Day 10: Paros Aliki Beach

Tuesday 28th June 2022

Another Day, Another Beach

We planned to continue our exploration of Paros today with a visit to Aliki beach, located on the south coast of the island. There is a direct bus (sometimes it stops at the airport, but it’s mostly direct) so it’s actually quicker to get here from Parikia than it was to get to Logaras and Punda yesterday, even though they appear closer on the map.

Before setting off, I suggested to Caroline that we have breakfast at Symposium as I had enjoyed it so much yesterday. Unfortunately, when we got there just after 8 it wasn’t open and the sign on the door suggested it wouldn’t be opening until 9:15 – unusually late for a Greek cafe, I thought. Since we wanted to take an 8:40 bus it was no good hanging around.

Instead, we kept walking and found Ragoussis bakery just a short walk away. The bakery sells all kinds of sweet and savoury options and is quite reasonably priced, so we shared a plain croissant and pain au chocolate and I had a latte. Not a very healthy breakfast, but it gave us some energy to start the day.

Which Aliki Beach to Visit?

When we got off the bus in Aliki, we saw that the main beach was pretty small: a triangle of sand nestled in the corner of two roads with a few cafes and tavernas nearby.

Although it wasn’t very busy first thing in the morning, I decided it didn’t look that appealing, but I had noticed on Google Maps that there’s a larger beach past the harbour to the south, Piso Aliki.

It didn’t take long to walk round to the other beach, and boy was it worth it! Piso Aliki is gorgeous:

The beach was almost deserted, except for a few elderly couples having a morning swim or chatting under the shade of a tree. We found a nice spot on the sand, put our towels down and I settled for some sunbathing while Caroline went for a walk along the sand. Once I’d warmed up enough from the sun, I got my goggles and went for quite a long swim across the bay and back which was very refreshing.

Early Lunch

We stayed at the beach until 11:30, and then I started to get hungry having burned off the morning pastries with my swim, so we packed up and retraced our steps back towards the main beach. There were several options for food, but we didn’t want anything fancy so decided to try a cafe called Ya Soumitsa. I ordered a small beer, plus yoghurt with honey and fruits. Caroline had a fresh lemon and lime drink with a sugar and lemon crepe. My food was good, though Caroline said her crepe was disappointing.

Before heading back to Parikia, we walked to another nearby beach called Agios Nikolaos. At first, it didn’t seem as nice as Piso Aliki as it was quite stony in the water on the eastern end. However, the further west we walked, the clearer the sea became and it’s actually a really nice place.

We didn’t have that much time as I wanted to catch the 13:30 bus back to town so that I could do some work in the afternoon. The water looked inviting, though, so I couldn’t resist a quick swim and a selfie or two!

Back to Parikia

It was nearly 13:30 as we finished walking back from Agios Nikolaos beach to the bus stop in Aliki. The bus turned up a few minutes later and we were soon heading north towards Parikia. This time, the bus didn’t stop at the airport so it only took 20 minutes to get back. I spent a few hours in my hotel room catching up on work, having agreed to meet up with Caroline at 18:15 for dinner.

We spent a few minutes chatting on her balcony – it was too windy to play cards – then made our way out in search of somewhere to eat. After checking a few menus as we strolled along the beach road, we found ourselves back at Cavo d’Oro and decided to eat there again. I had moussaka which was excellent (cooked in a clay bowl as it should be), Caroline chose the same tomato spaghetti dish she had the previous visit. We also tried a starter: feta cheese with honey and sesame seeds in filo pastry.

Back at the hotel, the wind had died down as it often does after sunset, so we played a few games of cards on Caroline’s balcony (I won 2-1!) then I went back to my room ready for a good night’s sleep.