A Parga itinerary: the Ionian without a ferry

The practical consequence is the best of both: an island-looking town you reach by road, with no ferry to book and the mountains of Epirus behind it. Three days does it comfortably. Everything else is in the Parga guide.

Day 1: the town and the castle walk

Arrive and walk up. Parga is pastel houses in tiers around a small bay, with a Venetian castle on the headland above and stepped lanes running down to a waterfront of tavernas.

The castle walk is short, free and the best thing in the town. It takes twenty minutes up through the lanes, and the view from the walls runs along the coast and out to the islands. Do it in the late afternoon.

Above the town on the opposite hill stands the ruin of a second fort, built by Ali Pasha of Ioannina, which is a longer walk and a good early morning.

The lanes below the castle are pedestrian and pleasant and thoroughly geared to visitors, which is worth knowing rather than resenting. This is a holiday town and it is a good one.

Day 2: the beaches, on both sides

Parga has beaches immediately either side of the town, which is unusual and is most of its appeal as a base.

Valtos, over the headland west of the castle, is the long one: a shingle bay under wooded hills, reachable on foot over the hill or by the small boats that run from the harbour. Krioneri sits right below the town, with the little chapel islet just offshore that everyone swims out to. Lichnos to the east is quieter and needs the drive or the boat.

Take the water taxi at least once. The coast reads much better from the sea than from the road.

Day 3: the Acheron, or Paxos

Two ways to spend a third day, and they go in opposite directions.

Inland, the Acheron river rises in springs a short drive from the town, in a gorge that stays genuinely cool in August. The water is very cold and very clear, and walking up the riverbed is the thing to do rather than looking at it from the bank. Bring shoes you can get wet.

Or take the boat out to Paxos, which sits opposite and is the smallest of the main Ionian islands: six miles of olive groves end to end, three small harbour villages, and the near-empty islet of Antipaxos off its south coast. The day boats run in season and it is the classic excursion from here.

How to adapt this

Two days. The town and the castle on the first, Valtos and a boat on the second.

With a car. Worth having. The Epirus coast either side of Parga is worth driving, Sivota to the north has a scatter of small islands offshore, and the Acheron needs wheels.

As part of an Ionian trip. Parga pairs naturally with Corfu and Lefkada, both reachable, and it is the mainland leg most island-hopping itineraries in this corner skip. Athens to Parga covers the run down.

Out of season. It is a summer town and it winds down properly. The castle and the coast are still there and most of the tavernas are not.

Where this leaves you

Three days in Parga: the town and the castle walk on the first, the beaches either side and a boat along the coast on the second, and either the Acheron springs inland or Paxos offshore on the third. It looks like an island and needs no ferry to reach, which is the whole reason to use it as a base.

Quick answers

Is Parga an island?

No. It is on the mainland coast of Epirus, reached by road, though it looks like an Ionian island town because it was Venetian and then briefly British and was administered with the islands rather than with the mainland behind it.

How many days do you need in Parga?

Three: the town and the castle, the beaches either side, and a third day for either the Acheron springs inland or a boat to Paxos. Two days covers the town and the beaches.

What is the best thing to do in Parga?

The castle walk above the town. It is short, free and it gives you the coast and the islands from the walls. After that, the boat along the coast to Valtos and Lichnos, because the shoreline reads far better from the sea.

Can you visit Paxos from Parga?

Yes, day boats run across in season. Paxos is the smallest of the main Ionian islands, about six miles of olive groves with three small harbour villages, and Antipaxos off its south coast has the clearest water in the area.