Greece · Cyclades
Mykonos
The Cyclades at full volume: cubist white lanes, glamour beaches and all-night bars, with ancient Delos a boat ride offshore.
Mykonos is the Cyclades at their most glamorous: a whitewashed maze of a town beneath a row of hilltop windmills, with Little Venice's balconies hanging over the water and a beach-club scene that has drawn Europe's summer crowd for decades. The beaches run from organised and thumping to bare coves reached by water taxi, and the island keeps eating and dressing well long after the sun goes down. A short boat ride away lies Delos, the sacred island the ancient Greeks made the birthplace of Apollo and one of the richest archaeological sites in the Mediterranean.
Suggested stay
3–5 days
Language
Greek
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+3
Why you'll love Mykonos
The town a whitewashed labyrinth of bougainvillea lanes, chapels and sea-level balconies that stays genuinely beautiful however many people are walking it with you
Beaches dozens of them, from sound-system beach clubs on the south coast to quiet north-coast bays reached down a dirt track or by water taxi
Nightlife the reason many come - sunset bars in Little Venice, then clubs that run on until the beach starts filling up again
Delos the ancient sanctuary island next door, an uninhabited field of temples, mosaic floors and marble lions half an hour offshore
Best time to visit
Jan-Nov
15-28° days
37.451° N, 25.392° E
UTC+3 · Europe/Athens
whenywhere contains ads and partner links that we think are helpful and that earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Weather & when to go to Mykonos
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Jan-Nov
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Mykonos
Mild all year, but Mykonos runs on a season: most beach clubs, restaurants and hotels shut from roughly November to April, ferry sailings thin out and the island goes quiet. July and August bring the opposite problem - peak crowds, peak prices and the meltemi wind, which chops up the north-facing beaches and can delay ferries.
Top things to do in Mykonos
-
Delos - the sacred island
history ⭐ Highly recommendedA half-hour boat ride to an uninhabited island that was once the Aegean's religious and trading capital: temple foundations, mosaic-floored merchant houses, a theatre and the lion terrace, all under open sky. Boats sail in the morning and there is no shade, so carry water.
-
Chora - lose yourself in the white lanes
scenic 👍 PopularThe old town's alleys were laid out to confuse pirates and still work on visitors: marble-edged paving, blue shutters, cats on doorsteps and a boutique or a chapel around every turn. Best walked early in the morning or once the day-trippers have gone.
-
Kato Mili windmills - the postcard on the hill
scenic 👍 PopularA row of stubby thatched windmills stands on the rise above the harbour, survivors of the milling trade that once ground grain for passing ships. The view back over Chora's rooftops at sunset is the island's defining photograph.
-
Little Venice - balconies over the waves
scenic 👍 PopularA row of old captains' houses built flush with the sea on the town's west side, their wooden balconies taking spray on a windy day. The bars behind them fill for the sunset, which lines up neatly with the windmills.
-
Paradise and Super Paradise - the beach-club circuit
nightlife musicThe south coast's famous party beaches, where the sound systems start in the afternoon and run late, and Super Paradise keeps its long-standing gay following. Bus and water taxi both serve them; neither is where you go for a quiet swim.
-
Fokos and Agios Sostis - the beaches without sunbeds
off beaten path ⭐ Highly recommendedThe north coast keeps a handful of unorganised bays with no rows of loungers and no music, reached down rough tracks. The meltemi can make them wild, which is exactly why they stay empty in the middle of August.
-
Panagia Paraportiani - the church of five chapels
culture artsFour chapels fused under a fifth beside the entrance to the old Kastro, sculpted by centuries of lime wash into something that looks more melted than built. It photographs best in low afternoon light.
-
Ano Mera - the island's only inland village
culture artsA working village around a broad square, with the 16th-century Panagia Tourliani monastery and its carved marble bell tower on one side and tavernas full of locals on the other. This is the Mykonos that still closes for lunch.
-
Kalafatis and Ftelia - sail the meltemi
adventureThe same north wind that annoys sunbathers turns these two bays into a windsurf and kitesurf base through high summer, with schools and board hire set up on the sand.
-
Armenistis Lighthouse - the sunset headland
scenicA 19th-century lighthouse on the northwest cape, looking across the strait to Tinos. A short drive from town and one of the few good sunset spots on the island with no bar attached to it.
-
Kopanisti and louza - eat Mykonian
foodThe island's own table is plainer than the beach clubs suggest: kopanisti, a sharp fermented cheese, louza cured pork, onion pie and amygdalota almond sweets, best hunted down in Ano Mera and the back-lane tavernas of Chora.
Best areas to stay in Mykonos
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Mykonos Town (Chora)
First-time visitors $$$Whitewashed lanes, boutiques and late bars
Explore hotels in Mykonos Town (Chora) →
Ornos
Families $$Sheltered family bay minutes from town
Explore hotels in Ornos →
Platis Gialos
Beach base $$Organised beach strip and water-taxi hub
Explore hotels in Platis Gialos →
Psarou
Luxury & scene $$$Small glamour bay with yachts offshore
Explore hotels in Psarou →
Ano Mera
Quiet & affordable $Quiet inland village around a square
Explore hotels in Ano Mera →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Mykonos
Getting to & around Mykonos
Getting there
Fly into JMK just outside Chora, or arrive by ferry from Piraeus or Rafina at the New Port
Flight
Mykonos Airport (JMK)
About 4 km from Chora, roughly ten minutes by taxi, bus or hotel transfer. It is busy with seasonal flights from across Europe in summer and falls back to Athens domestic links in winter.
Ferry
New Port (Tourlos)
High-speed and conventional ferries from Piraeus and Rafina on the mainland, plus frequent hops from Tinos, Syros, Paros, Naxos and Santorini
Cruise
New Port (Tourlos)
Cruise ships call through the summer and shuttle passengers the short distance south into Chora
Getting around
Bus
Frequent summer services from the Fabrika and Old Port stations to Ornos, Platis Gialos, Paradise, Elia and Ano Mera; sparse out of season
TBC
Water taxi
Small boats link the south-coast beaches from Platis Gialos and Ornos through the summer, weather permitting
TBC
ATV & scooter hire
The island's default rental; roads are narrow, gravel-edged and busy at night, so ride carefully and stick to sealed routes
TBC
Taxi
The island has famously few of them, so book ahead or use a hotel transfer rather than expecting to hail one
TBC
Car hire
Worth it for the north coast and the quiet bays, though parking anywhere near Chora is scarce in high season
TBC
Walking
Chora is pedestrianised and best seen on foot; almost nothing else on the island is walkable
Free
Day trips from Mykonos
Delos
Half dayAncient sanctuary island
The sacred centre of the Aegean and once one of the Mediterranean's busiest ports, now an uninhabited open-air museum of temples, mosaic villas and the marble lion terrace. Boats run in the morning and the site closes in the early afternoon.
Getting there
ferry | tour
30 min by excursion boat from the Old Port
Tinos
Full dayPilgrimage island
Mykonos's quiet neighbour, built around the pilgrimage church of Panagia Evangelistria and a hinterland of marble-carving villages, dovecotes and near-empty beaches. A different Greece entirely, half an hour away.
Getting there
ferry
20-30 min by fast ferry
Rinia
Half dayUninhabited island swims
The empty island beside Delos, once its burial ground and now visited on boat trips for swims off deserted beaches. There is nothing ashore but goats, chapels and very clear water.
Getting there
ferry | tour
About 1 hr by boat, usually paired with Delos
Paros or Naxos
Full dayLarger Cyclades
Both are an easy hop: Paros for the fishing harbour at Naoussa and the old town at Parikia, Naxos for its marble temple gateway, mountain villages and long sandy west coast.
Getting there
ferry
45 min to 1 hr by fast ferry
A little history of Mykonos
Mykonos is dry, windy and rocky, and for most of its history that made it poor. Its fortunes were tied to Delos next door, which the ancient Greeks held sacred as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis and which grew into both a great sanctuary and one of the Aegean's busiest trading markets. When Delos was sacked in the first century BC that wealth drained away, and Mykonos went back to farming, fishing and, when the chance arose, piracy.
Venetian and then Ottoman rule followed, and Mykonian sailors and shipowners made the island a useful, quietly prosperous port; Manto Mavrogenous, who funded ships in the Greek War of Independence, is still commemorated in the town square. The archaeologists who came to dig Delos in the late 19th century brought the first outsiders, and by the 1950s and 60s artists and then the international jet set had found the whitewashed town. It has been a summer destination ever since, and was one of the earliest places in Europe to be openly welcoming to gay travellers.
Ionian settlers arrive from Attica, in the shadow of neighbouring Delos
Delos becomes the treasury and meeting place of the Athenian-led Delian League
Delos is sacked during the Mithridatic wars and never recovers
Venetians take the Cyclades after the Fourth Crusade
Barbarossa raids the islands and Ottoman rule follows
Mykonos repels an Ottoman landing in the War of Independence, with Manto Mavrogenous funding the defence
French archaeologists begin the systematic excavation of Delos
Artists and the first jet-set visitors discover Chora and tourism takes hold
Delos is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+30
Mobile network & SIM card
Get an eSIM before you fly
A Greece eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Mykonos
▸ When is the best time to visit Mykonos?
Late May into June, and September into early October, are the sweet spot: the sea is warm, the island is fully open and the crowds are thinner than in July and August. High summer is the full experience, and also when the meltemi blows hardest. From November most of the island shuts down.
▸ How many days do you need in Mykonos?
Three days covers Chora, a couple of beaches and a morning on Delos. Five lets you reach the quieter north coast, take a second island hop, and treat a late night as a rest day rather than a loss.
▸ Is Mykonos expensive?
It is the priciest of the Greek islands in high season, and the beach clubs and the glamour-bay restaurants are where that bites hardest. It softens a lot in the shoulder months, and a room inland, bus travel and taverna meals keep a trip reasonable even in August.
▸ Is Mykonos worth it if you are not into nightlife?
Yes, if you pick your base and your beaches. Ornos, Ano Mera and the unorganised north-coast bays are a different island from the south-coast clubs, and Delos, Chora's lanes and the windmills stand on their own.
▸ Do you need a car in Mykonos?
Not for Chora and the main south beaches, which buses and water taxis reach all summer. A car, ATV or scooter matters if you want the north coast, Ano Mera, or the freedom to move once the buses stop for the night.
▸ How do you get to Delos?
Excursion boats leave from Chora's Old Port in the morning and come back in the early afternoon; the crossing takes about half an hour. Nobody stays overnight on Delos and there is no shade, so go early and carry water.
More in Greece
Athens
The Acropolis is only the opening act: Athens is three thousand years of layered city, and some of the best eating in the Mediterranean.
✓ best Mar-Jun, Sep-OctCorfu
The most Italian of the Greek islands: a Venetian old town the Ottomans never took, wrapped in olive groves and clear-water coves.
✓ best Mar-SepCrete (Chania)
Big enough to hold Minoan palaces, a sixteen-kilometre gorge and pink-sand lagoons, and stubborn enough to feel nothing like the Cyclades.
✓ best Mar-Nov