It is the reason a lot of people choose Paros over its louder neighbours.
Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
The fort in the water
The single object to walk out to is the Venetian kastro, the stubby ruined fort sitting just off the end of the quay with a low causeway of stones running to it.
Half of it is underwater. The sea level here relative to the structure has changed since it was built in the fifteenth century, so the walls run out into clear shallow water and stop. You can walk the causeway in a couple of minutes, and in calm weather people swim off the rocks beside it.
It is at its best in the last hour of light, when the stone goes orange and the harbour boats are lit.
The old town behind the quay
Behind the waterfront is a dense grid of whitewashed lanes, painted door frames and bougainvillea, and it repays getting lost in for half an hour. Two things worth knowing:
- The lanes are commercial now. This is the shopping and dining quarter of the island, not a sleepy residential village, and in August it is busy.
- It is genuinely old underneath. The street plan is the medieval one, built narrow and confusing on purpose.
The Monastery of Agios Athanasios and several small churches sit within the lanes and are usually quiet even when the streets are not.
Eating, which is the actual reason people come
Naoussa has the best concentration of restaurants on Paros and charges accordingly. The strip along the small harbour is the famous part; the lanes behind are generally better value for similar food.
The town is also the island’s late-night centre, in a way that is livelier than Parikia but nothing like Mykonos.
The beaches are a boat ride, not a walk
This catches people out. Naoussa town has no real beach of its own - the bay in front is a working harbour.
The good sand is across the bay, and small boats run over through the day in season:
- Kolymbithres, with the wind-sculpted granite formations, is the famous one and has its own guide.
- Monastiri sits on the other side of the bay near the monastery.
- Santa Maria, east of the town, is reachable by road and is the windsurfing end.
The boat across is short, cheap and one of the pleasanter ways to get to a beach anywhere in the Cyclades.
Getting there
Naoussa is about twenty minutes by bus from Parikia, where the ferries dock, and buses run frequently in season. There is parking on the edge of town; the centre is pedestrian and you should not try to drive into it.
For where to base yourself on the island, where to stay in Paros sets Naoussa against Parikia properly - the short version is that Naoussa is prettier and dearer, and Parikia is where the boats and buses are.
What to take from this page
Walk out to the fort at sunset, eat in the lanes rather than on the front, and take the little boat across the bay to a beach rather than looking for one in town.
Last checked August 2026. Boat services and restaurant seasons vary - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
What is there to do in Naoussa, Paros?
Walk out to the half-sunken Venetian fort on the quay, get lost in the old lanes behind the waterfront, eat, and take a small boat across the bay to the beaches - Kolymbithres and Monastiri are the two people go to.
Does Naoussa have a beach?
Not in the town itself, which is a working harbour. The beaches are across the bay and reached by short boat trips, or east of town at Santa Maria by road.
Is Naoussa better than Parikia?
Naoussa is prettier and has the better restaurants; Parikia has the port, the bus hub and lower prices. For island-hopping, Parikia is the practical base.
What is the ruined castle in Naoussa harbour?
A fifteenth-century Venetian kastro, now partly underwater, reached by a low stone causeway from the end of the quay.
How do you get from Parikia to Naoussa?
By bus, roughly twenty minutes, running frequently in season.
Is Naoussa expensive?
It is the most expensive part of Paros for eating and rooms. The lanes behind the harbour are better value than the waterfront itself.
Next
Read things to do in Paros, Kolymbithres beach, or choose a base with where to stay in Paros.