About ten years ago my beautiful Grandad  – a great world traveller back in the day – said to me that no matter how much he loved to travel, he always felt a sense of relief and happiness when he finally returned home again. As his plane descended back into Perth in Western Australia, he would peer down and see the kangaroo symbol on tails of all the Qantas jets lined up on the tarmac, and he would feel happy to be coming home.

Anyone who has been abroad for a while knows that coming home after travel is not without its challenges. I had just returned from three years of living and working overseas and he turned to me and asked if I felt the same way about coming home.

It felt incredibly un-Australian to say it, but at the time I had to say no.

Perth city from Lake Monger

I didn’t elaborate and although he never said it, I think my Grandad was disappointed that I didn’t feel more of an attachment to our country.

In complete contrast to him, I would always feel a sense of sadness and even anxiety when I was coming home after travel. That descent back into Perth symbolised the end of my adventure and the beginnings of being thrust  ‘back to reality’.

I wish my grandfather were still around so I could tell him that now I totally understand what he meant.

Balingup Hills, in the south west of Western Australia

Boranup Beach, Western Australia

* * * * * *

Your perspective changes so much from your mid-twenties to your mid-thirties, and no doubt it continues to change.

When I got on that plane back in 2000 and embarked on my first round-world trip, I had no idea that I would be gone for over three years or that travel would come to play such a huge part in my life.

At that time, all I wanted was to be somewhere else. And when I returned after three years it took me a really long time to adjust to being back in Australia.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Western Australia

Australia is now one of the most expensive countries to live in the world. The cost of living is exorbitant. Which means it is more difficult for me to save to travel than ever before.

But I don’t care.

I love it here.

I love the smell of the Australian bush. I love bush barbeques and camping. I love our incredible coastline and white, sandy beaches.

I love that you can circumnavigate this country and never be too far from a beach.

Gorgeous yellow wattle in Spring in John Forrest National Park, Western Australia

Summer nights: prawns on the barbie

But mostly I love it because even when I am on the other side of the world – photographing polar bears in the Arctic, or driving through the wilds of Iceland, or wine tasting in Tuscany – this oddly shaped island Down Under is, and always will be, my home.

And although I hold no affectionate feelings whatsoever for Qantas (quite the opposite, in fact), now I see the kangaroo symbol on the tail of those jets when I descend into Perth, and I smile. 

Rooftop Movies: Perth CBD

Having said that, I am literally counting the days until I get over to Europe again and see all my wonderful friends! I absolutely cannot wait to be on the road again!

But these days regardless of how much of my time I choose spend overseas, or how much I love to travel, or how amazing my trip has been….it is always so good to be home.

Do you have a strong attachment to the country where you were born?

Do you still consider it ‘home’ regardless of where you are travelling or living?

I’ve had a few friends planning trips lately who I’ve had to remind about travel insurance. One friend said “Why would I need travel insurance, it’s only a family holiday in Indonesia”? My jaw dropped.

But it made me think about all the things there is to know about heading off travelling for the first time, whether it’s a 2 week family trip to Asia or a 6 month expedition through Europe.

I guess most of us who have been travelling for a while take these things for granted now, so this is for any newbies or potential first time travellers out there.

Don’t Book Too Much Before you Leave

It’s only natural that the fear of travelling to unknown places might make you want to have as much as possible organised before you leave.

I remember very well the first time I travelled overseas from Australia in 1998: a 3 month trip backpacking trip though Europe. I planned everything I could possibly think of, from accommodation and bus/train journeys to car hire and flights. You name it!

And honestly, most of it didn’t go to plan.

We changed our minds; we found places we loved and wanted to stay a little longer; I got sick and we needed to cancel a tour we’d booked….you get the idea.

My next trip was to the US and I didn’t book anything except the first night of accommodation in San Francisco and a couple of flights (which we inevitably changed). It was fabulous!

Depending on your destination and the time of year you are travelling, it may be necessary to secure certain bookings. Just try to leave room to move. Allow your plans to be changeable so that if you hear about a great place to visit you don’t have to miss out because you are locked into flights and accommodation.

Resist the temptation to cram in as much as you can in as much time as you have. Better to see a place properly and soak up the sights and culture rather than merely check it off your list.

Travel Companion – Friend or Foe?

Think carefully about your choice of travel companion. You will be spending a great deal of time together and this can cause tension in even the strongest of friendships.

I have been incredibly fortunate and have had the pleasure of travelling with three of my closest friends over the years who are just the perfect travel companions (and who are still, incredibly, my closest friends!)

But I’ve heard the horror stories. People who leave on a trip the best of friends, excited and enthusiastic, and return barely on speaking terms.

Choose carefully and if in doubt, remember there is always the option of travelling solo.

Looking After Your Health

I have one thing to say here. Get good travel insurance. Please!! Chances are you won’t ever need to use it, but if you get sick or end up in hospital you will thank me later.

Medical costs outside your own country can be astronomical and you will be paying out of your own pocket if you are not covered by travel insurance.

Accidents happen. I had a bad fall on my second day of a trip to Paris and broke a rib. It was just seriously bad luck. Australia and the UK have a reciprocal health program so I managed to hold out until I got to the UK to see a doctor to avoid the hassle of claiming on my travel insurance.

But, if I’d needed X-Rays, doctors appointments etc immediately in Paris, something as simple as a broken rib could’ve cost me thousands without travel insurance.

Safety

It’s said that you are probably at no more risk of being robbed or mugged on the road as you are in your home city. Having said that, it is best to take precautions and not flaunt the fact that you are a tourist.

A couple of tips for keeping you and your belongings safe:

1. Make sure you have more than one way to access money (eg two different accounts) and don’t keep all your cards/cash in the one place like you would at home. At the very least separate your cards so that if one gets lost or stolen you have another cash flow until you get the situation sorted.

2. Don’t carry your wallet in your back pocket. Pickpockets are rife in many large cities and tourists are easy target.

3. Photocopy any important documents (passport, e-tickets, insurance details etc) and leave with someone at home. It will make things much easier if your gear is stolen.

4. Trust your instincts. I am a firm believer that if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Whether it’s a person, a place or situation trust your gut-feeling and act on it.

Don’t Over Pack

This is a difficult one as everyone is able to carry different weights and will have different needs depending what kind of trip they are taking. Being a photographer, the heaviest thing in my pack is always my camera gear. And it’s heavy!

Assuming you are backpacking, you will need to be able to carry the weight of your pack comfortably. A good rule of thumb is to try walking up a decent sized hill with it – if you struggle, it’s probably too heavy.

Even if you travel with a suitcase, unless you plan to be chauffeured everywhere, there will be times when you need to carry your luggage a fair distance. All those extra, unnecessary items in your bag will seem mighty heavy after wandering the streets of somewhere hilly like San Francisco.

Check out this comprehensive packing guide that you can customise to get an idea of some of the things you might need to think about taking depending on the kind of trip you are taking.

Accept the Challenges

No doubt, there will probably be many. Unpredictable weather, flight cancellations, train delays, snorers in your hostel just to name a few, will potentially hurl your plans in a different direction and it’s very easy to get frustrated.

It may seem at times that your ‘dream-trip’ is on a slippery slope to becoming your worst nightmare, but this is only the case if you let it. Your travel experience, like most things, is very much what you make it.

Don’t let a couple of crappy days ruin an entire trip. Accept that some days might be far from perfect and others will be so incredible you won’t want them to end.

Sometimes the most surprisingly interesting things happen as a result of unexpected changes to your plans.

There are, of course, many other things to consider when heading off on your first big trip abroad but this should be a good start to get you thinking on the right track.

Travel Tip: Before you set off on your travels make sure you buy your cheap travel insurance well in advance. You’ll find great rates online with services like InsureandGo.

This post has been sponsored by InsureandGo Travel Insurance. As always, all opinions are my own.

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Limited ABN 49 000 525 637 issues InsureandGo Travel Insurance (the Insurance). Please read the combined product disclosure statement and financial services guide available at www.insureandgo.com.au  to decide if the Insurance is right for you.

In Greek, Meteora (Μετέωρα) means “suspended rocks”, or “suspended in the air”. What was once the ocean floor are now magnificent towers of smooth sandstone: sculpted by millions of years of tectonic shifting, erosion and other geological changes. Just as incredible as these massive rocks are the monasteries built into them and together they are make up the strange and beautiful UNESCO listed heritage site of Meteora.

In northern Thessaly on the Greek mainland, ancient Byzantine monasteries cling to these high rocky spires and really do seem to be ‘suspended in the air’.

Around the 11th century, hermits took refuge in caves within these rocks seeking a life of simplicity and religious introspection. As monastic life evolved and the threat of invasions grew, these hermits headed higher up the mountains until eventually Meteora became what it is today.

Unfortunately Meteora is now overwhelmed by tourism and the main car park at the top of the mountain is usually bumper-to-bumper with tour buses and heaving with tourists.

However, all is not lost! There is a network of secluded ancient paths that are a fabulous way of exploring this area of Greece: twisting canopied tracks that are wild and overgrown allow you to explore Meteora and almost feel like you have it to yourself.

You can hike from the town of Kastraki to the top of the mountain along the main road but it is much nicer to take the marked trail that cuts through forest and up the mountain to the monasteries.

As you ascend, the steep track takes you past one of the monasteries balanced on a lone outcrop and if you are like us you will be endlessly distracted by offshoots and end up exploring other trails.

The monastery of Agios Stephanos is accessible from the parking area and there are only a few stairs to negotiate. Visiting any of the other monasteries means tackling a lot of winding, uneven stairs.

If stairs aren’t your thing, you could simply opt for taking in the impressive views from Agios Stefanos back towards Kastraki and across to the other monasteries.

Personally, I think the views of these monasteries built into the rocks and wandering through the countless trails through the mountains is more extraordinary than seeing the inside of the monasteries themselves.

The time has come, my friends! Road trip season is now upon us – whether you are in the northern OR southern hemisphere! Spring and Autumn are the best times of year to roll down those windows, crank up the tunes and drive away with the wind in your hair. 

Bear Tooth Highway, Wyoming

Whether it is a few days cruising up the coast in Australia with friends, navigating Iceland on my own in a rental car or driving 4000 miles through the USA, I always get excited about a road trip.

One of the best things about a road trip is that you will inevitably discover little towns and sights that you may never have even known existed had you caught a bus / plane / train. To take this idea even further, you could also plan a really long walk, like the one I took across Spain. I’m just saying…

Here are a few road trip survival tips that I have picked up along the way:

Highway 101, Pacific Northwest Coast – USA

Don’t Use a Google Maps Printout as Your Only Navigation Tool.

Okay, I admit that this is how my friend and I found our way through a large part of our road trip in the USA and we (mostly) managed just fine. I don’t recommend it though. We were on a budget so a GPS was out of our league and we were too tight to invest in maps. We had lots of time so were happy to just ‘wing it’.

Again, I don’t advise this.  Don’t risk getting stranded in the middle of nowhere and potentially reliving a scene out of Stephen King’s Misery…get a good map, or better still, a GPS!

Lion’s Head along Glenn Highway, Alaska

Love the Open Road

Make sure you actually like driving. And that your travel companion does too. Sharing the driving makes everyone’s life easier.

If you are driving on your own, you need to be more organised and will probably cover less ground than you would if you were sharing the driving.

The ‘Ring Road’ more or less circumnavigates Iceland

What’s Your Budget?

When you look into car rental for your road trip be sure to factor in the cost of fuel. Depending on the country you are driving through, this can sometimes work out to be more per day than the cost of the car.

Timing

Leave plenty of time for spontaneous stops and exploration along the way.

Have a game-plan, but don’t be afraid to deviate from this plan…some of the most interesting travel experiences tend to occur when you do this.

You’ve gotta love drive-through coffee places on a road trip!

Roadhouse Food Is The Same Everywhere

Well, the concept is the same.  It’s greasy, lacking in nutritional goodness….and unless you are super prepared, it’s often all there is.

Those DIY microwaveable hot dogs / pies / mystery-meat hot rolls won’t seem so bad when there is nothing else in sight for hours. (I didn’t say they won’t still seem bad, just less so!) Take some snacks.

Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Safety First

Keep your fuel tank as full as possible. There’s nothing worse than running out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing!

If driving in national parks, remember to watch out for wildlife, especially if you are driving in low light. Our road trip through Yellowstone National Park was full of unexpected encounters with bison on the road.

Be prepared for changeable weather and to change your plans if it’s too dangerous to drive.

King of the Road: traffic jam in Yellowstone National Park

Bison in Yellowstone National Park

The Driver is the Boss

Driving takes a lot of concentration. If the driver wants a different radio channel / needs a coffee / wants you to sing with them to keep them awake….just do it

And if your navigation skills take a nose-dive and you direct your driver down the wrong freeway exit and this causes them to drive on a 10-lane freeway and through the heart of San Francisco, when the plan was to bypass it completely….buy them lots of wine and chocolate later.

Not that this ever happened to me…

Driving towards the Worthington Glacier, near Valdez, Alaska

Road trips are one of the best travel experiences for independent travelers and they give you the flexibility to stop and start as you please.

But they are way more fun if everything runs smoothly. The trick to road trip survival? Bring your sense of humour, some great driving music and a good map

Travel Tip: If you are thinking of doing a road trip in Spain’s Canary Islands you can get a good deal on car rental in Lanzarote. While you are there be sure to drop by Papagayo Beach in Lanzarote on the southern tip of the island to enjoy one of the best beaches in the Canary Islands!

Travelling to Florence on a budget definitely does not mean you have to miss out! There are loads of ridiculously overpriced activities on offer in Florence that will not necessarily enhance your experience of this fabulous Renaissance city. You can still see amazing art, indulge in gelato and delicious Italian food and sip on some of the best wines in the world without blowing the budget.  

Food, Glorious Food

Florence is in the heart of Tuscany, and Tuscan cuisine is divine – try to budget for at least one meal where you can splurge a little. Follow recommendations by locals – ‘Mario’ on Via Rosina is a great lunch spot, serving delicious Florentine specialities.

For cheaper eats, it is generally best to avoid the areas teeming with package tourists and day-trippers – in particular near the Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria where you will pay top dollar.

Pop down a less populated side street just a couple of blocks away from the main tourist areas and you will be sure to pay less. Or put together a wonderful picnic lunch from the San Lorenzo Market.

Free: All You Can Eat Buffet

Similar to the glorious concept of Spanish tapas, the Italian apericena (apertivo + dinner) is a godsend for the savvy budget traveller in Florence.

During Happy Hour (around 7-9pm) most bars offer a modest buffet of simple but delicious snacks. For no more than about €10, you can enjoy a drink and snack freely from the buffet.

Popular options are Negroni Bar,  Moyo (Santa Croce) or Kitsch (Piazza Beccaria).  

Sweet Tooth?

Gelateria Santa Trinita is one of the best gelato joints in town with 38 different flavours of gelato, sorbet, and ice cream cakes.Try samples of some of the flavours before you make your choice and get 3 generous scoops for  €3.80

Move Your Feet

Florence is small enough to walk almost everywhere. Save money on bus and taxi fares by getting a good map and just walking wherever you need to go. OR explore without a map – it’s much more interesting!

If you stay centrally, avoid the mistake of only exploring the small tourist centre. Put on your walking shoes and stride out over the Ponte Vecchio and explore the other side of the Arno: see how the locals live in the Oltrano residential district.

Copy of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ in the Piazza della Signoria

Which Season?

Summer in Europe means high temperatures and high prices. In August, Florence is even too hot for the locals who disappear to coastal Italy. August is a cheaper time to travel, but the weather is so unpleasant that I wouldn’t advise it.

There are fewer crowds in April, May and October but it is still surprisingly busy. I visited in early April but would probably opt for a March or November trip next time – or, even better still Italy is gorgeous in the wintertime and much more budget-friendly.

Inside the Uffizi Gallery

Art: Churches, Galleries and Museums

Florence itself is a work of art and wandering the streets is totally free.

Visiting Florence on a budget does not mean you need to miss out on seeing some of the amazing art work the city is famous for. While it’s not overly publicised, most of main museums and galleries are free all weekend, including the Academia and Ufizzi.

You will still need to pay a small fee (€4 in April 2012) if you decide to skip the lines and reserve a ticket. If you are seriously strapped for cash,  stand in line for your tickets and you won’t pay a cent to see some of the most amazing art in the world!

Duomo, Florence

Many of the city’s churches contain gorgeous art works that you can visit for free. My favourites are:

Duomo – unless you visit the dome or the adjacent tower, entrance into the Duomo is free

Orsanmichele – famous for its amazing Madonna.

Santa Trinità  – has a chapel by Ghirlandaio AND is right near the great gelato place I mentioned above!

Santo Spirito – designed by Brunelleschi.

Accommodation

As with any city, budget accommodation options in the centre of Florence are not super easy to come by.

I stayed at the lovely Hotel Locanda Orchidea. It is only 2 blocks from the Duomo, walking distance to all the central galleries, museums and restaurants and is very affordable with single rooms from €30 and doubles from €50.

Apartment rental is also an ideal option if you are planning to stay longer than 3 nights.

Florence is one of the few cities where it is absolutely fine to stay near the train station – you can pick up some great bargains on accommodation in the Santa Maria Novella Station area.

My lovely room at the Hotel Locanda Orchidea

Best View in Florence & A Fine Chianti

If you can’t afford to explore to the Chianti wine region, stop into a supermarket and buy the best Chianti wine you can afford. Try to find one with a black rooster on the label, a symbol of the finest Chianti Classico blend. (Some of the Enotecas – wine shops - offer free wine tastings.)

The best view over Florence, is completely free:  It’s about a 10 minute (uphill) walk to the Piazzale Michalangelo. Take your bottle of Chianti with you at sunset and enjoy a better view that you will get in any fancy restaurant in Florence.

View over Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo

These are only a few of the ways that you can experience the art, food and wine of Florence on budget.

If you have any other suggestions please share them with my readers in comments below!

“If you know one landscape well, you will look at all other landscapes differently. And if you learn to love one place, sometimes you can learn to love another”   Fugitive Pieces, Anne Michaels

Iceland is like something out of a storybook. Try to recall how excited you would get about reading your favourite storybook as a child and how much you wished the world in that book was your own. The series of books I read time and time again was Enid Blyton’s ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’. A timeless series that my friend’s children are now reading…

For me, to travel through Iceland is akin to getting lost in one of those fabulous, mystical – if not slightly strange - worlds that pass through the clouds at the top of The Magic Faraway Tree: except this world was real.

Thingvellir (Þingvellir in Icelandic) National Park

Icelandic horses grazing along the Golden Circle circuit

In Iceland, Tolkienesque landscapes of lava fields span for miles in all directions, there are more waterfalls than there are names for them, and you can drive for hours alongside Europe’s largest glacier.

Iceland has a population of only 320, 000 people most of whom live in the capital city of Reykjavik – many of the rest reside in villages along the coastline.

This leaves much of the island uninhabited, particularly the central highlands where astronauts have trained in preparation for lunar landings. Seriously.

Geysir Geothermal Area – Golden Circle

Gulfoss Falls – Golden Circle

As you leave Reykjavik you fall head-first into Iceland’s beauty. Our journey takes us towards the area near central Iceland known as the Golden Circle: the geothermal valley of Haukadalur, the magnificent Gulfoss Falls and Thingvellir National Park.

We drive past solitary farm houses, fields of Icelandic horses and lone churches but the brilliantly coloured rainbow that appears in the spray at Gulfoss is a highlight.

Gulfoss Falls – Golden Circle

Gulfoss Falls – Golden Circle

As we travel further toward the Snæfellsnes Peninsula on the West coast of Iceland, the blue skies of the Golden Circle transform into dramatic cloud formations, and eventually thick fog and rain.

Low-lying fog on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Lava Field: Snæfellsnes Peninsula

The rugged and mountainous 100km-long Snæfellsnes juts out into the North Atlantic Ocean. A lingering heavy fog hangs only a couple of metres above the ground and conceals the tops of the mountains.

Visibility is minimal but the mystical atmosphere of exploring under this blanket of fog is wonderful.

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

Snæfellsnes Peninsula

We hike along the sea cliffs of the popular seaside trail between the villages of Arnarstapi and Hellnar and thanks to the long daylight hours of the midnight sun it is 1030pm before we begin the long drive back south.

Sea cliffs at Arnarstapi: Snæfellsnes Peninsula

To use the word ‘hiking’ to describe the climb to the summit of Lion’s Head in Alaska is probably a little misleading. It is more of a dirt-under-the-fingernails scramble; with a little climbing and hiking thrown into the mix along the way. While it only takes about an hour to reach the top of this rocky outcrop, the climb is steep and the trail is rough and overgrown in parts.

A great view of the approach to Lion’s Head from the Glenn Highway.

The dirt road that leads to the trailhead.

It seems that no matter where you are hiking in Alaska, there is a very good chance that you may encounter a grizzly bear.

This was a constant niggling in the back of my mind any time I was out hiking in Alaska and I was (somewhat) reassured that our friend, Jamie carried a fairly hefty gun slung over his shoulder as we made our ascent.

Even if hiking is not really your thing, an hour of scrambling to the summit with the reward of one of the most stunning views in the Glacier View area of Alaska is a pretty good trade off.

Fall colours and mountain views from Lion’s Head

Lion’s Head is located between the Talkeetna Mountains and Chugach National Forest and the panoramic views make it one of the best vantage points to see the 27 mile long Matanuska Glacier that is the pride and joy of Glacier View.

This sweeping river of ice flows from the Chugach Mountains and reaches 4 miles at its widest point.

The Matanuska Glacier also makes for some pretty spectacular glacier hiking and ice climbing if you’re game!

Being around 600 metres above the Matanuska Glacier means a stunning panoramic view when you reach the peak of Lion’s Head.

There’s no denying it, snow makes me happy. Very, very happy. The excitement and wonder of the first time I awoke in Vancouver to a gorgeous white moonscape in my front yard was like a dream come true. Snow angels, snowmen, snowball fights….you name it, I am all over it when it comes to snow.

I have absolutely no idea where this fascination with cold places comes from. But it’s there just the same.

Living in Edinburgh gave me a taste of all the fabulous seasons and crazy weather Scotland has to offer and for me winter in Scotland is the most beautiful time of year.

I realised when I was putting these photos together that almost every time I have returned to Scotland since I lived there…has been during winter. Coincidence?

Enjoying the view from the back porch of The Cottage.

There is a cottage tucked safely away on the top of a hill just outside Edinburgh that is like my second home. 

Whenever I visit my ’Edinburgh family’, as they have affectionately become known, this is where I stay. Having a warm and cosy place in the north to retreat to when I am travelling through that part of the world is a luxury.

Horse riding in the hills would’ve been fun – wish I’d thought of that while I was there. Next time….

The last Christmas I spent at The Cottage with the family was during the Big Freeze in Europe a couple of years back and much to my delight, most of Edinburgh was picture-perfect white by the time I arrived on Christmas Eve; and even more so in the hills.

Two weeks during winter in Scotland spent at The Cottage meant endless frolicking in the snow, long walks and several (failed) attempts at building snowmen. It was one of the best northern winters I’ve had yet….

And a river runs through it…well of course it does! What would a cottage in the hills be without its own river??

Winter berries.

The beginnings of a whiteout – view from the conservatory window

Evening walks along the river.

The nearby Pentland Hills are a just gorgeous in the winter time.

 Do you have a place you love to retreat to during the winter months?

When I think of Patagonia, my first thought is of hiking. And glaciers. Argentina’s Mount Fitzroy is a excellent alternative to the Torres del Paine circuit in Chile for hiking in Patagonia. Or…you could just do both like we did! There are several different trekking routes near Mount Fitzroy ranging from a day hike to Lago del los Tres and Laguna Sucia, or a five day circuit around the mountain.

We only had enough time to do the day hike, but the circuit is well marked and can certainly be tackled independently with the right camping and trekking gear.

Mt Fitzroy, Argentina

The morning of our trek, we arose early to blue skies. Given that there is only a 10% chance of the weather being clear enough to see the snow capped granite peaks of Mount Fitzroy, it was likely that these blue skies would disappear by the time we reached the top.

The fall colours were stunning as we made our way up the path towards Mount Fitzroy. Apart from a few wispy clouds, the weather remained clear and the views of the mountain were glorious. 

Having had a only a small taste of hiking in this area of Patagonia, I would definitely allow enough time to hike the Mount Fitzroy circuit next time.

Greece has been getting a pretty bad rap of late given it’s economic problems and political instability. In spite of all of this when I visited in the Greek Islands in May 2012  the Greeks were holding their heads high and it was still an absolute pleasure to be travelling in Greece.

Paros Island is part of a group of islands called the Cyclades in Greece. It has cultivated the reputation of being the ‘friendly’ island and locals in the villages outside of the main port of Parikia are incredibly welcoming.

The regular local buses travel between all of my favourite villages of Paros Island and I should probably warn you….you are likely fall in love with all of them…

Parikia

The hustle and bustle of the busy waterfront of Parikia is what greets you if you arrive by ferry to Paros Island.  The  noise of the harbour fades as you head away from the main square and further into twisting streets of the Old Town and the Agora (Market). At the heart of the Old Town is a 13th century Venetian fortress (‘Kastro’).

The views over the Aegean Sea from the rooftop bars along the waterfront are best enjoyed at sunset with glass of Retsina.

Piso Livadi

I may get into trouble for saying this….but it is worth making the trip to Piso Livadi just for the food!

There are only a handful of restaurants the line the compact waterfront but Halaris Restaurant is the one I return to time and again. Their zuchinni fritters and calamari are divine and the panoramic view of the village and beach aren’t bad either!

Piso Livadi is one of the east coast villages of Paros and marks the end of the ancient Byzantine road that you can walk from Lefkes village.

Lefkes

It’s not just the coastal villages that ooze charm. getting lost in the hilly streets of Lefkes is a huge part of this town’s appeal. Lefkes is a quiet, mountain village surrounded by olive groves and is tucked away in central Paros. At an altitude of 300 meters above sea level, Lefkes has a stunning view of the neighbouring island of Naxos to the east.

From Lefkes you can walk along the ancient Byzantine path that takes you through Prodromos and back to the Aegean Sea in Piso Livadi. Enjoying a picnic under an olive tree amongst wild sage and thyme whilst taking in the stunning views over the island is what makes this walk so lovely.

And of course, no Greek village is complete without a cat lazing about in the sun…

Lefkes from the Byzantine trail

Leaving Lefkes along the Byzantine trail

Prodromos

While it is difficult to pick a favourite village, wandering through the labyrithine streets of Prodromos is just delightful: clusters of bougainvillia rustling in the wind, shuttered windows leading to who-knows-where, and spashes of all shades of blue around each corner….despite the fact that this village is tiny, I could easily spend hours here.

When we walked towards Prodromos along the Byzantine trail from Lefkes black storm clouds were threatening and by the time we left we could barely see the coast for the rain.

Naoussa

On the north coast of Paros is the picturesque seaside village of Naoussa. Naoussa is so pretty and colourful, it may just hurt your eyes a little.

Rows of octopus lay strewn haphazardly across special drying racks along the harbour. Behind the harbour, it is easy to get lost amongst the stone-paved backstreets.

The best thing about Naoussa? Sitting in one of the tavernas that line the tiny fishing harbour eating a lunch of seafood fresh off one of the traditional fishing boats.

Do you have a favourite place in the Greek Islands?

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