Where to stay in Paros

The decision: Parikia or Naoussa

Paros has two towns, and almost everyone stays in one of them. They are twenty minutes apart and they are not the same trip.

• Parikia is the port and the transport hub. Every ferry docks here and every bus starts here, which makes it the practical base - especially if Paros is one stop on an island-hopping route.
• Naoussa, on the north coast, is the pretty one: a small fishing harbour with a half-sunken Venetian fort, boats pulled up on the quay, and a dense little grid of whitewashed lanes behind it. It is more expensive and more fashionable.

The rest of the island is beaches and villages, and the wind decides which beach you use on any given day.

This page names areas, not hotels. We have not stayed in Paros’s hotels and will not rank them.

The areas at a glance

Parikia

Area	Best for	Ferries	Evenings	Costs
Parikia	Island-hopping, buses, value	The port is here	Lively, less polished	Mid
Naoussa	The prettiest base, dining	20 min away	The island’s best	High
Alyki	Quiet south coast, families	Far	Sleepy	Mid-low
Golden Beach / Chrissi Akti	Windsurfing	Far	Very quiet	Mid
Lefkes	The mountain village, no beach	Far	Very quiet	Mid-low

The port town gets unfairly dismissed as “just the ferry stop”, which is wrong. It has a genuinely old core behind the waterfront, a fourth-century church in Ekatontapyliani that is one of the most important early Christian buildings in Greece, and a windmill on the quay that is the island’s front door.

What it really offers is friction-free logistics. You walk off the boat into the town. Buses to everywhere start here. If a sailing is cancelled, you are already where the alternatives leave from. For a first island-hopping trip, that is worth more than prettiness.

It is also the cheaper of the two towns.

Naoussa

Naoussa is what people picture when they picture Paros: a small harbour with fishing boats, the ruined Venetian fort you can walk out to, and lanes of white cube houses that fill with restaurants and bars in the evening.

It has the best eating on the island and the most style, and it charges for both. It is also busy in August in a way Parikia is not, because everyone comes here for dinner whether they are staying or not.

Good beaches sit either side of it - Kolymbithres with its wind-sculpted rocks is the famous one - and small boats run across the bay to them, which is a pleasant way to get to a beach.

The rest of the island

Alyki, on the south coast, is a quiet fishing village with calm shallow water and a much slower pace. Good for families who want to do very little.

Golden Beach (Chrissi Akti) on the east coast is the windsurfing centre. That is a feature if you sail and a warning if you wanted flat water.

Lefkes, inland and up, is the old capital: a marble-paved mountain village with no beach and views across to Naxos. It is the base for people who have been to Paros before.

The wind, which decides your beach

Paros sits in the path of the summer meltemi, and on a windy day the island’s coasts behave completely differently: the east side is where the windsurfers go, and the sheltered bays are on the other side.

The practical version: do not commit to one beach. Pick the coast in the morning based on what the wind is doing. That flexibility is another argument for basing near the buses.

Do you need a car?

Less than on most islands. Paros is small, the bus network out of Parikia is decent and frequent in season, and the two towns are well connected.

A car or scooter helps for Lefkes and the quieter southern beaches. See which islands need a car.

How the areas map onto trips

• Island hopping, first trip, value: Parikia.
• The prettiest base, best dinners: Naoussa.
• Quiet family days: Alyki.
• Windsurfing: Golden Beach.
• Second visit, wanting the real island: Lefkes.

Getting there is covered in Athens to Paros, and the onward hops in Naxos to Paros and Mykonos to Paros.

Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.

Frequently asked questions

Should I stay in Parikia or Naoussa?

Parikia if you are island-hopping or want value and easy buses - the port and the bus hub are both there. Naoussa if you want the prettiest harbour and the best dining, and will pay more for them.

Is Paros a good base for island hopping?

It is the best in the Cyclades. Paros sits at the centre of the ferry network, so you can reach most of the group directly and a cancelled boat rarely strands you.

Do I need a car on Paros?

Not really. The island is small and the buses from Parikia are frequent in season. Wheels help for the mountain village of Lefkes and the quieter southern beaches.

Which side of Paros is sheltered from the wind?

It changes with the day. The east coast around Golden Beach is where the windsurfers go because it catches the meltemi; the sheltered bays are on the other side. Pick your beach in the morning rather than booking around one.

Where should I stay in Paros for families?

Alyki on the south coast for calm shallow water and a slow pace, or Parikia for convenience and bus access to several beaches.

Is Naoussa expensive?

It is the most expensive base on the island for both rooms and eating. Parikia costs less for a similar island.

Next

Read the Paros travel guide, Paros beaches, or compare it with the neighbours in Naxos vs Paros and Paros vs Milos.