Parga Paradise

We stayed the week in a small hotel close to Valtos Beach, which is just over the (walkable) hill from Parga town.  It took us about 30 minutes to walk into town and the reward each way was an outstanding view, which was made all the better for a stop at Mike’s Bar to enjoy it over a cocktail and a chat with Mike!  But if you’re not sold on the walking, do not fear as there is a water taxi that can take you to the port in town for a small fee.Parga is full of lovely restaurants and tiny streets with delightful shops, and sitting by the port and watching the world go by was ideal.  However, as a family we don’t sit for long so we also spent many hours snorkelling and swimming out to the small island of Panagia, which has a small chapel and castle ruins.  You can hire a kayak or pedalo too, but if you like to snorkel I highly recommend the swim – the fish were wonderful and we even spotted an Octopus!

An absolute must when in Parga is a day trip out to the Acheron River, which is about 25km from the town.  You wan walk the river, admire its waterfalls and gorges and have a spot of lunch there too… the crystal clear waters and unique natural landscape make it a little paradise.  There are options to horse ride, kayak or raft, so we chose rafting… white water rapids it wasn’t but it was incredibly good fun!  The water is cold and you need to wear trainers or water shoes as it’s very pebbly, but our 3 hour walk up the river and back was one of the highlights of our trip.

We also went on a day boat trip to Paxos – sunbathing on the boat listening to music and then lunch in Paxos, Gyros of course!  We sailed into a cave and stopped a couple of times to swim or snorkel, it was a perfect.

The icing on the cake for us was the fact that our visit to Parga fell over August 14^th and 15^th when they hold their Kanaria Festival (celebrating the return of the residents from Corfu where they had migrated in the 19^th Century after the sale of their town to the Turks) and also celebrate the Festival of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.  The main night of celebrations saw a small boat procession at sea, live music by the port, restaurants offering ‘feasts’ and the most amazing and longest firework show I have ever witnessed.  It was spectacular, and locals advised us to pre-book a good seat in a restaurant on the port so we had the best seats in the house… and more food than we could eat!  It was wonderful watching the locals celebrate, and according to my husband hilarious watching me join them dancing in the square later that evening!

I fell in love with Parga and it makes a wonderful alternative to a Greek Island… in fact it can be included in an island-hopping holiday if you wish, we met many who were doing this.  Transfer from the airport is not quick (over an hour by car, even longer by coach) and to see the most of the town you do really need to be happy with walking up & down some hills, but if that doesn’t put you off then you really are in for a treat.