Parga

Parga is a small resort town on the Ionian coast of Epirus, in the Preveza regional unit of northwestern Greece, roughly midway between the towns of Preveza and Igoumenitsa. The 2021 census recorded 2,489 residents in the town itself, with just over 10,700 across the wider municipality. Built in tiers on the hillside around a sheltered bay, Parga has a layered history shaped by successive rulers: it passed under Venetian control in 1401 as a mainland outpost of Corfu, weathered repeated Ottoman raids through the 15th century, and was eventually ceded by the British to the Ottoman-allied ruler Ali Pasha in 1819 — a transfer that triggered a mass exodus of the town's Greek population. The hilltop castle above the harbour, much of it dating from the Venetian period, still dominates the skyline and looks out over the town and the Ionian Sea.

Sailing visitors are drawn to Parga's cluster of beaches rather than any single anchorage: Valtos, just west of the old town, is the largest and most sheltered, while Lichnos, Sarakiniko and Agios Sostis each offer a quieter alternative with clear, calm water. The town's harbour and surrounding coves make it a natural staging point for excursions further along the coast, and it has become a popular stop for gulet charter guests exploring Greece heading toward the islands of Paxi and Antipaxos just offshore.