LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

Sun, seafood and empty streets. Paros and Antiparos are at their best at the season's end,

- HANNAH-ROSE YEE.

It’s the first week of October and it’s a balmy 26 degrees in Naoussa, a small fishing village on the Cycladic island of Paros. An air of peacefulness pervades the whole island. The boutiques are uncrowded, the streets empty and there’s never a line for the best loungers at Piperi beach. You can get a table at any of the Naoussa hotspots – including the buzzy seafood restaurant Barbarossa, wine bar Yemeni or Sigi Ikthios, famous for its trademark fiery prawn saganaki – without waiting.

Paros is one of the most accessible Greek islands: a small airport links the hotspot via daily flights to Athens and the fast ferry from Mykonos will get you poolside at Naoussa hotel Avant Mar with a tequila cocktail and a dish of taramasalata in under an hour. Avant Mar is a new boutique hotel just outside of town, which first opened its doors in July in peak season. Temperatures this summer soared as crowds of tourists packed the winding alleys of Naoussa for months. Only this past week, right before most restaurants and hotels close until the next year, have things really begun to quiet down. “You’ve come at the best time,” admits general manager Anna Asimakopoulou in a whisper, as she takes me on a tour of the pristine property. I know there are other guests, but I rarely see them. It is almost as if I have the whole hotel, all curves of white stone shaded by swaying palm trees, to myself. And still, by coming late in the season, as the crowds have finally peeled away, the weather is still good. One morning I head down to Piperi beach, where Avant Mar has cordoned off a gaggle of loungers for guests.