Platýs Gialós - Paránga - Paradise and back

Evaluation: This is a short hike, with as sole purpose to bring you to the very famous beach of Paradise. It gets an evaluation of **.

Estimated time: The actual walking time to Paradise only takes about 30 minutes, just like the return route. This is an ideal hike for a ‘peaceful’ day on a (very busy) beach...

Route description: [In order to get to the bus station that serves the beaches in the southwest of Mýkonos (Ornós, Platýs Gialós, Paradise and Super Paradise), you should traverse the entire town of Chóra, in south-western direction. When departing from the quay you take the street at the far end of the quay, on the left of the National Tourism Organisation. You follow the Odós Georgoúli and the Odós Mitropóleoos and by continuing in the same direction you will automatically reach the bus station. There are busses to Platýs Gialós every hour.]

(0h00) From the bus stop in Platýs Gialós you go down the concrete street, until you reach the beach. Usually there are sunshades and deck chairs everywhere, and the entire bay is full of hotels! There is no natural shade, but the sandy beach is really very beautiful. From here you can also take one of the small boats bringing you to Paradise (4 €) and Super Paradise (6 €).

You walk along the coast line and at the end of the beach you go up the concrete slope for a short while. On the right of the first house you will then find a trail to the right (there is a blue arrow and an indication to Paranga and Paradise).

(0h05) This used to be a very pleasant path, but nowadays a lot of villas have been constructed along the trail and there are even lights... After 3-4 minutes you get to a sandy road and you pass the much quieter little beach of Agia Anna. Once you have passed this beach you take the sandy road again, thus crossing a small tongue of land. Because of the reed fence of the beach of Paránga you might walk a little too much to the right, so slightly further on you should somewhat keep to the left. In this way, you arrive at the beautiful and peaceful beach of Paránga – although this beach as well is full of sunshades and deck chairs.
You walk along the beach for a few minutes and the trail continues past the last bar.

(0h18) For a while the path becomes narrower when it gets to a rocky crest and then you have to continue for a couple of minutes along a very ugly and rusty fence. At the corner of this fence you turn to the left and you cross another small cape. Further on you should really watch out not to hurt yourself as a result of this fence – you can already see Paradise in front of you.

(0h25) After 6-7 minutes you leave the fence behind you and you proceed for a few minutes past a couple of villas. Thereafter you walk on a lonely path for another 4-5 minutes; you first keep a little to the left and by doing so you pass another cape on your right-hand side. You now walk along a wall (probably a sound-deadening one!) and after half an hour all together you get to the beach of Paradise.

Since the 80ies the beach of Paradise – and Super Paradise, which is situated a little further down -  is known among youngsters as one of the trendiest places of the Cyclades, comparable to the Far Out Village on the beach of Mylopótas at Ios. There is a camping and a lot of bars and restaurants with loud music next to the beach – which means that there is more eating and drinking than swimming going on here. There are quite a few trees on the beach and the water of the sea forms a kind of swimming pool, because, after about 20 metres, there is a rocky ridge in the sea, running almost parallel to the beach. On this ridge you should watch out for sea urchins though... The part of the beach to the far right (when facing the sea) is the most recent and it is a kind of nudist beach. Food and drinks are very expensive over there, but it is not a bad place to spend a few hours if you are fond of music and cocktails.

On the way back, after about 5 minutes, you should watch out to keep to the left of a small group of villas. At Paránga you should arrive on the left-hand side of the reed fence, obviously. You can hear the bass sounds of Paradise for about 20 minutes!

[In Platýs Gialós there are busses every hour, always at 10 minutes past the hour.
When arriving back in Chóra you should take the street on the right of the café that serves as bus station. At the end of this street you take a right for a short while and then you go left immediately. In this way you easily get back to the Odós Georgoúli and then to the quay.]