Fishing boats in the cove of Mandrakia on Milos, below boathouses cut into the rock and a white chapel

Getting married in Paros, Naxos & Milos

White villages around fishing harbours, small chapels by the sea, long sandy beaches and the pale volcanic coves of Milos — the quieter side of the Cyclades.

Photographers When to marry here

In the middle of the Aegean, a few hours by ferry from Athens, Paros, Naxos and Milos are the Cyclades at a gentler pace than Santorini and Mykonos. Paros has Naoussa’s fishing harbour and the old town of Parikia around its port; Naxos, the largest of the islands, has a Venetian castle quarter above its town, the great marble doorway of a temple of Apollo on an islet by the harbour, long beaches and mountain villages. Milos, further west, is a volcanic island: the white rock of Sarakiniko, sea caves and coves of red, yellow and grey stone, and fishing villages with boathouses cut into the cliffs.

Weddings here are small and close to the sea: a ceremony at a whitewashed chapel or on a terrace over the water, a villa with rooms for the guests, and dinner at a long table by the sea — then a boat to the coves, or the lanes of an old village, for the portraits.

A couple sitting on the rocks of Milos as the sun sets over the bay, a sailing boat at anchor

The Portara, the great marble doorway of a temple of Apollo, above the sea at Naxos

The white domes of a chapel on Paros at dusk, the moon low over the sea

Through the year

When to marry in Paros, Naxos & Milos

May, June and September are warm, dry and bright, with the sea good for swimming from June and still warm in September. July and August are the warmest months and the windiest: the meltemi, the dry north wind of the Aegean, blows hardest then, sometimes for days, and can keep the ferries in port; the islands are fullest around mid-August. October is mild and quiet, with the first showers, but ferries thin out and many hotels close at the end of the month.

January: Quieter
February: Quieter
March: Quieter
April: Quieter
May: Best
June: Best
July: Good with planning
August: Good with planning
September: Best
October: Good with planning
November: Quieter
December: Quieter

SpringThe hills turn green and fill with wild flowers, and Easter brings candlelit processions to every village. The sea is still cool, and many hotels open only from late April or May.
SummerLong, rainless days, the meltemi on many afternoons and the hills burnt gold. Village feasts fill summer nights with music and dancing, and 15 August, the feast of the Virgin, is the peak of the Greek holidays.
AutumnSeptember keeps the summer’s warmth and a warm sea as the wind eases and the crowds go home; October is softer and quieter, with the first showers.

In numbers

Hottest month, average high: July · 28.1°C; WMO (NOAA)
Average high in the best months: May 22.8°C · Jun 27.1°C · Sep 25.2°C; WMO (NOAA)
Days with 1 mm of rain or more, best months: May 1.4 · Jun 0.3 · Sep 0.9; WMO (NOAA)
Sunset on 21 June: 20:43 (Parikia, Paros); NOAA

Weather station: Milos, normals 1961–1990 · Checked 15 October 2026

Places

Where couples marry here

The kinds of places — ask your photographer which ones they know well.

Chapels by the sea
Whitewashed chapels with blue or white domes on headlands, beaches and village squares — for a small ceremony with the sea all around.
Villas and terraces
Villas in island style, with pools and terraces over the water — the ceremony at sunset, then dinner and the guests’ rooms in one place.
Harbours and old towns
Naoussa’s fishing harbour, the lanes of Parikia and Naxos’s castle quarter: marble paving, bougainvillea and arches for portraits before dinner by the water.
Volcanic coves and beaches
Milos’s white rock and sea caves, reached on foot or by boat, and Naxos’s long sandy beaches for portraits at the end of the day.

Light

How the light falls

Cycladic light is hard and white at midday, thrown back by whitewashed walls and the sea, and turns gold in the last hour. The meltemi keeps the air clear and the views long — but it also lifts veils and hair on open headlands, so photographers here keep a sheltered spot in mind. In late June the sun sets around twenty to nine, into the sea off the west-facing harbours of Parikia and Naxos town, and below Plaka on Milos.

Travel

Getting there

Ferries from Piraeus and Rafina, near Athens, reach Paros and Naxos in three to six hours, depending on the boat, and the two islands are under an hour apart; Milos lies further west, on the western Cyclades ferries from Piraeus. All three have small airports with flights from Athens. In summer, book the ferries early and leave a spare day for the wind.

Photographers