The two beautiful Greek Islands

Greece has around 6000 islands and when people think of Greece, its mostly about these beautiful islands. Our Greek adventure started in Athens and then we took Ferries to reach its islands. Many know Santorini, the most famous of all these islands – This was not to be missed. Apart from this, we wanted to explore another island. After lot of study, reviews, YouTube videos, we zeroed on the island of Paros, many labelling it to be the most beautiful of all islands. We did a 2-night’s stay at both of these islands and the experiences were quite unique. Although the bay views at Santorini were stunning, the experience at Paros was more magical. In this blog, I pen out the details of our itinerary, the mostly good and also the very few not-so-good experiences. So, ferry on!

Day 1: We reached the Piraeus port in Athens by 6:55am and found two ferries boarding. One mentioned Blue Star Delos, another was Blue Star Naxos. The exact name of the Ferry is mentioned in the boarding ticket (Remember to do web check-in through the link in email sent by the Blue Star company before hand – I did it previous night itself). E-ticket is good enough to board. It was an interesting experience boarding this ferry – At first level, we need to store our luggages, there are specific spots for different location – Naxos/Paros/Santorini, etc.

We then move up two more floors for outdoor deck seating. Pantry was available but only one guy there managing the show. I bought two coffees instead of 1, to justify the long waiting. Although the coffee was quite good, 10.4€ was quite expensive for two coffees. Mixed experiences onboard with lot of smoking, dogs, but the views of the mediterranean sea was great. Weather is really pleasant this time of the year (June end), so we chose to sit in the open area – You can also go inside the cabin where there are air-conditioned seats.

It was interesting to walk around the ferry during the cruise, the ship beating the waves, making a big thud and splashing some water, and strong wind gushing across our face and body, really great experience. We also met some interesting folks in the Ferry – Young Greek couple who were going for a 7-night trip to Naxos, it was good discussions on the culture & history. It turns out we are all like-minded people, with similar desires and thoughts, no matter which country one comes from. The lady is from Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the great, and the guy is from around Athens, a Panathanaikos club fan, reminding me of the good old days when I used to support Panathanaikos football club some 20 years back. Apparently, their basketball team are the champions of Europe. He mentioned entire population of Greece was 10 million, out of which 6 million lived in Athens. I also met one Nepali person who was on his way to Santorini for work, he had some unique experiences to share. We reached the Paros port by 11:45am. When we walked down to the exit area, we saw there was already a huge crowd to alight. I was worried if we would have enough time to pick our luggage and get out. As it turned out, it was very smooth to collect the bags and exit, and we landed on our first Greek islands, the very beautiful Paros.

After a lot of study, I picked Marisa Rooms via booking.com, it had great reviews both on booking and also on google maps: https://www.booking.com/hotel/gr/marisa-rooms.en-gb.html. We walked from the port to this hotel using google maps and reached by 10 minutes. Marisa welcomed us with a big smile and finished the check-in formalities pretty quick. She gave us a quick introduction of the local terrain, important sightseeing spots, how to get there, where to eat, etc. The room was very cute with a nice balcony, white table/chair/walls, brown wooden doors, nice view of the backyard.

Bathroom was very clean, bed was very comfortable, and we had great night’s sleep. It turned this was a great choice for our stay in Paros. After settling down, we walked along the coastal road to visit Marisa’s favorite restaurant “Bountaraki“. It had a nice ambience & good food. After lunch, we walked around the area, there was a nice windmill overlooking the beautiful bay of Parikia.

We then walked back to the beautiful old village of Parikia. We walked to this sunset view location, Frankish Castle area, which had a small church, sea view was indeed amazing.

It was a pleasurable experience to walk around, lot of cute alleys and the typical greek island’ish houses with blue colored windows and white walls, lots of pictures for sure!

We also had couple of Gelato ice-creams, and as we sat enjoying it, we realized we were near the Parikia main bus station, and suddenly decided to take bus to Naoussa. We arrived the Naoussa bus station within 15 minutes – this is truly an outstanding place, a must visit if you are in Paros.

Many restaurants facing the bay, boats docked, the entire ambience was quite unique. There is an area having stone walkway, to walk when in low tide, but not today. It was great experience with the water splashing across the rock and drenching the bystanders nearby.

After a while though, I really had to pee, and we couldn’t find any public toilets somehow. We took the bus back to Parikia, alighted one stop before the main station – this was closer to our rooms. After freshening up in the room, we walked along the coast and decided to watch the sunset from the top at Frankish Castle area, what an amazing experience it was!

After sunset, we walked towards the main center, and had Gyros at local restaurant, which was just OK. We then bought some snacks at supermarket and walked back to our rooms; it was a day well spent in Paros.

Day 2: We started by 10am to take bus to the hilltop village of Lefkes. From the bus stop, we can walk any direction, we somehow ended up at one beautiful church and a coffee shop nearby. Very nice vibes here and we bought some drinks to spend some time relaxing.

Walked back to the bus stand and found that the next bus to Parikia was at 1:25pm. From anywhere to anywhere you need to first go to Parikia and change bus there. The bus was 30 mins late though, came back to our room, walked to nearby restaurant to have Gyros, which was quite good. For some reasons, Aishani was quite stuck with this Kolymbythres beach, she had seen that it was rocky beach. We decided to go there – Take a bus from Parikia to Naoussa, which is 15 mins drive. From the bus station, walk towards the port, take right near the port, you can find this small ticket booth for water taxi to Kolymbythres, it was 5€ for adults, and free for kids. We didn’t realize why, but they started the boat with only the three of us on it.

It seemed like a private boat for our family, and we very much enjoyed this 15 mins boat ride to the beach – I really felt being “rich” as the entire boat seemed exclusively for us, the views around screamed luxury & serenity. As we approached the beach, we realized there were plenty of people waiting to go back to Naoussa – apparently the water taxi closes at 7pm, after this its only one last bus to take you back to Naoussa.

The colors of the water got us all very excited – such turqoise blue. Nice stone formations making it even more beautiful – exactly what Aishani hoped it to be.

The beach was shallow and clear waters. It was easily the best beach I ever swam.

Although it was a bit crowded, we managed to find a spot to keep our bags, and then take dip in the water. It was quite windy, making the temperature cold. When we got inside water, it felt warm, as soon we came out we felt very cold, an interesting experience nevertheless. we walked back to the bus stop, only to realize that we still had around 40 mins until the bus came. We went inside the main beach entrance and spent time contemplating, taking pictures and enjoying the views.

Last bus did come at 7:40pm, had to buy tickets on the bus – If you buy the tickets after boarding, its 2.5€, buy before its 2€. We came back to Naoussa in 5 mins and walked around a bit, then decided to return back to room. Took the bus at 8:30pm back to Parikia. Took nice shower and started at 9:45pm to Bountaraki – we really had to eat Moussaka, the local dish here, which Marisa was so gaga about.

Dinner time is crowded here, we waited 15 mins, and then ordered for salad, Moussaka and shrimps spaghetti, the bill came to 39.5€, it was a great dining experience.

The outside seating felt cold due to wind, so we requested them to move us inside, they obliged. Nice hospitality and overall great experience at Bountaraki.

Paros as a whole has been brilliant. Great stay at Marisa rooms, fantastic beach, great bay, amazing sunset, beautiful villages of Naoussa, Lefkes and Parikia, the island vibe, the warmth (from the sun & local people) and convenience to move around, it turned out to be a great decision to visit this island – totally worth the 2 night’s stay here.

Day 3: We checked out leisurely by 10:50am and walked to the port. Some more pics along the way, some quick bites and we entered the queue for Blue Star Delos, this time to Santorini. It was comfortable, although there was some beggar nuisance in between. Boarding again was quite smooth. As it was a Monday, there was less people today than on the ferry from Athens to Paros. There was a stop at Naxos within 50 minutes, which seemed quite nice from the ferry, I saw this beautiful temple of Apollo from our ferry.

Naxos is the biggest of all the Greek islands, it was quite inviting, maybe next time! We arrived at the Port of Santorini at around 3:10pm, it was delayed by around 20 minutes. I was jittery if we would be able to catch the public bus from the port to Fira station. But then, as my colleague mentioned, they will need to manage the timing to suit the arrival of the last ferry arriving at the island. We darted towards in the direction of the buses, and there was this huge board that read “Public bus 2.50€”. I just casually checked with the person, he asked to store the luggage in the space under and then board the bus. We paid 2.5€ per person, 7.5 for the three of us. The bus ride from Port of Santorini to the central station of Fira takes us along a scenic hilly route, so beautiful.

All the buses first go to Fira, and from there to other parts. We had booked an apartment in the Immerovigli area, and we had to take another bus (cost 2€ per person) towards Oia, and get down at this Tasos Taverna. We walked back and reached our place, Pergeri apartments – I booked it via Agoda this time. It looked typical greek style villa, with white walls and blue roof. It had a loft where the master bed was. A huge balcony overlooking the ocean was fantastic. Nickolas, our host was amazing. He introduced the room, Santorini in general, things to do, the house rules. After quick shower, we walked to the Caldera side & we were stunned – Unbelievable views of the sea & mountains.

I realized two things: First, it’s better to stay on the caldera side, where the views are stunning. And second, Santorini is Santorini. Its popular for good reasons, there was something special about this place. Beautiful views. After clicking hundreds of pics, until Aishani reminded we had to eat some food, we moved on.

Nickolas had recommended this restaurant called Anogi, and we decided to check it out (https://maps.app.goo.gl/82SFd3pcn96WUeG98). The ambience was very nice, food was brilliant. We enjoyed the salad, fried calamari, Basa Fillet with shrimps & Mussels, and their house wine. The size of the squid was probably the biggest I ever had.

The dessert we ordered, the orange cake with Vanilla ice-cream was probably the best cake I ever had (the texture was phenomenal). It went so well with the ice-cream.

It was quite pricey at 78.5€, but then it was Santorini, and it was worth the experience. We then walked towards the Skaros Rock area for the sunset view. The area is so picturesque, the Skaros Rock against the backdrop of the mediterranean sea was brilliant.

We enjoyed the view so much, the sunset experience was once again magical.

The walk back towards our room along the bay was very enjoyable, the buildings now lit gave a unique view.

After clicking more pictures on the way, we reached our room and called it a day.

Day 4: We woke up early to enjoy the sunrise, this was supposed to be the highlight of our stay at Pergeri apartments. The sun came out by 6am and gave us spectacular views.

Today was the day we truly enjoyed our breakfast – complimentary here. We need to choose what we want the previous night, and our host Nickolas brought it by 8:30am. It looked so enticing. I enjoyed the Greek Spinach Pie very much; other stuff was also good.

The Greek coffee though was not as per our expectations – it was like the local coffee we got back in India, which has heavy sediment at the bottom, could drink only the top layer.

For the outing today, we chose to visit the Akrotiri area and experience a local beach there. From the apartment, we walked to the local bus stop, as recommended by Nickolas. It was not obvious where the bus would stop, and which direction it would from after all. After figuring out from our host, the bus did come after 15-20 mins. We had to take this bus to Fira firstly, and then change to Akrotiri. I didnt enjoy the bus experience at Santorini mainly due to this unnecessary extra trip to Fira all the time (short drive but paying 6€ in total). I would definitely recommend people to look for Caldera view hotels near Fira, or atleast somewhat walking from there.

It was a good 30 minutes’ drive to Akrotiri. There is a historic archeological site, and the exploration is still going on actively at this place. Entry fees is 12 for adults and 6 for kids. The complex was quite huge, apparently it was a city built in 16-17th century BC! This was easily the most ancient of all sites I ever visited in my life, it was like 4000 years old, it was very nice to walk around this place, and was amazed how well these people are maintaining their ancient history.

After the museum visit, we walked towards the red beach – named after the red rocks surrounding the beach. Enroute, we entered one local eatery and had Gyros, again it was just ok. The walk to the Red beach is quite interesting, not for everyone. It’s like a nice hike, along a rocky path, with ascents and descents, but the views were stunning. The beach was super crowded, we managed to pitch our base at the start of the beach itself, and we went to play in water. It was a complete pebble beach, no sand at all. It was around 2pm and very hot, but people were having a nice swim in the beach. Me and Aishani played in the water, it was a nice experience walking on the small pebbles, cold water and hot pebbles.

When it got really very hot, we decided to walk back to the bus station and take the bus back. We took the bus to Fira, and then took bus to Oia, this time going all the way to Oia, the most famous part of this Island. As soon as we reached Oia, we realized why our host was mentioning it was very commercial. It was so crowded, and walking was a challenge. We might have walked for 10-15 mins, we decided this was good enough for us, and it was better we went back to Immerovigli for the sunset views. We took the bus to Fira back.

After getting down at Fira, we walked towards the walkway along the bay. It was an interesting walk, we stopped at one dessert place, to enjoy Cake with Ice-cream, sandwich and local wine. Then we walked along the way, enjoying the view, bumping into some human traffic, we then decided to enjoy the sunset at a local bar, with some drinks here.

Nice time spent here, but unfortunately for us, it was a very cloudy day, and the sun just hid behind and chose not to give us the view today. From there we had to walk a long way back to our apartment. Along the day, we had to walk around 1 hour. We stopped by this restaurant “Aroma Gefsis” (https://maps.app.goo.gl/rxVSjPBkvAu3rhuA7) to have dinner. It seemed like a fine dining restaurant and highly rated on google. We ordered seafood salad and a mushroom dish; it was very good. There was a British couple sitting next table, and we had very interesting conversations with them. They are globe trotters and visited all 7 continents – When asked which was one place they would recommend visiting, they told Iceland was beautiful, Kenya was very good because of its people, and also Antartica. It was almost 11pm by the time we were done, and we had to walk back in the dark (some lit, sometimes pitch dark), another good day spent.

I booked taxi to airport for the next day via booking.com – this was one of the suggestions I got from my colleague, and it was very helpful. It’s cheaper than booking through the hotel. We had to take our flight to Naples tomorrow, so we packed our bags and slept off. Next day, the driver came on time with his huge 8-seater van by 8am, and within 15 minutes we are at this cute little Airport of Santorini. The check-in experience and the whole journey via the Volotea airlines was very comfortable, would definitely recommend this budget airlines.

In summary, it was a great stay at two of Greek’s islands, unique experiences with the unbelievable views and incredible food. I would definitely recommend both these islands.