Paxos Holidays

As far as Greek Islands go, Paxos is a case study in best practice. Measuring just 10 kilometres by 4 kilometres, it’s not big enough to have an airport, so it’s never been developed to cater for planes full of passengers. Instead, discerning travellers head over here by hydrofoil from Corfu, to explore a coast contoured with secluded pebble bays and coves, and an interior covered with some of the oldest olive groves in Greece.

Paxos’ micro population of 2,500 people is most concentrated in its harbour towns. The capital of Gaios is the busiest, relatively speaking. Visitors here distribute themselves around the waterfront and the Venetian Square. Five kilometres up the coast, there’s Loggos, where the smile-shaped waterfront is lined with tavernas, serving homemade Greek classics like tzatziki and meze.

It’s a similar story in Lakka. You’re more likely to see boats with masts rather than motors at the moorings here – the harbour is sheltered inside a horseshoe-shaped bay, so the conditions go down a storm with sailors. What’s more, the beaches in the part of the island offer swathes of sand around all the pebbles.