Planning a trip to Paros
Visitor Information
There is a visitor information office on Mavroyenous Square, just behind and to the right of the windmill at the end of the pier. This office is often closed, but there are numerous travel agencies on the seafront, including Santorineos Travel and Polos Tours . The municipality information office in the Parikia town hall can be reached at tel. 22840/22-078. The island has a number of helpful websites, including www.parosweb.com and www.paroslife.com. The quarterly English-language magazine Paros Life and Naxos Life (2€) is very useful and has a good calendar of upcoming events.
It's Popular in Paros -- The Feast of the Dormition of the Virgin (Aug 15) is one of the most important religious holidays in Greece -- and the most important, after Easter, in Paros. Pilgrims come here from throughout the Cyclades to attend services at the Panagia Ekatondapiliani, which is dedicated to the Virgin. If you come here then, make reservations well in advance, or you will probably find yourself sleeping rough. And, on the subject of dates: If you want to visit Paros to see its famous butterflies, remember that they come here in May and June.
Getting Around
By Bus
The cunningly unmarked bus office and main station (tel. 22840/21-395) in Parikia is on the waterfront, to the left as you face the windmill. There is often hourly service between Parikia and Naoussa, from 8am to midnight in high season. The other buses from Parikia run frequently, from 8am to 9pm, in two general directions: south to Aliki or Pounda, and southeast to the beaches at Piso Livadi, Chrissi Akti, and Drios, passing the Marathi Quarries and the town of Lefkes along the way. Schedules (not always up-to-date) are usually available at the Parikia bus office.
The Bus Stops Here? -- Buses on Paros usually have no visible indication of their destination; the place where you are let off in, for example, Naoussa, is seldom the place you should be waiting to be picked up for the return trip. Try to get this useful information on which bus is yours and where you should be for your return trip from the bus office staff or bus driver. Be persistent.
By Car & Moped
Paros is large enough that renting a car makes sense. There are many agencies along the waterfront, and except in July and August, you should be able to bargain. Iria Cars and Bikes (tel. 22840/21-232), Santorineos Travel (tel. 22840/24-245), and Stefanos (tel. 22840/21-521) get praise from travelers. Expect to pay from 30€ per day for a car and from 15€ per day for a moped. Be sure to get full insurance and check the brakes.
By Taxi
Taxis can be booked (tel. 22840/21-500) or hailed at the windmill taxi stand. Taxi fare to Naoussa with luggage should run about 15€. Be sure to agree on a fare before you set out.
Fast Facts
There are several banks with ATMs in Parikia on Mavroyenous, the main Square, and one on the square in Naoussa; their hours are Monday through Thursday from 8am to 2pm, and Friday from 8am to 1:30pm. The private Medical Center of Paros (tel. 22840/24-410) is to the north of the pier, across from the post office; the public Parikia Health Clinic (tel. 22840/22-500) is on the central square, down the road from the Ekatondapiliani Cathedral. Much of Paros now has Wi-Fi, but Internet access is available on the Wired Network (www.parosweb.com) at eight locations around the island; you can buy a "smart card" that stores your personal settings and provides access at any of these locations for about 6€ per hour. The main Wired Network location -- often noisy and crowded -- is in Parikia, on Market Street (tel. 22840/22-003). Cyber Cookies (tel. 22840/21-610), the cafe just past the square with the ficus tree and Distrato Cafe, on the street that runs from the cathedral into Market Street, is much nicer, with a very helpful multilingual manager.
For the Paraikia police, call tel. 22840/23-333; in Naoussa, call tel. 22840/51-202. The post office in Parikia (tel. 22840/21-236) is left of the windmill on the waterfront road, open Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 2pm, with extended hours in July and August. Parikia's telephone office (OTE; tel. 22840/22-135) is just to the right of the windmill; it's usually open daily in summer from 7:30am to 2pm. (If the front door is closed, go around to the back, as wind direction determines which door is open.) A branch in Naoussa has similar hours. If you don't have your own phone, it is usually much easier to forget about the OTE office and make a phone call with a phone card, on sale at almost all kiosks.
Getting There
By Plane
The website of Athens International Airport, www.aia.gr, is a useful resource for domestic airline schedules. Olympic Air (tel. 810/114-4444 or 210/966-6666, official Greek phone numbers that are rarely answered; www.olympicair.com) offers daily flights between Athens and Paros, which also receives European charters. Aegean Airlines (tel. 810/112-0000; www.aegeanair.com) also has several flights daily between Athens and Paros. In Parikia, you can call tel. 22840/21-900 for flight information, but you'll do much better to use a local travel agent.
By Boat
The sites www.gtp.gr and www.openseas.gr are useful resources for ferry schedules. Paros has more connections with more ports than any other island in the Cyclades. The main port, Parikia, has connections at least once daily with Piraeus by ferry (5-6 hr.) and high-speed ferry (3-4 hr.). Confirm schedules with the Athens GNTO (tel. 210/327-1300 or 210/331-0562) or Piraeus Port Authority (tel. 210/926-9111). Boats are notoriously late and/or early; your travel or ticket agent will give you an estimate of times involved in the following journeys.
Daily ferry and hydrofoil service links Parikia with Ios, Mykonos, Santorini, and Tinos. Several times a week, boats depart for Folegandros, Sifnos, and Siros. There are daily excursion tours from Parikia or Naoussa (the north-coast port) to Mykonos. The high-speed services usually take half as long and cost twice as much as the slower ferries. There's also overnight service to Ikaria and Samos several times a week. (From Samos you can often arrange a next-day excursion to Ephesus, Turkey.) In high season, there's hourly caique service to Andiparos from Parikia and Pounda, a small port 6km (4 miles) south of Parikia, with regular connection by bus. The east-coast port of Piso Livadi is the point of departure for travelers heading to the "Little Cyclades." Ferries depart four times weekly for Heraklia, Schinoussa, Koufonissi, and Katapola.
For general ferry and other travel information, try Santorineos Travel (tel. 22840/24-245) or Polos Tours (tel. 22840/22-092), both on the harbor in Parikia. The port authority can be reached at (tel. 22840/21-240). Many agents around Mavroyenous Square and along the port sell ferry tickets; schedules are posted along the sidewalk.
