Getting to Paros
There seems to be confusion
between Poros and Paros. Change one letter and its
the same island. To make it even more confusing
there is a beach on Paros called Parosporos, (a
great beach for body-surfing when there is a north wind by the way). While we
were on Poros we got an invitation to Paros from
our friends Nikos and Carolina and since we only
had four days left in Greece we decided that the
experience, though rushed, would probably enrich
us and if nothing else enable me to add another
few pages to my websites. Going to Paros is easy. There
can be several boats leaving the port of Pireaus a
day, between 7am and 10 pm. Sometimes they all
seem to be leaving at the same time but usually
there are enough spread out through the day so
that if you just turn up at the dock you won't
have too long to wait. Because we were in Poros
which not only has frequent ferries but also
flying dolphins which leave almost every hour, we
were able to plan our trip so we arrived in
Pireaus with enough time to have lunch in one of
the funky working-class restaurants's off the main
street, and then catch our boat, the Santorini
Express.
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 I love Pireaus. There
is something romantically menacing about
the back streets and working class
restaurants that serve Patsa (innard
soup), and the people who hang out there.
Everyone looks surly and tough, like they
have seen the harsh side of life and
carry knives which they are not afraid to
use. Pireaus is Greece's primary seaport
so it's only natural that I would feel
like I am in a strip joint in New Orleans,
instead of a grilled chicken restaurant a
block from the ferry boat. But it never
fails. No matter how uptight I am about
the intentions of the tough looking men at
the next table, they always turn out to be
good guys and I end up being torn by the
desire to hang out and drink with them
rather than get on the ferry. But because
I have a family the ferry usually
wins. There are numerous ticket offices in Pireaus. However if you are traveling in the summer you should get your tickets in advance because the boats do fill up. You can find info or buy tickets on my Ferry Boat Ticket's Page. The best thing to do is use a Greek Travel Agency to book hotels and ferry tickets to avoid any mistakes and to solve any problems you may have. You can also use my Create-an-itinerary
form to book Paros in combination with other islands. Once the ferry schedules are up you can find them and book your tickets at Ferryhopper.com and pick up your tickets in the port at one of the ticket booths right by where the boat leaves from.
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 The journey by regular ferry to
Paros is about 5 hours or more depending
on the boat. Some, like the Blue Star Ferries, are faster than the slow older boats. But as ferry trips go, the journey to Paros is an easy one since it is the first stop on the route that continues on to Naxos and Santorini. Because they share the same ferry route these are the 2 best islands to do with Paros.
Depending on when you arrive it can be
a little chaotic. Sometimes there are as many
as three ferries loading and unloading
cars and passengers on the dock. It
seems life would be a little less
stressful for the port policemen who must
orchestrate the whole show, if they would
stagger the arrival times. I have gotten on the wrong ferry, though now they are so careful checking tickets this is pretty much impossible. What is possible is missing your stop but even that is difficult since they announce it in Greek and English before you arrive. Just make sure that when they make the announcement you get to the back of the boat because if there are not a lot of people getting off the stop can be short and you may end up on Naxos. You can also get to Paros
in half the
time if you take the
Super
High Speed Catamarans. They take about 3 hours and cost about 30% more than the normal ferry tickets. In the summer there are daily connections with other Cyclades islands, like Mykonos and also to Heraklion, Crete. But in the months between November and April you can really only count on being able to get to Santorini and Naxos or back to Pireaus. There
is also a ferry that leaves from Syros and does a different route everyday to various islands in the Cyclades
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Arriving in Paros
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 Arriving in Paros can
be a little scary if you don't know what
is happening. The ferry pulls into a
beautiful white port town and the ramp
comes down. People and cars exit the boat
simultaneously and take the walk on the
long dock to the exit gate, some not
suspecting what awaits them. Some
have been told to expect sweet little old
ladies carrying signs with photos of their
homes, quietly chanting "rooms? rooms?
rooms?" Like some kind of travel mantra.
Things have changed in Paros. Just on the other side
of the fence are the
domatia
kamakis, men
hired for their persuasiveness who corral
tourists and bring them to rooms and
hotels in the main town of Paraklia, and
other villages around the island. The
little old ladies are a thing of the past.
As the crowd of travelers from the ferry
approach, the kamakis begin their chant
"rooms, rooms, very nice rooms", all the
while edging closer to the gate.
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 As the tourists cross
the threshold and are officially in Paros,
the two groups collide in confusion like
two opposing armies fighting hand to hand
combat. Many of the tourists know where
they are staying and just want to fight
their way through this mess to the shaded
safety of the windmill beyond. But others
are ensnared by the kamakis, with no way
of knowing the difference between one room
and the next or even where it is. On the
periphery of the battleground are the
buses to the campsites at Parosporos and
larger well known hotels, their names in
big letters like beacons to the travelers
who were smart enough to make
reservations. The crowd breaks up
into little groups around the windmill,
each surrounding a kamaki who describes
the attributes of the rooms he
represents, while at the same time keeping
an eye on the time. There will be another
ferry arriving soon and he must get this
first group of tourists to the hotel so he
can get the batch off the next boat. All
this is happening while departing
travelers are waiting to get on their
ferries. This goes on all summer and can
be a little bit frightening to the
uninitiated, though it can be fun if you
know its coming and you know what you want
and where you want to be.
Within half an hour of the departure of the last boat things
return to normal.
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 If you want to avoid pressure
of having to choose between kamakis and thus be
able to enjoy this island tradition purely for its
entertainment value then book your hotel with a
reliable Greek Travel agency like
Dolphin Hellas
,
Fantasy Travel
or
Aegean Thesaurus
Travel. A Greek
Agency can find you discounted rates on hotels in
all categories and they can arrange your
transportation needs so you don't have to scour
the net looking for ferry schedules. See also the Paros
Hotel Page for some recommendations. If you have booked with a travel agency there will probably be someone from the hotel meeting you at the ferry. If you have not booked with a Greek travel agency you may want to ask someone from the hotel to meet you, especially if your hotel is not in the port of Parikia.
Fantasy Travel has several Greek Island-hopping itineraries that include Paros that I recommend. For those who want to combine Paros with the two most popular islands I suggest their Paros-Santorini-Mykonos Program. If you are under 25 then I suggest the Paros-Ios Program and if you are over 25 or on your honeymoon their Paros-Santorini
Program. You can visit Fantasy Travel's Greek Island-hopping page or use my Create-an-itinerary Form to combine Paros with any island or mainland places you want to visit.
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 Use Ferryhopper to find all direct and indirect ferry routes for the islands of Greece, Spain, Italy &
Turkey, compare ferry companies & prices, and book cheap ferry tickets with no hidden fees in one go!
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