PAROS & ANTIPAROS
Sibling islands for the connoisseurs
While staying in Paros with Truman Capote, Cecil Beaton once wrote "life is nothing but sleep, swim, eat, and read", so If you have had your fair share of the dazzling Cycladic scene at Mykonos & Santorini, chances are you are looking for slightly less audacious destinations in Greece. Think sparkling warm seas, a slew of bougainvillea clad cubist pretty, cinemascope blue windows and doors, excellent restaurants and even cooler bars : Paros and Antiparos are the sibling islands for the connoisseurs and low-key cosmopolites to indulge. Naoussa comes with cultivated charm, the resort town of famed tavernas like the iconic Barbarossa whose yard right off the waterfront leads to the prettiest orthodox chapel that dominates the harbor entrance. Enjoy your clams and sea urchins seated perhaps next to Tom Hanks who loves to dine in Naoussa (the Hollywood star has a house in Antiparos) and spend evenings with friends the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson walking the cobbled mazes. In Paros and Antiparos there seems to be no end of whitewashed hillside towns and hidden swimming caves to discover and explore. In Paros, Kolymbithres, famous for its bizarre moonscape rocky formations and Chrissi Akti on the south-eastern side known for its long stretches of powder-soft sands are the ones to visit first. According to CN Traveller's Lindsay Talbot, when in Antiparos, you might bump into Bruce Springsteen at The Doors, a local bar where the owner gives free ouzo to anyone who can sing all the lyrics of Bob Dylan's 'Hurricane', you'll otherwise be left alone. And in summertime in Greece, that is the rarest, most precious thing of all. There's hardly a day to go by without experiencing something new so if you wish to delve a little further, a sailboat ride to Despotiko, an island whose sandy shore is crested by the ruins of an Apollo sanctuary, is sure to have you and your guests thirsty for more.
Photo Credits: Sotiris TsakanikasView some of our Paros & Antiparos events on the portfolio, or start planning yours!