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Once upon a time, and not so long ago, if you wanted to take a holiday on the Ionian island paradise of Paxos, things were not so simple. To begin with you were obliged to travel as part of a package, for a fixed period of one or two weeks. Secondly, flights to Corfu, the nearest island to Paxos with an airport, were on two days of the week only, and on both of them the airport turned into a gigantic rugby scrum. Once arrived at Corfu airport, and through the heaving masses, you were whisked down to the port to join – in the very old days – the venerable Kamelia, an old rust bucket which was the single ferry to Paxos. The Kamelia would slowly, very slowly, carry you over the waves to Gaios, the Paxos port. From there, one of the three Paxos taxis would take you to your little village house in Loggos or Lakka or to one of the rare restored old Paxos villas among the olive groves. In some ways these were the “good old days” on Paxos: quiet, unhurried, the roads full of goats rather than cars, the shops closed in the afternoon for siesta hour. But while things have changed on this tiny island of Paxos – the inland villas have multiplied and sprouted pools, the roads are busier – in its essentials this haven of tranquillity has stayed true to itself. There is still only one disco on Paxos, on the outskirts of Gaios; there are no large hotels or blocks of flats, just a larger range of holiday villas and a handful of boutique hotels; there are no sunbeds or umbrellas at rip-off prices on the beaches; and the taverna owners and shopkeepers are still pleased to see you. The residents have been as keen as the island’s many regular visitors from elsewhere to ensure Paxos’s essential character doesn’t change. What has changed, and for the better, is the whole shape of a holiday on Paxos. It is now truly “à la carte”! No more flying to Corfu on only two days of the week: Easyjet now flies there daily from Gatwick. No more three hour sea crossings to Paxos: there are now a couple of hydrofoils every day from Corfu to Paxos and back, with a journey time of an hour. This means you can stay on Paxos for as long or short a duration as you like. With Paxos specialist Travel à la carte, for instance, the accommodation – cottages, studios, apartments, villas with pools – is available from as little as two nights to as long as you fancy. Nor are you any longer tied to particular arrival or departure days: you can tailor make your stay to the length you prefer. So Paxos is the epitome of the modern Greek island holiday, combining the clear seas, unspoilt beaches and easy pace of life the islands have always offered with a new flexibility. So it’s farewell to regimented packages and fixed holiday durations: now – to Paxos and to many other Greek islands - you really can travel “à la carte”.
For
details of
Travel à la carte’s programme of holiday villas and apartments on
Paxos and other islands, visit
www.travelalacarte.co.uk or
contact
Chris Griffiths (email
chris@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 0030 26620 31207) or Tony Wells
(email
tony@travelalacarte.co.uk or tel 020 7316 1867).
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Travel a la carte
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Travel à la carte |
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