Just two hours south of Corfu lies a pair of islands that time seems to have forgotten. Paxos, with its three tiny harbor villages and endless olive groves, and Antipaxos, little more than a rock crowned with vineyards and blessed with the most luminous beaches in the Mediterranean.
Paxos: The Intimate Isle
Paxos measures just ten kilometers by four, small enough to know intimately yet varied enough to reward exploration. Gaios, the main harbor, is impossibly picturesque—pastel buildings crowding a waterfront where fishing boats bob beside sleek yachts, and the evening volta transforms the quay into an outdoor salon.
Beyond the harbors, Paxos reveals a landscape of ancient olive groves and hidden swimming coves, of cliff walks offering dramatic views and restaurants serving the freshest seafood in Greece. There are no resorts here, no chain hotels, no beach vendors—just an island that has chosen quality over quantity.
Antipaxos: Paradise Found
If Paxos is an escape, Antipaxos is an escape from the escape—a tiny island with no real settlement, just two legendary beaches and some of the clearest water on Earth. Voutoumi and Vrika beaches appear on every list of Mediterranean superlatives, and for once, the reality exceeds the reputation.
The best way to experience Antipaxos is by boat, arriving before the day-trippers from Corfu and lingering after they've departed. In those golden hours—early morning and late afternoon—you'll have this paradise nearly to yourself, swimming in water so clear it's almost surreal.
Antipaxos is what the Caribbean dreams of being—all the beauty, none of the crowds.
— Travel & Leisure
