Travel Diaries – Paros, GR

Hi friends! Continuing our Greece travel series with the second island we traveled to – Paros! This island was one of our favorites since it really felt less traveled. 🙂

Arriving at Paros:

As I mentioned in my overall Greece blog post, all of our inter-island travels were via ferries. Our ferry from Santorini to Paros was a little under four hours, which wasn’t too bad on the SeaJets ferry we took!

Just want to note that our ferry arrived in Santorini about 45 minutes late, so we obviously arrived in Paros a little later than we expected, but we didn’t have much planned for this day anyway so it wasn’t a huge deal. But due to the inconsistency in ferry times sometimes, I’d recommend not making any big plans or reservations close to your arrival time.

Paros Hotel:

We stayed at High Mill Paros, which is apart of the small luxury brand of hotels in Greece called Mr & Mrs White. Compared to our Santorini hotel, High Mill certainly felt a little more like a hotel, with the standing shower, hot running water, and hotel lobby. 😉 The view of the island from the pool is also incredible. We enjoyed our stay here for sure!

Only downside to High Mill, or really Paros in general, was the lack of taxis or transfers. This hotel doesn’t provide any sort of transfer (or at least we weren’t able to book one ahead of time), and there were literally like 5 available taxis at the ferry port when about 100 people got off. So unfortunately we were left with no choice but to walk to our hotel from the ferry port, which felt like a hundred miles away in the Greece heat (approx. 1.2 miles away). It was awful, hilly, and not great for the wheels of our luggage either, but we did it and vowed to not have to do it again on the way back. So just FYI – if you’re thinking of staying at High Mills, call and bug them for a private transfer ahead of time!

Also want to note that High Mill Paros is located in Parikia, the capital and main port of Paros island. We loved this area, but Naoussa is also a super popular area of the island that people stay at as well. We did a day trip to Naoussa (which is also where the popular Moraitis Winery, noted below, is located), and loved it as well! I think it has more of a beach vibe, and felt a little more lively during the day. However, regardless of where you stay, the city bus is super easy and efficient in getting back and forth! See ‘Getting Around Paros Island’ below for more details. 🙂

Paros Restaurants and Bars:

• The Foodie Bar – I think this is a chain in Paros/Greece, but it’s decent street Mexican food! We got some nachos and margs as a mid-day snack after our travels and it was good!
• Pirate Bar – 1000% recommend visiting here if you’re in Paros! The vibes of this cute little cocktail tiki bar were amazing, AND they were the *only* place that asked us for vaccination records, which we really liked haha. Highly recommend! Located in Parikia.
• Il Napoletano Eat Napoli – this is an amazing small family-owned restaurant, and the owners came directly from Italy to start it! It’s delicious, and the service is amazing – you can truly feel the familial love. I recommend their margarita pizza and arugula salad – yum!
• Meltemi Café – we just grabbed some coffee and an omelette here for breakfast one day – it was decent, but the views are great! Try the Greek coffee 🙂 p.s. we went to the one in Parikia – I believe there’s one with the same name but very different vibes (but also super cute boho vibes!) in Naoussa.
• Moraitis Winery – a cute quaint little winery tucked away in a quiet part of Naoussa – very relaxing and it was great to do wine flights and learn a little about their history. We recommend if you’re in the area!
• Pita Frank – I think this is a chain also, and pretty fast casual. But their chicken gyros were really good!
• Aroi Thai – food is pretty mediocre here, but the incredible views and vibes make up for it! We went right at sunset and it was beautiful. The restaurant is also HUGE, so availability should certainly not be an issue.

Paros Must-Do’s:

• Moraitis Winery – definitely recommend visiting here if you’re in Paros! They also do tours of the winery, but we just grabbed some wine flights and enjoyed the views, and we had a great time.

• Beach – there are several beaches to visit on Paros island. Since it’s more of a relaxing island, we definitely recommend relaxing at one if you’re visiting!

Getting Around Paros Island

Unfortunately, getting around Greek islands isn’t as simple as ordering up an Uber and hopping in. Most of the islands are extremely limited on taxis (most only have about 30 taxis across the entire island…), and private transfers through hotels are generally pretty pricey as well.

As I mentioned earlier, I highly recommend arranging a private transfer with your hotel prior to your arrival, if possible. Unfortunately, I don’t have a WhatsApp number to share like I did for Santorini, but you may be able to find one online somewhere.

In Paros, we either walked places, or used the city bus! The city bus was surprisingly easy to use, efficient, and CHEAP. It was about a 20 minute ride from Parikia to Naoussa, and only €1.8 per person, one way. Also, the city bus has pretty convenient bus stops all around the island, so you can easily just look up where the closest stop is to you, or ask your hotel/locals.

Our Eat, Drink & Be Merry Recommendations:

Eat: Il Napoletano Eat Napoli

Drink: Pirate Bar

Be Merry: Moraitis Winery

I hope you found my Paros island round-up helpful and maybe even inspiring to plan a trip 🙂 It is a beautiful, less-traveled island, and we recommend it. be sure to stay tuned for my last island (Mykonos) and Athens round-ups as well! let me know in the comments below if you’ve been to Greece, or if you are planning your trip there now! 🙂

xo,

gopi

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