Routes · Europe

Zurich to the Cyclades: Naxos and Paros

Zurich → Naxos → Paros

Marble villages & a giant gateway Best season (general guide): May–Jun, Sep–Oct

Naxos and Paros, neighbours in the Cyclades, offer whitewashed towns with fewer crowds than the most famous islands. This route spends three nights on each. From Zurich you'll connect via Athens to Naxos, and leave from Paros. At the harbour, the Portara, a giant marble doorway, is all that remains of an unfinished temple of Apollo.

How to pace it: Spend days one to three on Naxos: day one, the Portara at sunset; day two, mountain villages; day three, beaches of the west coast. Then spend days four to six on Paros: day four, ferry to Paros; day five, Naousa harbour; day six, Lefkes and the old trails.

Inland, the village of Apeiranthos has marble-paved lanes. Paros was famous in antiquity for its fine white marble, used for sculptures across the Greek world. Old stone paths link the hill village of Lefkes with the coast.

May, June, September and October are the best months; the meltemi wind can blow hard in summer. In Greek myth, Theseus left Ariadne on Naxos after escaping from the labyrinth of Crete.

Parian marble was used for famous sculptures, including the Venus de Milo. Antiparos, a small island reached by a short ferry from Paros, has a large cave with stalactites. Naxos is known for its graviera cheese and potatoes. Naxos is known for kitron, a citrus liqueur made from the leaves of the citron tree, and the Halki village has a distillery making it.

The town of Naxos, called Chora, was an important centre of Bronze Age Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum that was long one of the best abrasives available.

Safety: Canada's advice for Greece is to exercise normal security precautions (updated 5 Oct 2026), and the US rates Greece Level 1 (23 Oct 2025).

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