Naoussa

Text: Katerina Iliaki

Authentic experiences, the Cycladic beauty, rambling alleys, small clearings, a modern lifestyle and traditional elements coexist at the most beautiful settlement of Paros with a background of blue and white colours.

Full of photogenic corners, interesting restaurants, colourful small shops, Naousa succeeds in attracting a motley crowd: groups of students, families and tourists of all ages meet at the popular small bridge or at its narrow-paved streets and flood the picturesque port creating a unique cosmopolitan atmosphere…

Surely, it is not by chance that Naousa is considered the queen of pleasant life in the Cyclades. Its unpretentious architecture, its authenticity and simplicity create enchanting images which remain etched in your memory for ever and urge you to return again and again to this settlement with the incomparable beauty, a place whose traditional character has not been corroded by the many comforts and the many choices it offers for accommodation and night life.

Naousa has many concealed treasures! It its faces all the time and no matter how many times you have walked along its alleys, you will always find something new. The stylish boutiques, the shops with the traditional products, the attractive hang outs and the new arrivals “crop up” in its narrow streets. The view from the restaurants and the cafes at the small Venetian port is fascinating at all hours, with the colours renewing the scenery. The caique boats at the marina and the breeze remind the visitor that he is in the most beautiful, traditional and gracious fishing village in the Aegean.

Its gastronomic supremacy is due to the seafood that comes directly from the fishing boats of the locals to the tables of the well-cared-for restaurants which they “do their best” to please their guests at the sea front. There you can taste the famous “gouna”, drink the refreshing souma and let your senses guide you.

The nightlife continues in the innumerable bars which stay open till morning, while if you are lucky and visit the island in August, you can attend the Pirate fiesta (23/8) with the locals, dressed in traditional costumes, enacting the raids of pirates and Barbarossa! But even if you miss it, it doesn’t matter, at Naousa every day is a feast…