Discovering the Hidden Gems of Paros: A Guide to Greece’s Best Kept-Secret

By: Wesley Edwards - Published on January 18, 2024

Paros, Greece popped up on our radar while we were planning our 2023 Europe trip, and while we already had Santorini on the itinerary we wanted to add a Greek island that isn't as frequented or touristy, to get the feel of Greek island life and culture. We searched and settled on Paros, which was a combination of ease of access from Santorini, luxury resorts, quaint villages to explore, and beautiful beaches.

Paros is one of the most beautiful islands in Greece, and soon one of the most popular. 2023 saw its popularity grow a lot. Getting to see it in its raw beauty and underdeveloped state was truly an incredible experience I will never forget, but I certainly cannot wait to revisit the island and see all of the new places to stay and dine.

Paros Greece alleyway with beautiful Bougainvillea flowers

Where to Stay - Summer Senses Luxury Resort

We were looking for a luxury property that would not break the bank and offered some type of suite with a sitting room or separate living room for our baby crib. while there are a few five-star properties on the island ranging from €400-€500 a night to a few thousand euros a night, and all beautifully designed properties with incredible amenities. we ended up settling on Summer Senses Luxury Resort.

We booked the premium suite with a resort view (not the greatest I will admit), a spacious veranda to relax on, and a separate sitting area we used for a baby crib. I would recommend booking one of the suites that have the sea view to guarantee you are not obstructed in any way. From my research, I believe the Sun Suite or Island Suite / with a sea view is the ideal way to go.

The value was immense at Summer Senses, you get the breakfast buffet included with your nightly rate and the food was incredible with plenty of items to choose from each morning, this amounted to about €150 a day in value. Parking was free and on-site, never a need to chase street or public parking, which is great because in Paros you will definitely want to rent a car to be able to see everything and explore. Lastly, the staff was amazing and very attentive to your every need, from towels at the pool, to bananas delivered to the room first thing each morning for our son, to nighttime snacks before his bedtime, they made the stay better than any luxury room or amenity could compete with.

There was a small town just before the resort that had a market in it, wash and fold laundry service with two sweet ladies running it (more on this later), and obviously, I found a great Gyro spot there too!

The Best Restaurants in Paros - Gyros, Greek Taverns, and Seaside Delights

We didn’t come to Paros with any must-eat restaurants, but once we started digging around a few made their appearance. First I have to hand the gold medal for Greek Gyro to Pita Frank in Naousa, words cannot describe how good it was, you just have to taste it for yourself.

We made a reservation for our second night at Siparos Seaside Restaurant, very close to Naousa, but definitely off the beaten path. Siparos will give you beach club vibes and an open-air outdoor dining feel. The atmosphere was energetic and in line with what you would expect from a New York or Miami hot spot. The food while expensive, was very good! We had the whole steamed Grouper and a Steak, both very tasty. For drinks, they had a whole signature cocktail menu which looked fantastic, but we opted for a bottle of Greek white wine in case we needed to call dinner early with our little one, which we did.

On our last night, we ventured back into Paros so my wife could make her trek through all of the little shops and we stumbled across a pizza spot called Pizzarella, nothing something we normally would have popped into, but time crunch and wanting something quick, we did. The pizza was amazing, and the pasta was a hit! A solid meal right in town and quick service. Would recommend it if you want quick and easy for dinner.

For breakfast each morning we just did the resort buffet since it was included and had a little bit of everything could want from pastries, Greek specialties, and your traditional English breakfast meats and eggs. You could also order off a menu which was included and had omelets and a few other dishes. They had a full coffee offering and could make you anything you wanted.

Getting Around Paros - Rental Car

We decided to take the ferry from Santorini to Paros, which in hindsight I probably would not do again or would do it very differently (more on this later in my ferry review). We arrived at the Port of Parikia and then had to walk about 5 minutes to the Avis office to pick our car up. The walk took us a bit longer as I didn’t bother to check the directions in the Avis email and just started walking directly to all of the rental car office signs in the distance because I am a guy and always know where I am going, well Avis closed that office and moved to the other side of the town center so we had to retrace our steps and walk back through town adding another ten minutes. Once we finally got there the guy running the Avis office was super nice, gave us an upgrade (brand new Citreon, very nice), and helped us get everything loaded and our way quickly and efficiently. We picked the car up at the port and dropped it off at the airport, there was no additional fee for doing this.

public parking in downtown Naousa — Public parking in downtown Naousa

Without the rental car, we really would have been stuck to the resort primarily the beaches and towns right around it. Getting to go out and explore Naousa, Lefkes, Marpissa, restaurants in the evening and some of the beaches would have been near impossible, especially with a baby. Our resort could set up four-wheeler rentals and scooter rentals for just the day if you didn’t want or need a car for the whole time, don’t the prices but I would assume about the same as our rental car which was €50 a day.

I certainly would not recommend going to Paros without at least renting a car, scooter, or four-wheeler for a day to explore and experience all that Paros has to offer, and in my opinion, you cannot do it all in a day so be generous, splurge and give yourself at least two days to explore with your transportation.

I cannot say much about the public transportation in Paros as just knowing the way everything is spread out, having a baby with us and not wanting to be limited after our experience in Santorini we just decided to stick with a rental car and not stress about getting around and being on a constrained timeframe. The resort did offer port/airport transfers if needed, the rates were €80 per way for private transfer (Mercedes Mini-Van) or €50 per way for non-private (Mercedes Mini-Van).

Paros Necessity if You Need it

We were on a long Europe trip and had just come from Santorini, so we were due to freshen up laundry and get ready to head to Italy, and as I am sure you can guess hotel laundry service is ridiculously expensive! We looked around and found a dry cleaner right by our resort Summer Senses called My Laundry Paros, the two ladies running it were sweet and took great care of our items, and it only cost us about €30 for what was about 2 loads of laundry washed and folded. We did lose two items, so just be sure to keep a good count and remember what you dropped off. The resort laundry service would have been about €170, so this was a huge savings. I always recommend to travelers to search for local dry cleaners when they can versus using the overpriced hotel resort laundry service, which in a lot of instances they are outsourcing to local laundramats or dry cleaners anyway.

Paros Airport - Everything You Need to Know

Paros airport is very small, to say the least, you can see the gate waiting area from the check-in/baggage area. There is a small cafe right outside on the sidewalk that serves flatbreads, pizza, sandwiches, and coffee, and a little news stand inside that has snacks and drinks, besides this there is nothing else. There are very few seats in the little check-in area so if you don’t get one of those you will be sitting outside in the heat. I would not recommend arriving more than 45 minutes before your flight, we got there about one hour before our flight was scheduled to depart, and in total, we probably waited about 60 minutes outside and then another 30-45 in the gate area and on the shuttle bus to the plane.

To Sum Up Our Incredible Stay in Paros

Fishing boat in Naousa Greece Harbour — Local fishing boat in Naousa harbour

Santorini was a breathtaking destination from the calderas to the cliffs and the most colorful sunsets I have ever seen. The friendliness of the locals made you feel welcome and safe to venture around, even off the beaten path. Every restaurant or cafe we went into was incredibly accommodating. We have a one-year-old child who likes to throw food

and sometimes run around the place, they all would help entertain him and offer up anything he would eat without just putting it on the bill. Would I recommend taking an infant or toddler to Santorini if it's your first time and you want to see everything and take in all of the beauty it has to offer, NO. But it is an accessible and walkable place if that is the case and you will still have the time of your life experiencing one of the most beautiful destinations in the world. Remember to venture out, explore, and take a moment to soak in all of the beauty Santorini has to offer.

Travel Well!