Páros

Now that the designers and international big money are taking over Mýkonos, where does the young, fun crowd go? A short hop away to less pricey, less posey Páros – joining artists, families, windsurfers, Greek pensioners and everyone in between. In fact, these days you’d better book everything from hotels to cars to restaur

One of the larger Cyclades, Páros is fringed with enticing golden beaches, many with beach clubs (but half the price of Mýkonos), and has landscape dotted with beguiling sugarcube villages.

The island’s gentle mountain, Profítis Ilías (771m/2,530ft), yields the finest, most translucent marble in the world, which was long the island’s claim to fame; these days it’s better known for the six boutique wineries on its slopes, where the Meltemi wind does its bit to create just the right microclimate.

Today’s young Greeks know it for the cocktail lounges in Náoussa that stay open past dawn. It has a considerable French colony and a crowd of digital nomads, and a new airport. The runway is being extended and a new terminal is being built; the first international arrivals are due sometime in 2024 (in theory).

History