Lakka bay on Paxos from above, full of anchored sailing boats, with the village behind

Paxos · Towns & villages

Towns & villages of Paxos

Harbour towns, mountain hamlets and the places where island life still follows its own rhythm.

Gaios & the south-east

Gaios

A pastel harbour town on a channel of green water, guarded by two wooded islets

Gaios is the island's small capital and its main port, a cluster of pastel-washed houses with green shutters lining a narrow, sheltered channel. Opposite the quay, so close it feels like a river bank, lies the pine-covered islet of Agios Nikolaos with the walls of a Venetian fort; beyond it the low islet of Panagia carries a white monastery. Caiques, water taxis and yachts tie up along the waterfront, the main square opens straight onto the water, and the whole town can be walked end to end in ten minutes.

The waterfront and its square, opening onto the channel
The Venetian fort on Agios Nikolaos islet
The monastery on Panagia islet
The Paxos Museum in the old school
Boats to Antipaxos from the quay

Discover Gaios

Lakka & the north

Lakka

A horseshoe bay at the north end, where sailing boats swing at anchor over pale sand

Lakka sits at the head of an almost round bay at the northern tip of Paxos, so well sheltered that it fills with anchored sailing boats every summer evening. The village behind the quay is a small grid of lanes, little squares and tavernas, with olive groves rising on every side. Two beaches lie inside the bay itself, and footpaths lead out from the village to the lighthouse headland and along the cliffs of the north-west coast.

Evening on the quay among the anchored boats
Swimming at Harami and the other beaches inside the bay
The walk out to the lighthouse headland
Boat trips to the west-coast caves

Discover Lakka

Loggos & the east coast

Loggos

The smallest of the three harbour villages: a little cove of tavernas, an old factory chimney and pebble beaches either side

Loggos is a fishing village in a tiny cove halfway down the east coast, so small that its whole waterfront is a single curve of tavernas and bars. A brick chimney of an old soap factory still stands at the edge of the harbour, a reminder of the days when the island's olive oil was worked here. Wooded slopes come right down to the water, and the beaches of Levrechio and Marmari are a short walk away on either side.

Dinner on the curve of the harbour
The old soap factory chimney
Levrechio and Marmari beaches within walking distance
Paths up into the olive groves

Discover Loggos

The interior & the west cliffs

Magazia & the inland villages

The island's green heart: hamlets of stone houses, chapels and old olive presses under the trees

The middle of Paxos is one great olive grove, crossed by narrow lanes and dry-stone walls and dotted with small settlements named after the families that founded them: Magazia, Fontana, Bogdanatika, Fanariotatika and many more ending in -atika. Magazia is the closest thing to a centre, with a church, a few tavernas and shops on the island's main road. Around it, half hidden among the trees, stand old olive presses, stone cisterns and the bell towers of village churches. Few visitors stop here, which is exactly why it is worth it.

Walking the old lanes between the olive groves
Dry-stone walls and terraces centuries old
Old olive presses among the trees
Village churches such as Agios Dimitrios in Fanariotatika
The short way down to the Erimitis cliffs

Discover Magazia & the inland villages

The interior & the west cliffs

Erimitis

White cliffs falling into the open sea, and the island's favourite place to watch the sun go down

On the west side of Paxos the gentle olive country ends suddenly at a wall of white limestone. At Erimitis, below the hamlets around Magazia, the cliffs drop sheer into deep blue water, and in the evening the whole face turns gold and then pink as the sun sets straight ahead over the open Ionian. The name means 'the hermit', and even with a sunset bar on the clifftop the place keeps something of that solitude. The small beach that once lay below was largely swept away by a landslide, so this is a place for looking, not for swimming.

Sunset over the open sea
The white cliff face turning gold
A drink or dinner on the clifftop
Paths along the edge through the olives

Discover Erimitis

The interior & the west cliffs

The west-coast caves & Ortholithos

Blue grottoes, sheer white walls and a lone stone needle, seen only from the sea

The west coast of Paxos has no villages and almost no way down to the water. Instead it is a long run of white cliffs pierced by sea caves, where the light reflected off the sandy floor turns the water inside a glowing blue. Off the shore stands Ortholithos, the 'upright stone', a tall, thin sea stack rising alone from the water. You see all this from a boat, either on an excursion from Gaios, Lakka or Loggos, which usually goes on to Antipaxos, or in a small motorboat hired for the day.

The blue light inside the sea caves
The needle of Ortholithos
White cliffs from water level
A swim off the boat in deep, clear water

Discover The west-coast caves & Ortholithos

The interior & the west cliffs

Tripitos arch

A bridge of rock over turquoise water, at the end of a walk through the southern olive groves

Tripitos, 'the pierced one', is a natural arch on the south-west coast of Paxos: a slab of white rock joined to the cliff by a narrow bridge, with the sea washing through the gap below. It is reached on foot along tracks and paths through the olive groves of the south, and the walk is half the pleasure: stone walls, old cisterns, the smell of wild herbs and, at the end, a sudden view down to water of an astonishing colour.

The view down onto the arch
A walk through the olive groves of the south
Turquoise water at the foot of the cliff
Seen again from the sea on a boat trip

Discover Tripitos arch

Gaios & the south-east

Ozias & Mongonisi

The quiet southern tip, where a little islet lies tucked against the shore

At the southern end of Paxos the coast breaks up into small inlets facing Antipaxos. Mongonisi is a little islet joined to the main island by a narrow strip, with a sandy beach and a taverna, a rare thing on an island of pebbles. Next to it the inlet of Ozias is a natural harbour for small boats, ringed by olive trees. It is the end of the road, and it feels like it.

A sandy beach, rare on Paxos
Calm water for children
Lunch by the water
The view across to Antipaxos

Discover Ozias & Mongonisi

Antipaxos

Paxos' tiny southern neighbour: vineyards, a lighthouse and two bays of improbable turquoise

Antipaxos lies a short boat ride south of Gaios, a small green hump of vineyards, scrub and dry-stone walls with only a handful of people living on it all year. Its east coast is the reason the boats come: at Voutoumi and Vrika the seabed is pale sand and white pebble, and the water over it turns a turquoise so bright that it looks retouched. There are no towns and no hotels to speak of, just a few tavernas above the beaches, footpaths between the vines and a lighthouse at the southern end.

Swimming at Voutoumi and Vrika
The walk between the two bays
Vineyards and old dry-stone walls
The lighthouse at the southern tip
Lunch at a beach taverna

Discover Antipaxos

Regions

Where to base yourself in Paxos

Gaios & the south-east

The capital on its channel behind the islets of Agios Nikolaos and Panagia, and south of it the quiet inlets of Ozias and Mongonisi facing Antipaxos.

Loggos & the east coast

The tiny harbour village of Loggos and the string of pebble coves either side of it, from Levrechio and Marmari to Glyfada, all under the olives.

Lakka & the north

The round, sheltered bay of Lakka with its yachts and beaches, the lighthouse headland and the cliffs of the north-west.

The interior & the west cliffs

The olive-grove heart of the island, with Magazia and its family hamlets, and beyond it the white cliffs and sea caves of the west coast, from Erimitis to the Tripitos arch.

Antipaxos

The small island across the strait to the south, with vineyards, a lighthouse and the turquoise bays of Vrika and Voutoumi.

Find a place to stay

Browse hotels and guesthouses across Paxos, filtered by region and price.

Browse hotels

Last updated 9 November 2026