Paxos a Antipaxos

Day trips to Paxos and Antipaxos can be purchased in each town from a local travel agency. Another option is to take the ferry to Paxos, rent a boat there and enjoy Antipaxos on your own. Since we went with a baby, we took an organized trip on a bigger boat and I think it affected the overall perception of the place quite a bit since we didn't even get to the iconic beach. The organized boats dock further away from the beach, so if you wanted to go see the beach, you'd be in for a long swim. And the time you're moored here isn't even enough time to do that. Some of the boats were closer and you could make it. Watch out for that when choosing a trip. The sea was beautiful, but we also experienced that on Kefalonia, Zakynthos and other destinations.

Antipaxos

Organised trip to Paxos and Antipaxos

Trips to these islands are sold at every turn. The price depends on where you are staying. We drove ourselves to the port, so we paid €30 per adult and €15 per child. If you opted for pick up from your accommodation, the price would be slightly higher. The boat departs at 10:00 from Lefkimmi harbour or the capital.

cliffs of Paxos

Then you will have about 45 minutes at sea before you reach Paxos. The captain first circumnavigates Paxos with you and shows you the rugged rocky coastline where the waves have created thousands of caves.

Paxos Caves

When you arrive at the largest caves, a traffic jam awaits you. Ships are waiting for the entrance to each cave to open up. The caves are magnificent and some of them are truly unique. The first caves we visited, however, were similar to those found on every island in the Mediterranean.

In a spectacular display of natural wonder, part of the cave ceiling collapsed, allowing the sun to stream in and dance across the interior, creating a mesmerising play of light.

Paxos cave with collapsed ceiling

The next stop is the beach Paralia Voutoumi on Antipaxos. Here the boat docks for about 45 minutes and you can choose to go swimming on the beach, snorkeling, jumping off the boat or just enjoying the view. There's not much underwater life here, though. We were pretty disappointed. A few common fish. We saw considerably more of them off the coast of Corfu.

Antipaxos Beach

The last stop is the town of Gaios on the island of Paxos, where you have another 1.5-hour break. You can admire the picturesque streets, grab a bite to eat at a taverna or head to the nearby beaches. Around the port, all the beaches are pebbly and not very nice. And then it's just a trip back.

Paxos harbour

Unorganized trip

If you really want to enjoy the splendour of Antipaxos, hop on the ferry to Paxos. From there, take a boat taxi to Antipaxos, where you can stay all day or overnight in one of the accommodations. The ferry leaves Lefkimmi at 8:00 am and returns from Paxos at 6:00 pm, which means you'll have so much more time to explore and discover than you would on an organised trip.