Our trip to Athens, Paros, Antiparos and Naxos

Greece | Sep 4 - Sep 16, 2025

Our trip to Athens, Paros, Antiparos and Naxos exceeded our expectations. Erica was very helpful in planning the trip and the KimKim app worked well in allowing us to seamlessly keep track of our itinerary on the road. Some of the service providers who were particularly friendly and helpful along the way - Nasos Thanasas was our driver to and from the Athens airport, the staff at the Stelia Mare Hotel in Paros, the guides at the Traditional Cooking experience on a Naxos Village Farm and the Naxos Private Wine Experience.

We were not aware of the Cycladic summer winds that are common and did in fact have high winds our first couple of days in Paros. That is the risk you take in traveling to the Cyclades in the summer months and the weather was otherwise ideal. But it may make sense to consider making the trip further into the shoulder seasons on either side of summer.

Renting cars was easy although the driving is a bit challenging with very narrow roads and dodging tour buses on Naxos. In particular, we took a car on the ferry from Paros to Antiparos and very much enjoyed a day on Antiparos exploring the cave there and relaxing on Soros Beach.

We wound up with what was basically a layover day in Athens at the Athens Riviera Hotel on the way out as our flight home the following day was in the early AM. We wish we had taken an earlier flight from Naxos to Athens to have more time in Athens on that day.

In total, we chose several days on Paros and Naxos at Erica's recommendation and do not regret the choice. Other friends had told us Mykonos and Santorini are beautiful but much more crowded. We are not Greece experts by any means and there are many other islands to consider.