Drive & Walk: Naoussa, Lefkes & the Byzantine Way

Transfer5h-5h30mNaoussa

Description  A private tour by car & on foot which gives you a true “feel of the place”; it includes guided visits to three traditional villages and an easy hike on an ancient trail in the Parian countryside, as well as a traditional ‘meze’ lunch with wine.

We pick you up from your hotel in our minivan and drive you to Naoussa for a short tour of the traditional town center and the picturesque fishing port with the remains of the Frankish (Venetian) fortifications. We then drive you to Lefkes after a tour of the island’s interior, and embark on a short walk around the village. Perched high on the hills but still invisible from the sea, Lefkes is at the heart of an older, agricultural Paros, and is characterized by narrow, winding alleys, white-washed stacked houses and chapels. We soon find ourselves on the Byzantine Way, a centuries-old footpath, part of the medieval ‘mule-road’ network that traversed the island and connected the medieval fortresses of Parikia and Kefalos/Marpissa to the villages of the interior, and the port of Molos (and beyond, to Naxos Island). The path is often paved with age-old marble plates and offers beautiful views of Parian nature as it winds around traditional stone-terraced hillsides with olive groves, vineyards and grain fields; in springtime, it is also full of flowers and aromas from thyme, oregano, sage and other herbal bush that skirt the trail. There are a couple of uphill parts but nothing too difficult. We close the loop after a 5km & 1h30m/2h-long hike at the impressive marble-built cathedral of Lefkes and head back to our car.

Our next and final stop is the village of Prodromos, with its labyrinthine alleys and small chapels, where Greek tidbits (meze) & local wine at the garden of a traditional taverna will nicely round off an authentic Paros experience!

The return to your hotel is a short drive along an alternate inland route in order to see more of the island’s countryside.

More info or booking request? Ask here!

In a nutshell  [The essential Paros Essence: Traditional villages, countryside & food] Tradition/nature/countryside/taste, realtively easy, drive=30-35km & walk=6km, duration: 5h (excl. hotel pick-up/drop-off).