Boutique Hotels in Paros

Paroikia (often spelled Parikia) is the island's capital and main port. The Panagia Ekatontapyliani — the Church of 100 Doors, dating to the 4th century and traditionally credited to Saint Helena (mother of Constantine the Great) — anchors the town centre, with a three-part complex of the Saint Nicholas chapel, the main church with its Parian marble altar, and the baptistery. Major Easter and 15 August festivals draw island-wide attendance. Adjacent, the Archaeological Museum holds the priceless Parian Chronicle — a 4th-century BC marble inscription recording Greek cultural milestones from 1500 to 260 BC — alongside Cycladic figurines and the Nike of Paros. The Kastro — the Venetian castle built 1260 by Marco Sanudo using stones from the ancient acropolis — caps the headland.

Naousa anchors Paros's social and luxury concentration on the north coast, 12 km from Paroikia. The picturesque fishing harbour holds the partially-submerged 15th-century Kastelli (the Venetian fortress at the harbour mouth); the Old Town's whitewashed lanes carry one of Greece's most concentrated boutique-hotel and fine-dining clusters; Naousa Bay stretches east to Kolymbithres (the lunar granite-boulder beach), Monastiri (inside Paros Park nature preserve), Santa Maria (kitesurfing) and Lageri. Mr & Mrs White Paros anchors the BHC inventory in Naousa — fifty rooms and suites split between the 'Mr' wing of classic rooms and the 'Mrs' wing of larger residences.

The island's mountain interior holds the older Paros. Lefkes — the former ancient capital, set at 300 metres elevation 12 km southeast of Paroikia — runs marble-paved alleys and the 19th-century Church of Agia Triada with bell towers carved from Parian marble. The Byzantine Path — a 3.5-kilometre paved marble track dating to the 11th century — runs downhill from Lefkes to the village of Prodromos in around 45 minutes. The Marathi marble quarries (inland from Paroikia) produced the famed Lichnites marble that carved the Venus de Milo, the Hermes of Praxiteles and Napoleon's tomb.

Antiparos sits one nautical mile west of Paros, reached by the Pounta ferry (10-minute crossing, cars and pedestrians). The small island's signature is the Antiparos Cave — one of Greece's oldest documented tourist attractions, with stalactite formations and a small church inside that has drawn visitors from Lord Byron onwards. Beyond the cave, Antiparos offers quieter beaches than Paros, a small Cycladic chora and an increasingly luxury-positioned year-on-year resident community.

Paros's season runs late April to October. May-June delivers wildflowers, mild temperatures and the swimming season's start. September-early October matches spring for weather with warm-sea swimming through the harvest. July-August peaks for the social scene at Naousa and the windsurfing competitions on the south coast. Winter is quiet — Paroikia stays open year-round; most island properties shut from late October to April.