Paxos & Antipaxos Islands With Voutoumi Beach

Last updated on July 27th, 2024 at 01:53 pm

Paxos, one of the most beautiful islands on Earth, and Antipaxos with Voutoumi beach are 2 small islands a few miles south of Corfu island. Of course, no one who is in Corfu should miss a visit to this paradise.

Mythology says that Poseidon*, the God of the sea, struck Corfu with his trident and created a separate island to quietly enjoy his romance with his wife Amphitrite, a sea Goddess.

*(Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea, the equivalent of Roman Neptune)

This island has been called one of the 20 most beautiful islands in the world, where among other things to see are the huge sea caves with turquoise waters, far larger and more beautiful than other caves on Ionian islands.

If heaven was a place on earth, then that place would be Paxos Island.

Paxos is a destination for those seeking harmony and tranquility together with easygoing day-to-day and stunning seaside sceneries, full of olive and pine trees, secluded beaches, breathtaking underwater caves, and postcard-worthy sceneries.

History and Culture

The first settlers on Paxos during the Neolithic era were Phoenicians, The name Paxos is derived from Pax, which meant trapezoidal in Phoenician language.

Since antiquity, Paxos, and Antipaxos history have followed the historical course of Corfu island.

Culture also is the same as that of Corfu as the same conquerors passed from here and left the same marks, language also has about the same influences.

In 432 BC and in the area between Paxos, Antipaxos, and Sivota we had one of the biggest naval battles of antiquity, between the Greek city-states of Athens and Corfu on one side and Korinth on the other. In this battle, the Corfiots and Corinthians lost 70 and 30 triremes respectively.

Paxos island

Paxos is the larger island and the closer to Corfu.

The west coast of Paxos island is rocky without many beaches but it has many captivating large caves, the blue caves of Paxos,  it is a unique experience to discover these caves, the easiest way to see them is to book a boat trip from Gaios port.

Gaios – The capital of Paxos

Gaios is the capital of the municipality and the larger village on Paxos island and has a very captivating landscape. The name is Roman and was given to the village by the Venetians.

The whole village along with the port is covered by two small islets, the northern and the smaller are called the Nisaki of Panagia and the southern and closer to the port is the island of Saint Nikolaos, so when you enter the port you have a feeling that you sail inside a river.

It is a perfect large natural port with lovely scenery on both sides.

From here you can hire a small speed boat, along with the captain, to explore the amazing beaches of Antipaxos a few miles south.

Lakka village in the north

Lakka is the larger village at the north tip of Paxos, a large bay and a well-protected natural port, there are many yachts mooring here, scattered inside the bay.

Antipaxos Island and Voutoumi beach

Antipaxos island is situated 1.5 miles south of Paxos.

The smaller jewel of the Paxos islands cluster is famous for its extraordinary beaches.

The Island doesn’t have permanent residents, it is habitable only during the summer months by people operating the few tavernas along the beaches.

It is a very small island, only 5 square kilometers large, covered exclusively by olive trees and vineyards.

It has one small harbor called “Agrapidia“, one mile south of the most beautiful beach in the Ionian Sea, this is the beach of Voutoumi, made of silk white gold sand and has the cleanest and brightest blue-green waters in the whole Ionian Sea.

It is visited during the summer by yachts from everywhere.

Also by boats from Corfu and Paxos, and from the nearby mainland villages of Parga and Sivota.

More villages and populations of Paxos

The population of the municipality of Paxos counts 2300 inhabitants, scattered mostly in the capital Gaios and in the 18 settlements, some of which have only a couple of families.

There are some more villages in Paxos, Loggos on the east coast and Magazia in the interior are the larger, also there are many smaller settlements all around the island.

Settlements are:

Antipaxos, the second island of the cluster

Moggonisi, a small island, at the south end of Paxos, is separated from it by a narrow line of water, no bigger than one meter, you can walk to this island with a small jump.

Kaltsonisi, is a smaller round-shaped islet just after Moggonisi, the distance between the two is only a few meters.

Nisaki of Panagia and Agios Nikolaos, are the two islands parallel to the port of the capital Gaios.

Lakka, is the second in population village of Paxos, exactly at the north tip facing Corfu.

Longos or Loggos, is the third bigger village on the Northeast coast.

Magazia, is the fourth-largest settlement in the interior.

Other small communities are Makratika, Ozias, Platanos, Porto, Velianitatika (or Veliantatika), Vlachopoulatika, Bogdanatika, Manesatika, Zenebissatika, Mastoratika, Anemogianatika, Apergatika, Argyratika, Arvanitakeika, Aronatika, Dalietatika, Gramatikeika and more…

All communities are named after the surname of their inhabitants.

Makratika is named after Makris family, Velianitika from Velianitis, Vlachopoulatika from Vlachopoulos, Zenebissatika from Zenebissatis, Apergatika from Apergis family, Argyratika from Argyros, Arvanitakeika from Arvanitakis, Aronatika due to Aronis, Dalietatika by Dalietos, Gramatikeika by Gramatikos, Bogdanatika from Bogdanos, Manesatika from Manesis, Anemogianatika from Anemogiannis, Mastoratika from Mastoras…etc.

The Map of Paxos Islands

This is a detailed map of Paxos and Antipaxos, the two small beautiful islands south of Corfu.

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