Stay
Luura — Agia Irini
New to Paros for summer 2026, Luura sits high above Agia Irini on the island’s western coast, with every one of its 39 suites facing the Aegean and Antiparos — which also puts the hotel on the right side of the island for sunset. The design leaves behind the usual all-white Cycladic shorthand for something warmer: honey-colored limestone, dark wood, tactile linens, handmade ceramics, and contemporary art woven throughout the property.
Art is more than decoration here. The collection includes works by Francesco Clemente, Claire Tabouret, and Tschabalala Self, while local craft appears in smaller details, from ceramics to artist-led workshops. Every suite has its own terrace and 19 have private pools, but the place we’d make time for is the cliffside Mimi Kakushi at sunset, where Japanese cooking comes with an uninterrupted view across to Antiparos.
Meros — Naoussa
Meros is for travelers who want to stay in Naoussa rather than plan their evenings around getting there. Reopened after a full renovation in summer 2026, the 26-room hotel is only a couple of minutes from the harbor, putting its restaurants, shops, and late-night energy practically outside the door. Back at the hotel, a pool and garden create a surprisingly quiet pocket in the middle of town. Rooms are simple and contemporary, with balconies throughout; for the best sense of place, book the Harbor View Suite, which looks directly toward Naoussa’s fishing boats.
The Rooster — Antiparos
The Rooster is the reason we would spend a few nights on Antiparos rather than treat it as a day trip. Sixteen stone houses disappear into 30 acres of dunes, gardens, and windswept hills above wild Livadia Beach, each with its own pool and outdoor shower. Inspired by the island’s old katikies, or farmers’ cottages, they’re built from local stone and sand-colored plaster, with interiors that feel more collected than conventionally Cycladic.
But the real luxury here is how much there is to disappear into. The organic farm supplies the kitchens and hosts open-air lunches and dinners beneath the olive trees; the House of Healing goes unusually deep into wellness, with Ayurveda, yoga, reiki, and Qi Gong; and down by Livadia, driftwood tipis are tucked into the dunes for afternoons by the sea.
Bites
Anna & Giorgos — Marpissa
On the road between Marpissa and Logaras, Anna & Giorgos is the table we would choose when we want Paros to feel a little less polished. This is proper Greek home cooking, with Giorgos often working the room while meats cook over charcoal and the kitchen sends out the kind of dishes you want several of in the middle of the table. Look for the slow-cooked lamb, chickpeas scented with rosemary, stuffed vegetables, and whatever is coming off the grill that day. It is generous, family-run, and refreshingly uninterested in reinventing the taverna.
Magaya — Delfini Beach
Magaya is where we would go when, a few days into the trip, we want something other than another taverna. Set directly on little Souvlia Beach, just south of Parikia, it pairs a wonderful seaside setting with a menu that jumps between Greece, Thailand and Mexico — grilled local fish alongside Panang curry, mango and shrimp salad, guacamole and spicy Mexican plates. Come straight from the water, get a table as close to the beach as possible, and stay into the evening; the west-facing setting makes this an especially good place to catch the sunset.
Markakis — Piso Livadi
Markakis has been part of Paros since the early 1980s, with chef Maria Somboni now at the heart of the family restaurant. Her cooking is rooted in the Cyclades and in the idea of filling the table with meze: taramasalata made with white fish roe, mussels steamed with Parian wine, garlic and dill, and gouna, the island’s traditional sun-dried mackerel, grilled and served simply. Fresh fish and seafood come in daily through local fishermen, but the setting is almost as much of a reason to come — tables sit right on the little harbor of Piso Livadi, overlooking the fishing boats.
Kedros — Ampelas
Kedros is one to save for dinner. The restaurant sits right at the water’s edge in Ampelas, beneath the enormous old cedar tree that gave it its name, with views across the Aegean toward Naxos. Chef Yannis Parikos keeps the food recognizably Greek rather than reinventing it: a table of meze might include cod in crisp batter with Florina pepper, little beef patties with herbed yogurt, seafood, and slow-cooked veal finished with smoked Metsovone cheese. Come for a romantic, but not too polished, night out.
Maremma — Kolymbithres
Maremma has one of those settings that makes you excited about the reservation before you’ve looked at the menu. Set directly on the water at Kolymbithres, it looks across the little bays and smooth granite formations that make this stretch of Paros so recognizable. The cooking takes the familiar ingredients of a Greek seaside table in a more considered direction: sea urchin with olive oil and village bread, grilled octopus with fava and cuttlefish ink, a Parian salad with local xinomyzithra, and lobster linguine finished with soft cheese from Ios. Go toward the end of the day, when the rocks and water begin to pick up the evening light.
Swim
Faragas Beach
Keep Faragas in mind for windy days. Tucked into a protected cove on Paros’s southern coast, its golden sand and clear water stay relatively calm when the Meltemi is making the northern beaches less inviting. The organized section is polished but low-key, with neutral sunbeds and woven shade, while lunch comes from a beachfront restaurant run in collaboration with Naoussa’s Barbarossa, with seafood and Mediterranean dishes at the center of the menu. Reserve a bed in high summer — or walk beyond the organized section to the smaller, quieter coves tucked around the rocks.
Monastiri Beach
Monastiri gives you both sides of a Paros beach day. The sandy bay sits inside Paros Park, an 800-acre protected peninsula where seven kilometers of trails cross rocky headlands and lead to secluded coves, a 19th-century lighthouse, and the monastery of Agios Ioannis Detis. Down at the water, Monastiri Beach Bar & Restaurant turns the main beach into an easy place to spend the rest of the day, with sunbeds, shaded loungers, cocktails, and a restaurant overlooking the bay.
Come early enough to walk before the heat sets in, then settle in for lunch and the afternoon. Or follow the coastal trail to Perikopetra or Tourkou Ammos for a swim away from the organized beach before coming back for a drink.
Soros — Antiparos
Soros is where we would commit to the full beach-club version of Antiparos. Nine kilometers south of town, the long stretch of clear Aegean water is lined with sunbeds and low cushions, with drinks, snacks and sushi served directly on the beach. Lunch is worth leaving the lounger for: the restaurant works with local fishermen and Cycladic producers, with fresh fish, seafood, a raw bar and Mediterranean dishes making up much of the menu. Come for the first swim and stay through lunch — or later, when sushi and champagne move onto the sand for dinner under the open sky.
Sip
MW — Naoussa
MW is where we would start the evening in Naoussa. Set above the harbor, its terrace catches the last light over the water and gives you a little distance from the crowds gathering below. The drinks are taken seriously — alongside Greek wines, look for cocktails that make use of local spirits and Mediterranean flavors, including their Greek Negroni and Olive Highball.
Altana — Prodromos
Altana is a reason to stay inland after dinner. Opened in 2025 inside an old Cycladic house in Prodromos, the bar spills into a small courtyard where cocktails, music, and late-night food have created an unlikely little nightlife spot in one of Paros’s quieter villages. It feels deliberately removed from the summer crowds of Naoussa, more like finding the house where everyone has ended up for drinks.
Fotis — Naoussa
Fotis is easy to walk past: enter from one of Naoussa’s narrow lanes and suddenly the back of the bar opens straight onto the sea, with a handful of tables and low sofas sitting almost at the water’s edge. That little reveal is most of the reason we love it. Come before dinner for cocktails as the sun drops behind the Paros Park peninsula across the bay, and try to get one of the tables closest to the water — there aren’t many, and they’re the ones worth waiting for.
For the Rest of Paros
Fourteen addresses are enough to start a trip, but not enough to know an island.
The upcoming Apolide Paros Guide goes further, with the restaurants, beaches, hotels, shops, villages and experiences we keep in our own address book, along with the practical details and recommendations that help decide not only where to go, but when and why.
