Hiking in Paros

Paros attractive inland offers pleasant and easygoing hikes in a beautiful and peaceful landscape. There are not many who know that Paros is a perfect hiking island and one do hardly ever encounter other hikers. I like to hike, but I have never hiked on Paros even though I have visited the island about 20 times.

Sure, I've hiked, but not very long distances. This may be because Paros is a fairly flat island, although the highest mountain, Agii Pantes, is 771 meters above sea level. Maybe it's because I other favourite islands to hike on nearby, like Sifnos and Amorgos.

Two of the best hiking routes starts from Lefkes, one follows the old Byzantine path down to Piso Livadi, from there you can continue along the coast until you reach the Golden Beach where a refreshing swim is waiting. Hiking route number two from Lefkes ends in Aliki where a cold beer is waiting.

Some of the best hikes start from the lovely village of Lefkes.

A third hiking route takes you from Naoussa to Parikia, along the route you will pass the marble quarries of Marathi and the nunnery Moni Thapsana that women only get to visit. The nunnery is young, it was built as late as 1935. I can also recommend the easy hiking routes in the Cultural Park of Paros.

Above Krotiri Bay there are also nice hiking trails. Parikia in the background.

If you are going to hike on Paros, I recommend Anavasi's blue map (1: 40,000) which describes a variety of hikes on Paros, easy as difficult. Terrain Maps is another Greek cartographic company specialized in hiking maps. They have a map of Paros, the scale is 1:40,000 and do also describe many hiking routes. Both maps are available for purchase on Paros.

Stroll-friendly alleys in Naoussa.

If you don't like hiking, you can stroll around the alleys of Parikia or Naoussa instead. They are so beautiful that you can stroll around for hours and philosophize about bygone times.

Stroll-friendly alleys in Parikia.

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