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Pricey Paros

September 24, 2021 /

Anyone who has used island ferries knows the drill: you place your bags in the rack labelled with the name of your destination, settle on deck or wherever, then return to pick up your bags just before disembarkation. So picture our reaction when we return to the car/luggage deck and find what looks like several hundred bags piled where our backpacks were and, when we pull and throw loads of them to one side, ours are no longer there.

On the move again

Just as panic sets in, Michaela spots hers, on a rack marked for a different port, several racks away from the correct one. Mine is even further away, and the two backpacks are well apart, each a long way from where we left them.  Passengers are already off the boat by the time we’re loaded up and are hurrying off the ramp, breathing heavily and sighing with relief.

Moments later we are on the bus from the port town across the island to our next base at Naoussa, looking out at a very different scene from our last few stops. Paros is a larger island, a popular holiday destination and very much more geared towards the tourist market; after successive stops on quiet, tiny islands, the port town of Parikia looks like a city to us. What a difference.

So quaint, Naoussa harbour, Paros

Naoussa has a reputation, both generally and with Michaela who has been here before, as one of the prettiest harbours of all of the Greek islands. Even at first sight it is obvious that the reputation is well deserved – a tourist trap it may be, but the tight little harbour, filled with fishing boats and surrounded by fishermen’s storage huts converted into tavernas, is ridiculously quaint.

The sea is raging in Naoussa

Those former huts are in that quintessentially Cycladic sugar cube design, clustered tightly around the lapping waters of the harbour. It screams at you to sit down and order fresh fish and retsina. Or maybe, as in our case, a cold beer to recover from “backpack shock”. 

Quaint Naoussa as night falls

As darkness falls and the subdued lighting of the tavernas kicks in, the little harbour becomes romantic as well as quaint. Judging by the huge number of taverna and bar tables, Naoussa must be a very busy place in high season. It soon also becomes clear that tables around the harbour come with hiked prices: our first meal is the first of the entire trip to top 80 euros. Compare that with an entire night out for less than 30 back in Thessaloniki a few weeks ago.

Naoussa harbour

In fact it’s as if a 2-hour ferry trip has delivered us to a different world. 15 euros for a starter…up to 39 for a main course….5 for a cappuccino…or you can order lobster at 120 euros per kilo. And in the shops, 112 euros for after shave which we can get for 48 on Amazon; Michaela looks at a casual top in a clothes shop, price tag 130 euros. 

Sea battered Naoussa

Now we’re not exactly on a tight budget, but we are given to wondering who on Earth all these people are who fill these tables and happily pay these inflated prices which are far removed from the normal Greek island experience. Of course, there are some cheaper places back from the waterfront, but wow that view sure comes at a premium.

Naoussa

Paros, and Naoussa, also greet us with a significant blast of island winds, so strong that it’s all but impossible to find refuge. The harbour is a vortex, seafront restaurants are deserted and the alley ways have become wind tunnels. The evening wind has a proper chill factor too.

Naoussa

Whilst the change in weather disrupts our plans for the day, it also makes for some decent seascape photographs….

Looking out from our balcony, Naoussa, Paros

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