PAXOS: Perfect for families
Seven years ago, on our first visit to Paxos, we pulled into the tiny fishing village of Loggos at midnight, having skimmed across the silvery channel from Corfu by water taxi. My family and I have returned to this less-trammelled idyll almost every year since.
A sliver of perfection 11km by 5km, Paxos lies far enough from Corfu to discourage mass tourism, but close enough to make it accessible. Even in summer there are few cars and nowhere feels crowded. My favourite activity is succumbing to indolence: eat, sleep, swim, sunbathe and repeat.
For those with itchy feet, there are ancient footpaths crisscrossing the island, leading through a wilderness of wild flowers — in springtime — and to little whitewashed churches. Even I managed the sweaty 10minute uphill hike from our villa to the heavenly Ypapanti Church. The rewards were abundant, with views all the way to the southern tip of Corfu and Albania.
When the children were younger, souvenir shopping in Loggos was a favourite pastime.
These days, in their teens, they’re lured by Gaios — the island’s main town with its cobbled alleyways, bustling storefronts and rudimentary nightlife. With only one disco on the island, the potential for trouble is limited.
To step back in time, you don’t need to travel far. In hamlets like Magazia and Fontana, sleepy villages with just a grocery store and a smattering of quaint bars and tavernas, authentic Greece is there to be relished. Last year we charted a Norwegian ketch, and spent a blissful day meandering over to neighbouring Antipaxos to luxuriate on its golden sands.
Otherwise, it’s every day like the last: barbecues on the terrace, idling by the pool, bobbing about on a dilapidated day boat in the aquamarine ocean and crashing into bed full of the wellbeing that comes with total relaxation and an injection of Vitamin D.
To reach Paxos, fly to Corfu and catch a private sea taxi or hydrofoil.