Water sports are one of the main activities of tourists. Favorable winds blow on the island, meaning there are ideal conditions to enjoy wind-surfing or kitesurfing, which are among the most favorite sports of visitors. Especially on the Gold Coast, the world windsurfing championships are organized every year and the biggest names in the sport gather there.
The beaches, mostly with fine sand, are suitable for beach-soccer and beach-volleyball and several of them have the corresponding infrastructure, as well as diving schools for lovers of the seabed. On most of the island's beaches there are kiosks that offer equipment as well as training for all water sports as well as diving schools and centers.
By hiking, nature lovers will have the opportunity to get to know the authentic and natural treasures of Paros, an island whose unique beauty leaves the visitor amazed. Beaches with clear blue waters, white churches and traditional Cycladic houses, bright sun, mild slopes, overgrown with olive trees.
In Paros, hiking enthusiasts can take routes, such as those suggested below:
From the monastery of Agioi Anargyro, in Parikia, to Thapsana and Agioi Pantes.
From Lefkes to the southern villages of Archilochos and Marpissa.
From Koukounaries, towards Naoussa to Faro, at the northernmost tip of the island.
From Dryos to Piso Livadi.
From Marpissa to the Monastery of Agios Antonios.
There is also a very beautiful Byzantine path that connects Lefkes with Prodromos and offers a unique route that passes through olive groves, lasting approximately 1.5 hours. The Byzantine path, was built 1,000 years ago and is paved in its largest part with large marble slabs.
Paros also has remarkable caves, of which the most important is the Cave of Archilochus in Agios Fokas, at the entrance to the port of Parikia. It is a large hole in the almost vertical coast.
In this cave, it is said that Archilochos the Parian, the first great lyric poet of Antiquity, retired and wrote his poems.. The landscape, however, is magnificent: a steep rocky place from where you gaze at the sea as it disappears into infinity and the foaming its waves hitting the surrounding area of the cave.
Other caves are:
1) The Cave below Agia Anna, where the current church of Ai Giannis Spiliotis is located. Nymphs were worshiped there in ancient times.
2) The Kalampaki Cave southwest of Marpissa and south of Agios Georgios Lagadas, under a mountain. The cave has stalactites and stalagmites, and it was a residence of prehistoric people as evidenced by finds (shells, marble objects, etc.). One enters the cave by crawling up to a certain point, because from there it is dark and deep. It has not yet been exploited.
3) Below the peak of Agioi Panto, in Dafnes, there is an interesting, but still unknown, stalactite cave.
In Psychopiana, 6 km from Parikia, near the monastery of Christ in the Forest, there is the "Butterflies" area, which is a very important habitat for a certain yellow-black butterfly species.
It is a landscape of exceptional beauty, dominated by dense vegetation and many waters. Here in the spring and summer the place is filled with butterflies that fly low by the thousands, rest in the bushes and give a fairytale beauty to the landscape.