Paxos, Greece
With so many islands to chose from, it can be a really daunting task trying to figure out which one will be perfect for you. Corfu has been on my list since reading and watching the adorable BBC show The Durrell’s in Corfu, but I was surprised to discover that Corfu is pretty touristy until you get up in the northern part of the island, and then there are not a plethora of suitably cute places to stay. So, I expanded my research and we landed on Paxos, a smaller island to the south. We rented a villa through my trusty resource The Thinking Traveller, although I starred the more luxe Torri e Merli and more authentic Glyfada Beach Villas, as options.
The island is drivable from end to end in about 40 minutes, but beware the roads are steep, narrow and very windy. It can be harrowing at times, yet scenic enough to distract you. Gaia, the main town where the ferries are, is touristy. Longos was our favorite. Just super cute with great little restaurants and bars right along the water. We loved having aperitifs at Le Rocher Bar over looking the bay, and boozy lunches nearby at Bouloukos Taverna. Everything was great there, and you can take a nap on the beach immediately after. It’s heaven!
We really loved that you can rent a boat solo with pretty much any of the boat charters on the island. We went out with a skipper before going solo, and that seemed like a really smart move for two novice boaters. There’s really nothing to be worried about though - they show you where to go, how to anchor and bring it back up, what to watch out for. We took our time and played it safe by ourselves, and it was so worth it. We ended up anchoring for most of the day on a beach that we had all to ourselves with the most amazing steep rocks and sparkling crystal clear blue waters. We brought a picnic of local cheese, wine, ham and fresh baked bread and sweets, and made memories to last a lifetime (cheesy, but so true!).
We were lucky because Greece had just opened to vaccinated Americans, so there weren’t many crowds, we didn’t need reservations at any restaurants, and parking was mostly pretty easy. In general, it does seems a pretty heavily travelled-to island for Europeans, although we heard a few American accents. Most people seem to arrive on their boats while island hopping, and that’s definitely on my to-do list now.
Since we didn’t have much time in advance to plan, I wasn’t able to buy any new clothes for this trip. Luckily, I have a a stack of easy to throw on dresses that I take every time I go on a trip (island vacations being my main go-to). I try to bring long sleeve maxi dresses for the evening to keep my body covered and protected against the mosquitoes. I rarely feel the need to dress up on islands, everything is always so relaxed and casual, and I often find the people who get off yachts in fussy dresses seem out of place. I say it’s better to keep it simple and comfortable (still chic of course!). If you don’t have you’re go to list of resort wear at the ready, here’s a selection of cute yet practical pieces:
