A day trip to the cute little island of Antiparos is well worth doing from Paros. It is like a mini Paros with a couple of whitewashed villages, beaches and more delicious restaurants.
We had come to Paros with a plan to relax. To not rush around and try and see everything. We wanted to just enjoy the delightful little towns and villages, eat scrumptious food and have a bit of a fossick around. We decided a day trip to Antiparos fitted that bill.
There are two ways to get there. The first is get yourself to Pounta/Pounda by car or bus and catch the commuter/car ferry over to Antiparos. Sometimes it is called Punda but it is different to Punda Beach. The bus leaves from Parikia to Pounta at a cost of €1.80 each way.
The ferry trip takes about 7 minutes and go from approx 6am til about 3am every 30 minutes to an hour depending on the time of day. There are less ferries during the off season. It costs €1.30 each way. Cars are €5.
We caught the other ferry, that leaves from Parikia Harbour and takes about 30 minutes and costs €5 (in 2019) each way. This boat usually only runs between about April/May til about October at various times during the day.
This website has the ferry timetables and a wealth of info on Antiparos. It includes info on boat trips you can take around the island for swimming and snorkelling.
We happily filled in our time wandering around the village by the ferry wharf and poking around in the shops.
There other things to do there like visiting the Antiparos cave which is about 9kms from the ferry wharf. We didn’t go there but it is a huge cave and you walk down almost 100 metres into it. In summer there are local buses on Antiparos that will take you there or to the beaches.
You can also walk about 500 metres to Sifneiko Beach through the village and on the other side of the island. Psaraliki Beach is a bit closer about 10 mins walk south of Antiparos.
We finished off our time on Antiparos with yet another delicious meal. Then we caught the 3pm ferry back to Parikia and had time to loll on the beach before dinner.
If you like relaxing on the beach then taking some beach things and spending some time on one of the beaches or doing one of the boat trips available might be a good idea. Also I could imagine that Antiparos is lovely at night when the lights are all on and the restaurants come alive.
If I had more than a day or two on Paros I would recommend visiting Antiparos as it really is lovely, .
