Parga is situated on the mainland of Greece, in the region of Epirus. We (mum and 3 kids – 18, 13, 6) were there for 2 wks in July 2011.

The town has a main beach, which has quite coarse sand/pebbles, especially the bit around where you get into the water – it was a bit too stony for the kids, who like to run in!







The other beach that we went to was Valtos beach, which is a 10 minute boat ride away or a 20 minute walk up lots of steps on the hill up to the castle . . and down the other side . The boats leave every 30 mins (on the hour and half hour) from the pier, which is right in the heart of Parga. I don’t have any pics of Valtos beach , except for these shots, taken from Stephanos’ restaurant, up by the castle.







Parga is a very charming town, with narrow hilly streets and is set around a bay, dotted with tiny islands and sea-features.







On the island immediately in front of the seafront, there is a small church, and we saw 2 wedding parties during our stay. We did wonder what the area roped off in the water was - initially thought it was some sort of mussel farm, until we say swimming lessons being taught there one morning!











Parga is overlooked by a castle, which is reached by a steep hill, with lots of steps. The street up to the castle has lots of shops and bars, some of which have seating areas where you can stop and people watch. It does get very busy at night.























On the waterfront, there is a pier, from which you can get the boat to Valtos beach, Lichnos beach, or take one of the trips to see some other islands.



We did the Paxos/Antipaxos trip and it was a lovely way to spend the day . Because we didn’t know how we would manage the seatravel, we opted for the biggest boat, which was recommended in the agency we booked the tickets from.

The boys wanted to go on the ‘Captain Hook’ (looked like a pirate ship) but we were glad the next day, as the CH was packed to the rafters and there was very little shaded seating – we would have been frazzled!



The boat stopped at the Blue Lagoon in Antipaxos, where we went swimming off the boat – this was the highlight of the day for the boys! then went to see some caves, before heading to Gaios, the capital. Our boat was the first to arrive, so we had the pick of the restaurants for lunch, but as the other boats arrived, it quickly filled up and there were queues for tables







It was very, very hot – some folks had the right idea . . .



We browsed around the shops up the side streets and stopped for the odd cold drink/ icecream and picked up a few bits and pieces.







Then we were off









There are plenty of restaurants in Parga. The one’s on the seafront do tend to hassle you a bit – almost pull you in off the street, so we generally gave them a wide berth, except for Gemini – really good pizzas which the kids loved . We did try a couple more, but if we had a good meal one night, if we went back, it was not so good. We went to Rudi’s twice (upstairs in the ‘square’ at the seafront and overlooking the anchor) and Stephanos’ twice (up the hill, past the castle - good fish and very friendly)





Fresh fish at Stephanos'



My 6 yrr old was fascinated by the jaws displayed on the walls of the restaurant.







We didn’t travel around much as I don’t drive abroad and hubby didn’t come, so we didn’t see much of the region – there were places I would have liked to see, but the kids didn’t fancy spending the day on a coach. But, we would have done other boat trips if we had thought they’d be so successful .

In summary, Parga is charming and picturesque, but a bit busier than where we normally go. There were a lot of non-greeks selling stuff on Valtos beach – sunglasses, handbags, beachwear, jewellery, purses, hats . . . . and others offering massages, which was quite tiresome, so we only went to Valtos twice, but there are water sports available at the far end of the beach. I also found the waiters hassling to come into their restaurant , on the seafront irritating, but we just ignored them and went to places that didn’t hassle passers-by! It was hot . . . 40 degrees plus on a few days, but there was usually a breeze which made it bearable. How nice to be able to have lunch and watch the world go by with a view like this . . .




[/font]

Have a well-deserved rep tb.Which airport fly into and how long does the coach transfer take?

What a great review Boss and lovely pictures and what a coup to get a wedding on the island. Takes me back and to see the views from my favourite restaurant again. A rep from me too

...and from me - brilliant !

The flight time was just over 3 hours, which was great. You fly into Preveza airport and the transfer is 1 hour. Parga is just down a little bit from Corfu and Lefkada, if you want to get your bearings . . .

I'm sure that it is a 4 hr flight to Kalamata (where we normally fly into when we go to Stoupa). So the flight time was a very nice surprise!

delboy wrote:

What a great review Boss and lovely pictures and what a coup to get a wedding on the island. Takes me back and to see the views from my favourite restaurant again. A rep from me too

It would have been better if I had done it straight away when I got home DB . . . . the old memory ain't what it used to be, but 'life' took over! I had saved the 'review photos' (NO FACES ) at the time, but I was looking for other pics, that I don't think I saved to this file . . . they are on the camera card Prob . . .

I will get around to doing an accommodation review of apts and Hotel at Gatwick . . . . eventually

That would be superb Boss

Superb pics boss :tup:

great review boss,looks like a place i'd like to try.

the narrow winding streets remind me of lindos and rhodes town.

another one on the (must do) list

I haven't been to Rhodes, but what I remember about my island hopping days as a student, the islands had white 'grout' for want of a better word, between the pavement stones (paros/ios)

So many places I'd like to see too!

Need a lotto win

Fantastic review and loved the photos very well done and a rep from me. It looks very picturesque and just how most expect greece to look like.

Ahhh! cheers all

You're only trying to motivate me to do the accommodation reviews

Hahaha eeeeeeeeee suspicious are what hahaha. No honest it was really good the picture are really clear loved it.

Great stuff TB

Fantastic review with your accompanying photo's, a well deserved rep from me as well. :-bd: