Quick facts
Best subject: Naoussa harbour, where the ruins of a thirteenth century Venetian castle sit half submerged at the entrance to the bay.
Best sunset spot: Naoussa harbour, looking out past the castle ruins as the fishing boats come in for the evening.
Best season for photography: May, June and September, for clear light and more comfortable conditions if you plan to walk the old Byzantine Road between Lefkes and Prodromos.
Golden hour: the standard 45 minutes or so before sunset works well at Naoussa. Kolymbithres’s granite boulders photograph well through most of the day, since the interest is in their shape and texture rather than direction of light.
Getting around: a rental car or scooter covers the island easily, and the bus timetable and taxi options are also reasonably good between the main villages. See getting around Paros.
Is Paros worth visiting for photography
Paros has a genuine claim most islands do not, its marble was used to carve the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, both now in the Louvre, and you can still walk into the ancient tunnels it came from. Add a fishing harbour with a half sunken Venetian castle, wind sculpted granite boulders and a proper 1,000 year old stone path through the hills, and Paros has more genuinely distinct photographic subjects than its reputation as a quieter alternative to Mykonos or Santorini would suggest.
Best photo spots in Paros
1. Naoussa harbour. A small, sheltered harbour still used by working fishing boats, with the ruins of a thirteenth century Venetian castle sitting mostly submerged at the harbour mouth, a striking contrast against the whitewashed village behind it. Read more in our Naoussa village guide.
2. Kolymbithres Beach. Millions of years old granite boulders, smoothed grey by wind and sea, divide the coastline into small sandy coves and continue underwater, giving the beach a genuinely otherworldly look. See our guide to Kolymbithres Beach.
3. Marpissa and its windmills. Four windmills stand at the entrance to the village, among the most photographed sights on Paros, with the ruins of a fifteenth century Venetian castle crowning the hill of Kefalos above the surrounding plains. Read more in our Marpissa village guide.
4. Lefkes and the Byzantine Road. Narrow marble paved streets wind between whitewashed, bougainvillea covered houses in one of Paros’s best preserved hill villages, and an ancient marble path, roughly 1,000 years old and 3.5 kilometres long, leads from here through the olive groves to Prodromos. Read more in our Lefkes village guide.
5. The ancient marble quarries. An underground network of tunnels where the prized, translucent Lychnites marble was cut by lamplight in antiquity, the same stone used for the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, still marked with the tool cuts of the people who quarried it. See the Cave of the Nymphs section of our top 5 caves in Paros guide.
6. Parikia. The island’s main port and capital, with its own Venetian kastro and a waterfront windmill, usually the first and last view visitors get of Paros. Read more in our Parikia village guide.
7. Golden Beach (Chrissi Akti). A long stretch of golden sand on the east coast, popular with windsurfers and kitesurfers, at its most colourful on a breezy afternoon with kites and sails filling the frame. See our guide to Golden Beach.
Best time of day to photograph Paros
Naoussa harbour is the clear pick for sunset, with the submerged castle ruins silhouetted against the last light over the water.
Kolymbithres works well for most of the day, since the granite boulders themselves are the subject rather than a particular direction of light, though early or late in the day gives you longer shadows and more texture in the rock.
Golden Beach is best in the afternoon, when the meltemi picks up and the kitesurfers and windsurfers are out in force, turning what would otherwise be an empty stretch of sand into a genuinely colourful scene.
Best season for photography in Paros
May, June and September give you the clearest light and the most comfortable conditions for walking the Byzantine Road between Lefkes and Prodromos.
July and August bring the strongest light and the busiest harbours at Naoussa and Parikia, along with the meltemi wind, which is a nuisance on most beaches but genuinely useful if Golden Beach’s kite and windsurf scene is what you are after.
Practical photography tips
Bring a light for the marble quarries. The Cave of the Nymphs and the wider quarry tunnels are genuinely dark inside, so a headlamp or torch, and a steady hand or a small tripod, make a real difference underground.
Wear proper footwear for the Byzantine Road. The marble paving is beautiful to photograph but can be slippery when worn smooth or damp, so trainers or hiking shoes are worth the extra weight in your bag.
Time Naoussa around the evening rush. The harbour is genuinely busy with diners and visitors once the tavernas open for the evening, so an earlier visit gives you a calmer version of the same view.
Check current drone rules before you fly. Greece follows the EU’s common drone regulations, which generally require operator registration for anything over 250 grams, and there are no fly zones around ports, the airport and archaeological sites such as the ancient marble quarries. Rules can change, so check the current requirements from Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority before your trip.
Book a local photographer
If you would rather leave the camera work to a professional, a local Paros photographer will know the quiet hour at Naoussa, the best light on Kolymbithres’s boulders and the safest way through the marble quarry tunnels, far better than a first visit ever could.
Explore more of Paros
Getting around Paros · How to get to Paros · Paros bus timetable · Paros taxi · Paros map · Paros weather · Best wineries and wine tastings in Paros · Best cheese tasting experiences in Paros · Best villas with a private pool in Paros · Best villages in Paros
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