Mykonos, Greece
Whitewashed lanes, windmills, and the Aegean's most glamorous beach clubs.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Mid-range→Ultra-luxury level. Typically around $350 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
Peak season July
Beach clubs at full tilt
Worth knowing
Cards are standard. Keep cash for kiosks and taxis.
money · editorial
The meltemi blows hard through the summer. It cancels ferries and closes the north-facing beaches for days at a time.
know before · editorial
Peak summer is the whole point for some and unbearable for others: every bed sold, every club full. The island largely shuts through the winter.
when not to go · editorial
Chora for the lanes, the restaurants and the noise. Ornos and Platis Gialos for family beaches on the bus routes. Paradise and Paraga for beach clubs and the sound that comes with them. Ano Mera inland for quiet and a car.
where to stay · editorial
Buses link Chora to the main beaches. Quads and hire cars are common and parking near town is a scrum. The old town itself is car-free and deliberately confusing.
getting around · editorial
Fly in direct in season, or ferry from Piraeus, Santorini or Naxos. The ferry port is outside town, not in it.
getting there · editorial
Quests
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The Kato Mili windmills
Six sixteenth-century mills in a row, facing the north wind.
Little Venice
Houses with balconies over the water, taking the waves on meltemi days.
Paraportiani
Four chapels fused into one, whitewashed until they became sculpture.
Agios Sostis
The beach in the north with no facilities at all. That is deliberate.
Ano Mera
The inland village, with the monastery and the square. The other island.
Delos
The whole island is an archaeological site. Nobody has been allowed to sleep there since antiquity.
See
Walk out to the windmills at sunset
Eat
Eat kopanisti, the sharp cheese of the island
Kopanisti
Sharp fermented island cheese, on bread, before anything else.
Louza
Herb-cured pork loin, sliced thin. A Cycladic speciality.
Loukoumades
Fried dough balls with honey and cinnamon, eaten hot.
Moment
Take the first boat to Delos
A whole day of meltemi
The north wind that shuts the boats down and changes the plan. Accept it.
Find a beach with no music
They exist, and they are on the north side of the island.
Water
Kayak along the north coast
Two hours against the meltemi, reaching coves with no road to them.