He returned to PAOK, where he stayed until 2006 (69 appearances, 3 goals in all competitions) when he made the big step to play abroad accepting the proposal of Hearts.
[3] In August 2008 Karipidis looked set for a return to his former club PAOK following an indifferent start to his Hearts career and the birth of his daughter.
[4] However, newly appointed manager Csaba László convinced Karipidis to stay and decided to use him as a holding midfielder, an idea which was initially met with a negative reaction by Hearts fans.
"[6] In February 2009, captain Christophe Berra signed for Wolves and Karipidis was made Hearts' vice-captain after teammate Robbie Neilson was given the captaincy.
On 27 April 2009 Hearts announced that Karipidis had a pre-contract agreement with Omonia Nicosia which would see him join the Cypriot side on a three-year deal at the end of the season.
[15] Karipidis was a part of the Greece football squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but he did not play a single minute in the competition.