Mykonos

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Mykonos, the cosmopolitan star of the Cyclades, is the Mediterranean's party destination par excellence. Its labyrinthine lanes in Chora, its famous windmills on the hill of Kato Mili and the picturesque quarter of Little Venice create a postcard setting. The island is also known for its dazzling nightlife and its legendary beaches: Paradise, Super Paradise, Elia. Twenty-five minutes away by boat lies Delos, a neighbouring island listed in its entirety as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the mythological birthplace of Apollo.

The Cycladic island that became a brand

Mykonos is a dry granite island of 85 km², one of the windiest in the Aegean, with a single whitewashed town — Chora — that is among the most beautiful in Greece: a maze of lanes built deliberately confusing to baffle pirates, the windmills of Kato Mili on the ridge, Little Venice with its balconies over the water, and the Paraportiani church, a heap of whitewashed chapels fused into one.

Since the 1960s it has also been the most international and most expensive of the Greek islands, first for artists and the jet set, then for its clubs. In July and August the south-coast beaches — Paradise, Super Paradise, Psarou, Elia — are beach clubs with sunbeds at prices that surprise even seasoned travellers, and Chora after midnight is a single party. This is what Mykonos is; the question is only whether it is what you want.

Twenty minutes by boat is the other Mykonos: Delos, the uninhabited sacred island of Apollo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great archaeological sites of the Mediterranean, where an entire Hellenistic city — temples, houses with mosaics, the Terrace of the Lions — lies open under the sun. Half a day there is the best reason to come.

May, June, September — not August unless you mean it

The season runs from Easter to October. May–June and September–early October have warm sea, open restaurants and a fraction of the summer prices; the wind, the meltemi, is strongest in July and August, when it can blow for days and close the ferries. August is the most crowded, most expensive month in the Cyclades, and Mykonos is the extreme case. From November to March the island mostly closes.

Budget carefully, move by bus and boat

Mykonos has an airport with direct flights from much of Europe in season, and ferries from Piraeus and Rafina (2½–5 hours) and the neighbouring islands. Greece is in the EU and Schengen — no formality for EU citizens, euro. Chora is car-free and the lanes are unsuited to luggage wheels; the bus network to the beaches is good and cheap, and the sea-taxis from Platis Gialos link the southern beaches. A quad or scooter is the usual alternative; the roads are narrow and the wind is a real hazard.

Accommodation is the most expensive in Greece in summer; Ano Mera, inland, is calmer and cheaper. Eat at the tavernas away from the waterfront — kopanisti (a peppery local cheese), louza (cured pork), grilled fish at Agios Sostis. For Delos, take the first morning boat, wear a hat, and carry water: there is no shade and nothing to buy on the island.

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