Route · 7 days · round-tripYacht charter route · Cyclades

Paros via Naxos & Schoinousa.

Sail a week from Paros through Naxos, Donousa, Koufonisia, Schoinousa and Irakleia, the quietest anchorages in the Small Cyclades.

The route

Day-by-day route

Click any pin on the map or any day in the route summary below to see that day's stop, story and photos.

Day 1

Paros → Naxos

A gentle 6-mile crossing east to Naxos, where the lone marble Portara frames the year's easiest sunset from the harbour.

Distance

11 NM

Sailing

~2.2h at 5 kn

At a glance

Route at a glance

Best season

May – mid-October (peak Jun – Sep, meltemi Jul – Aug)

Duration

7 days

Departure

Paros

Sailing area

Cyclades

Route summary

Click any day to jump back to the map and see its photos, narrative and mooring tip.

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The full story

Day-by-day journey

Named anchorages, mooring notes and things to do for every leg of the week — the map follows along as you scroll.

Day 1 / 7

Day 1

Paros → Naxos

Six miles is barely a passage, which suits day one. You clear the Naxos-Paros channel with the sails half-loaded, get a feel for the boat, and slot into the town quay by early afternoon. Naxos harbour is the most forgiving on the whole loop, protected whichever way the wind turns. Walk the causeway out to Palatia islet before dinner. The Portara, a single marble doorframe left standing from a temple to Apollo that was never finished, catches the last light and fills with crowds and cameras. Inland is worth a morning if you have it: the Tragea valley, the old citron distillery at Halki, kitro poured neat over ice. Provisioning is easy here, so stock the deep runs to the Small Cyclades now while shelves are full.

Things to do

Sunset at the Portara marble gate

Kitro tasting at Halki's Vallindras distillery

Hike Mount Zas, the Cyclades' high point

Swim the sands at Agios Prokopios

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the Naxos town quay, roughly 30-50 euro a night with power and water. It holds against any wind and rarely fills, so there's no need to rush your arrival.

Day 2

Naxos → Donoussa

This is the day to leave early. Twenty-four miles is the week's real passage, and with the meltemi in the north you want the wind behind you and time in hand. Donousa sits out on its own, roughly a hundred people through winter, a village strung around Stavros bay. The quay is tiny and lazy lines are hit or miss, so if it's taken, drop the hook on the sand just outside and dinghy in. Kedros beach is a ten-minute walk south, a curve of pale sand over turquoise, sheltered when it's blowing from the north. There's a wartime wreck a few metres down for anyone with a mask. Evenings are simple here: a couple of tavernas, grilled fish, the smell of oregano off the hillside.

Things to do

Swim Kedros beach south of the village

Snorkel the sunken wreck off Kedros

Hike the coast path to Kalotaritissa

Grilled gouna at a Stavros taverna

Mooring tip

Stern-to on the little Stavros quay runs about 15-25 euro, but slots are few and lines unreliable. If it's full, anchor on sand in 5-7 m just outside the bay, well tucked from the northerly meltemi.

Day 3

Donoussa → Koufonissi

Koufonisia is where the loop gets a little livelier, though by Cycladic standards that still means small. Two islands face each other across a shallow channel: Pano, where everyone lives, and Kato, empty but for a summer taverna and goats. Tie up on Pano and the day sorts itself out. Walk the low cliff path east from the village and you pass a string of natural rock pools cut into the limestone, the water so clear it barely reads as water at all. Pori, further round, is the big sandy bay everyone photographs. For dinner, astakomakaronada is the thing to order, lobster broken through long pasta, cooked all over the island. Get the boat in by late afternoon; the quay tightens up as the day-trippers' ferries come and go.

Things to do

Swim the Pori beach lagoon

Follow the rock-pool path east of Chora

Day-anchor off uninhabited Kato Koufonissi

Astakomakaronada lobster pasta at the port

Mooring tip

The Pano harbour quay is stern-to at 25-40 euro and typically full by around five, so aim to arrive mid-afternoon. If there's no room, anchor on sand in 4-7 m just east of the village.

Day 4

Koufonissi → Schoinousa (Mirsini Harbor)

Five miles is a lazy morning, so there's no reason to hurry off Koufonisia. Schoinousa keeps maybe two hundred people and does very little to court visitors, which is its whole appeal. The port at Mersini is a single row of buildings at the water; the real village, Chora, sits on the ridge above, a fifteen-minute walk up to windmill views and a handful of tavernas. Tsigouri is the swim, sandy and shallow, a few minutes from the harbour and protected from the north. The island is laced with footpaths to beaches you'll often have to yourself. We usually eat up in Chora, tomato keftedes and whatever the kitchen fried that afternoon, under a tamarisk with the whole channel laid out below.

Things to do

Swim sheltered Tsigouri beach near the port

Walk up to Chora's windmill ridge

Tomato keftedes at a Chora taverna

Hike the footpaths to Psili Ammos

Mooring tip

Stern-to at Mersini costs 15-25 euro but the quay is short on space, so don't dawdle. Failing that, anchor on sand in 4-6 m east of the harbour, snug against a northerly.

Day 5

Schoinousa → Irakleia

Irakleia is the smallest inhabited stop on the run, a hundred residents give or take, and it wears its quiet lightly. Agios Georgios is the port, one bay with a taverna or two and a road that doesn't go far. Anchor off in the bay rather than fight for the little quay, which has no lazy lines and precious few slots. Livadi, a walk over the hill, holds the best swimming water of the whole week, pale sand shelving into green. The cave inland is the island's set-piece, a walk up from the village to a chamber of stalactites; take a torch and decent shoes. If a panigiri, a saint's-day feast, happens to land while you're in, go. The food, the fiddle and the raki all come out and nobody's watching the clock.

Things to do

Hike to the stalactite cave inland

Swim the clear water at Livadi

Grilled fish at the Agios Georgios taverna

Walk up to the old kastro ruins

Mooring tip

Drop the hook in Agios Georgios bay on sand in 5-7 m, well protected from the northerly meltemi. The small quay does take boats at 15-25 euro, but there are no lazy lines, so anchoring off is the easier call.

Day 6

Irakleia → Paros

The run home is twenty miles and mostly downwind on a northerly, an easy last passage. If time allows, swing past the south of Antiparos and drop anchor off the cave for a snorkel before the final leg. On Paros you've a choice for the night. Naoussa is the prettier call, a Venetian-era fishing harbour where the boats are small and the octopus hangs to dry on the lines; the quay is tight and books up, so radio ahead or take the anchorage at Plastira just east. Parikia, the ferry town, is plainer but easier to get into. Either way, this is the night for a proper dinner ashore, a bottle of Paros white, and a slow walk through marble lanes still warm from the day.

Things to do

Snorkel the sea cave off Antiparos

Dinner on the Naoussa harbour pier

Wine tasting at a Marpissa vineyard

Evening walk through marble-paved Lefkes

Mooring tip

Naoussa is stern-to at 30-50 euro and often full by five in high season, so call ahead or plan on Plastira Bay half a mile east, anchoring on sand in 5-7 m. Parikia is the roomier fallback.

Day 7

Paros → Paros (Check Out)

Checkout is straightforward if you plan the morning. Bases here want the boat back before nine, so bring her in the night before if you can and hand over fuelled and tidy. Walk the deck with the base manager, note anything the sea threw at you, and photograph any mark before you sign; the deposit usually clears within a week once the inspection is done. Parikia sits a quarter-hour from Paros airport, so the transfer to a flight or ferry is painless. If your onward leg is later, there's still time for a coffee on the Parikia waterfront and a last dip. Golden Beach on the south coast is the pick, a long stretch of sand and the same wind that's carried you all week.

Things to do

Final walk-through with the base manager

Last swim at Golden Beach, south coast

Coffee on the Parikia waterfront

Fifteen-minute transfer to Paros airport

Mooring tip

Have the boat back and handed over before nine, ideally moored the evening before. Photograph any noted damage before signing; deposits normally release within seven days of a clean inspection.