Mykonos travel guide: how to plan your trip
Mykonos is a small island with a large reputation, and most of what is written about it describes about four hours of the day. It is also the boat to Delos, a town that is genuinely beautiful before the evening, and some of the best organised beaches in Greece.
Getting there
Mykonos is one of the easier islands to reach, and many people never pass through Athens at all.
- High speed ferry from Piraeus, roughly two to three and a half hours depending on the boat.
- Conventional ferry from Piraeus, roughly four to five and a half hours, cheaper and steadier in wind.
- From Rafina, closer to Athens airport than Piraeus is, and worth checking if you are flying in the same day.
- By air, direct from Athens in well under an hour, and direct from a long list of European cities in summer.
Durations vary by operator and season, so we check the live timetable for your dates rather than working from last year's.
Who Mykonos suits
People who want energy. That is the honest answer, and it is worth saying because the island is sold on its beaches and its beaches are not the reason to come. There are better beach islands in Greece. What Mykonos has that they do not is a particular charge to it.
It suits you less well if you are the sort of traveller who plans a holiday carefully and wants it to go to plan. The good bits here tend to be the ones nobody scheduled, and people who arrive determined to have the perfect Mykonos trip are usually the ones who do not.
And if what you actually want is quiet and traditional, say so and we will send you somewhere else, or put Mykonos next to somewhere else. There is no sense fighting an island for something it is not offering.
Where to stay
Five choices, and they are genuinely different holidays.
Mykonos Town
Best for first timers. The nightlife, the restaurants, and being in the middle of everything.
Ornos
The best all rounder. A beach, restaurants, and easy access back into Town.
Platis Gialos
Best if the beach is the priority and you want plenty of facilities on it.
Elia
Quieter, and more of a resort stay.
Away from all of it
Villas, privacy and peace. Only worth it if you are happy relying on a car or on transfers, because you will be.
How many days
Four nights is the number.
Three feels rushed. Five is good if you want to slow down rather than keep up.
Beyond about seven, Mykonos starts to feel long unless you are pairing it with another island, which is usually the better answer anyway.
Combining Mykonos with another island
The principle is contrast. You already have Mykonos, so the second island should be doing something different.
Naxos
Our favourite pairing. Mykonos is energetic and glamorous. Naxos is relaxed, authentic and about the food.
Paros
Easy and popular, though more similar to Mykonos than Naxos is.
Santorini
Works for first time visitors who want the iconic Greek island combination, but there is less contrast in it.
What does not work is pairing Mykonos with another party island. You have already got that. Add something that is not it.
What is genuinely different about Mykonos
There is not one Mykonos, there are several. Glamorous, wild, quiet, traditional, expensive and surprisingly local, all on the same small island, and which one you get depends more on timing than on money.
Do not judge Mykonos at two in the afternoon in August.
It is hot, crowded and exhausting in exactly those hours, and that is when people form their whole opinion of the island.
It turns at about seven in the evening. The heat drops, the light changes, and the island comes alive. Plan the day around that rather than against it.
And do not try to engineer the perfect Mykonos holiday. The best of it tends to be unplanned. Mykonos is less about what you see than about how the place makes you feel, which is an unhelpful thing to put in a brochure and the truest thing we know about it.
Featured day tours
Two of the 10 we run on Mykonos.
Best time to visit
| Month | Sea | Crowds | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Cold | Very quiet | Much of the island is still shut. |
| May | Bracing | Quiet | Opening up, and the town is at its best. |
| June | Warm | Building | One of the two months we book most often. |
| July | Warm | Very busy | Hot, expensive, and the meltemi is at its strongest. |
| August | Warmest | Busiest | Book months ahead or choose another month. |
| September | Warmest | Easing | The other month we book most often. |
| October | Warm | Very quiet | Closing down week by week. |
Mykonos questions we get asked
By sea from Piraeus or Rafina, or by air. Mykonos also has direct flights from much of Europe in summer, so plenty of people never pass through Athens.
- High speed ferry from Piraeus: roughly two to three and a half hours depending on the boat.
- Conventional ferry from Piraeus: roughly four to five and a half hours, cheaper and steadier in wind.
- From Rafina: closer to Athens airport than Piraeus is, and worth checking if you fly in the same day.
- By air: well under an hour from Athens.
Durations vary by operator and season, so we check the live timetable for your dates rather than working from last year's.
Yes. Delos is a separate island a short boat ride away, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site rather than a beach stop.
It is an archaeological site with very little shade, so it is a morning rather than an afternoon. We run it as a private tour with a licensed guide.
People who want energy. Mykonos is sold on its beaches and the beaches are not the reason to come: there are better beach islands in Greece. What it has that they do not is a particular charge to it.
It suits you less if you plan a holiday carefully and want it to go to plan, because the good bits here tend to be the ones nobody scheduled. If what you want is quiet and traditional, say so and we will send you elsewhere or put Mykonos next to somewhere else.
Five choices, and they are genuinely different holidays.
- Mykonos Town: best for first timers. Nightlife, restaurants, and the middle of everything.
- Ornos: the best all rounder. A beach, restaurants, easy access back into Town.
- Platis Gialos: best if the beach is the priority and you want facilities on it.
- Elia: quieter, and more of a resort stay.
- Away from all of it: villas, privacy and peace, if you are happy relying on a car or transfers.
Four nights. Three feels rushed, and five is good if you want to slow down rather than keep up.
Beyond about seven it starts to feel long unless you are pairing it with another island, which is usually the better answer anyway.
The principle is contrast. You already have Mykonos, so the second island should be doing something different.
- Naxos: our favourite pairing. Mykonos is energetic and glamorous, Naxos is relaxed, authentic and about the food.
- Paros: easy and popular, though more similar to Mykonos than Naxos is.
- Santorini: works for first timers wanting the iconic combination, but there is less contrast in it.
What does not work is pairing Mykonos with another party island. You have already got that.
Do not judge it at two in the afternoon in August. It is hot, crowded and exhausting in exactly those hours, and that is when most people form their whole opinion of the island.
It turns at about seven in the evening, when the heat drops and the light changes. There is not one Mykonos but several, glamorous, wild, quiet, traditional, expensive and surprisingly local, and which one you get depends more on timing than on money.
June or September. Warm sea, everything open, and neither the August prices nor the August crowds.
July and August work if the dates are fixed, but they need booking months ahead and they are the windiest weeks of the year here.
How we can help in Mykonos
A hub is an entrance to the place, not only to the day out. These are the parts of the trip we book around it.
Private transfers on Mykonosport and airport runs, and the late drive back, which on this island is the one people wish they had booked.
Hotels and villas across Greecewe book the room, and here we know which addresses are a walk from town and which only claim to be.
Private catamaran chartersthe south coast beaches from the water, which is the better way to see them in August.
Greek island ferry bookingsthe hop to Paros, Naxos or Santorini, booked and re-booked when the wind changes.
Car rental in Greecearranged with the trip, and worth discussing given what parking is like here in season.
Private Greek island hoppingwhen Mykonos is one island in a route rather than the whole holiday.
Planning a trip to Mykonos
Tell us your dates and roughly what you want the trip to feel like, and we will come back with a plan and a price. We are a licensed Athens agency and we have been doing this for thirty years.
Start planning my trip