The Greek Isles – Paros

How come it took us so long to visit the Greek Isles!?! I don’t think I’ve found a more romantic and relaxing place than Paros, a small Cycladic island just a four hour ferry ride from Athens. While we visited both Santorini and Paros, David and I both loved the local and laid-back feel of Paros, waking to the soft chatter of our Greek neighbors outside our window in the mornings. We didn’t realize how tiring traveling through India was until we arrived on Paros and felt the stress start to melt away. We rented a darling 1900’s Cycladian stone cottage in the town of Lefkes through Airbnb. Lefkes is the oldest town on the island and the first capital of Paros, as the earliest settlements on each Greek Isle were established in the center of the island to protect against attacks from pirates. Whitewashed walls, church domes painted a glowing cerulean, and luxuriant vines and bougainvillea hug almost every home. Perched on one of the highest points on the island we enjoyed beautiful views of the town nestled into the hillside, and of the valley stretching to the sea. Lefkes is small and exceedingly quaint. Just a handful of stores gather at the center of town: a few restaurants, a pharmacy, and a boutique selling home goods. We loved reading on the roof deck of our Airbnb, and bringing out simple dinners of meats, cheeses, fruit and wine to enjoy on the terrace at our front door. You can explore the whole town in and hour and a half, then pop over to either Naoussa or the port city of Parikia for the afternoon. Both Naoussa and Parikia have countless restaurants lining the waterfront, and in Naoussa you can see fishermen cleaning their catch and drying the octopus from their morning excursions along the docks. I love the unexpected color of their burgundy nets! We were addicted to gyros, souvlaki and ice cream all throughout our time in the Greek isles and really liked stopping into any number of little hole in the wall gyro shops for a casual meal, picking up a cone at Gelateria S.Cream afterwards. The waterfront tables would start packing out at 6pm, but if you wanted to have Naoussa all to yourself, visit in the afternoon, when others are either at the beach or taking an afternoon nap. It is surprisingly quiet! I knew this one shoulder white dress would be the perfect piece for a few days in the Greek Isles. Lightweight and easy to wear it looks equally appropriate window shopping in town, on the beach or at dinner. The dress is no longer available, so I've linked similar styles below. PAROS PACKING LIST: [show_shopthepost_widget id="2803741"] White Eyelet Sundress (old - similar here and here) // Striped Straw Tote // Leather Thong Sandals in Gold // Tortoise Sunnies (similar) // Yellow Gingham Set xx, SF All photos by David and Stacie for stacieflinner.com