My husband and I are thinking of visiting Greece for the first time next Summer. We would like to visit a quieter island for the two weeks, and travel over to Santorini for 3/4 days luxury for our wedding anniversary.

Has anybody visited Paros or Naxos? Which is easier for travelling to Santorini? Which of the two islands has more beautiful, quiet beaches? Less touristy??

Hope somebody can help. Thanks

Last year, my husband and I went to Greece and we visited Hydra, Paros, Santorini and Naxos. Each island is different. The beaches on Paros are very, very rocky. The beaches on Naxos are very nice, not rocky.

It is very easy to travel to Santorini from Paros. We took the Blue Star Paros ferry(3 hours). Sit outside on the deck if you can. We visited Naxos on our way back to Athens/Piraeus from Santorini.

I would recommend booking your ferry travel in advance. You can reserve online and then pick-up and pay at a travel agency in Athens.

Santorini was my favorite island. We stayed at the Artimis Villas and it was beautiful! The views are unbelievable.

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for replying. Where did you stay in Paros? Is it easy to travel around without hiring a car? which was your favourite beach? Sorry for all the questions.

We stayed at the Hotel Argonauta. It was in a great location. Not far from the port; in the central square of the old town and there is a wonderful bakery right across from the hotel.

The hotel is nice...but the rooms are small and the furniture is big. We bumped around a lot...ouch! One thing, we had to pay cash at the hotel; they did not take credit cards. That was OK, not very expensive hotel. From my experience, Greece is very affordable; as compared to Italy and Spain.

Paros is very easy to get around. We walked mostly and you can take the bus. You really don't need a car. We took a bus to Naoussa and the beaches are very nice. All the beaches are nice but I really enjoyed walking around the town.

Check out this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34753303

You might also want to click on "stanbr"'s name from there and get more info on Naxos. I've been in the same dilemma (Naxos? Paros? Both?) but think I'm going to do Naxos based on info I've read here.