8 Paros and Naxos Hotels Without the Mykonos Prices

Parian marble is translucent to a depth of about three and a half centimetres. Light passes into it and diffuses, which is why sculpture cut from it appears to glow from within rather than reflect off the surface, and why the Venus de Milo and the Hermes of Praxiteles were made from it.

It was mined underground rather than quarried open, by lamplight, in tunnels that ran into the hillside at Marathi. The best grade was called lychnites, from the Greek for lamp. The tunnels are still there and mostly unvisited, a short drive inland from Paros town.

Two islands the Cyclades rush past

Paros and Naxos sit in the middle of the Cyclades and get a fraction of the attention Mykonos and Santorini absorb, at something in the region of a third of the price.

Paros has the harbour towns — Parikia with its fourth-century church, and Naoussa, a fishing port whose lanes have filled with restaurants and bars without losing the boats. The beaches are sandy, the meltemi blows, and Golden Beach on the east coast hosts international windsurfing.

Antiparos, a seven-minute ferry, is smaller and quieter with a cave system and a growing reputation.

Naxos is the largest Cycladic island and the only genuinely agricultural one. It grows potatoes, citrus and olives, makes its own cheese, and Mount Zas rises to 1,004 metres — the highest point in the Cyclades. That fertility means Naxos has a working interior of mountain villages, which Paros does not.

The marble fact applies here too: the unfinished kouroi lying in the Naxian quarries are seven-metre archaic statues abandoned where they cracked, still in the ground, free to walk up to.

The eight below are grouped by island.

Paros

Naoussa, Parikia and the beaches.

Parilio, a Member of Design Hotels occupies a converted building outside Naoussa in white and pale stone around courtyards, with a pool, a spa and a restrained aesthetic that reads as Cycladic without costume. It is the best hotel on either island.

Cosme, a Luxury Collection Resort sits on a beach near Naoussa with a private stretch of sand, a beach club and an adults-only policy.

Yria Boutique Hotel & Spa occupies a garden estate on the west coast with low buildings, a pool and a long-standing Greek family operation.

Ambassador Aegean Luxury Hotel sits near Parikia with a beachfront, several pools and family facilities at a fair rate.

Antiparos

Seven minutes across.

The Rooster occupies a low white property above a beach on Antiparos with a pool, a beach club and a deliberately unpolished tone.

Naxos

The big fertile island.

Naxian Collection occupies a hillside above Stelida with villas, private pools and views across to Paros, built and run by a Naxian family.

Nissaki Beach Hotel sits on Stelida beach with rooms opening onto the sand, a pool and a quiet stretch of the west coast.

Kavos Naxos occupies a beachfront position near Naxos town with a pool, a garden and the old town a short walk away.

What we have left off

The studios and apartments across both islands are excluded, and in the Cyclades they are the standard and inexpensive way to stay. They are apartments rather than hotels.

What to do

Go to the marble tunnels at Marathi on Paros, which are unlit, unstaffed and free, and take a torch. It is one of the few classical industrial sites you can simply walk into.

See the unfinished kouroi on Naxos at Flerio and Apollonas — seven-metre statues abandoned in the quarry when the marble cracked, lying where they were left.

Eat in the Naxos mountain villages, Halki and Apiranthos, where the food is the island's own and the marble streets in Apiranthos were laid by Cretan settlers.

Walk the Byzantine road on Naxos between Chalki and Moni, a paved mule track through the fertile interior.

Windsurf or watch at Golden Beach on Paros in July and August, when the meltemi is reliable enough for competition.

Practical notes

Both islands have small airports with domestic flights; ferries from Piraeus take three to five hours and the fast boats are less. The two islands are thirty minutes apart by ferry.

May, June, September and early October are ideal. July and August bring the meltemi, which is a blessing in the heat and occasionally cancels ferries. Winter is quiet and most hotels close.

Book ferries ahead in August. They fill.

Questions people actually ask

What is special about Parian marble?

It is translucent to about three and a half centimetres, so sculpture cut from it glows rather than reflects. It was mined underground by lamplight.

Paros or Naxos?

Paros for the harbour towns and the beaches, Naxos for the mountains, the food and a working interior. Thirty minutes apart.

Cheaper than Mykonos?

Substantially, for the same sea and a shorter ferry.

How many nights?

Six. Three on each, or four and two with a day trip.

If you only book one