in neatly with your Santorini travel plans you might include it.
You will see a lot of well-deserved praise for Naxos in this forum, and I certainly think of it as being laid-back. It's also conveniently placed on the route to Mykonos and Santorini (as is Paros, of course, the Grand Central Station of Greek ferry routes).
I love Sifnos -- it's off in a different direction from most of the others, but it connects well with Paros. Matt Barrett's website catches the spirit of the place quite well: http://www.greektravel.com/sifnos. We stayed in two very different places on Sifnos: one right down on the beach in Vathi and the other in the hill town of Apollonia which is one of a series of pathway-connected towns which run down the high center of the island.
