Mykonos

What Mykonos is

Mykonos is a small, dry, wind-scoured Cycladic island of about 85 square kilometres, with one town, a scatter of beaches around a bare brown interior, and an international reputation out of all proportion to its size. It has been fashionable continuously since the 1960s, and unlike most places with that history it has never gone off the boil.

It is also, by a clear margin, the most expensive island in Greece. That is the single most useful thing anyone can tell you before you book, because almost every disappointed review of Mykonos is really a review of the bill.

What it does well, it does better than anywhere in the Aegean. The town is genuinely beautiful, the beach clubs are properly run and the nightlife is world-class rather than provincial. If that is the holiday you want, this is the right island and nowhere else in Greece is a real substitute. If it is not, you will pay a heavy premium for a beach that other islands offer at a third of the price.

The beach club bill, in real numbers

The sunbed is not the product. The sunbed is the entry fee to a venue that expects you to eat and drink there all day.

At an ordinary organised beach — Ornos, Agios Ioannis, parts of Platis Gialos — two loungers and an umbrella cost roughly 40 to 80 EUR for the day in season. At the famous beaches, principally Psarou and the smart end of Paradise and Nammos-style venues, the same pair runs 120 to 200 EUR, and prime front-row beds in August are booked in advance and can go far higher still.

Then the menu. A cocktail is 18 to 25 EUR. Lunch for two with a bottle of wine at a beach club realistically lands between 150 and 300 EUR. A table at one of the big evening clubs with bottle service is a four-figure decision, and nobody tells you the number until it arrives.

None of this is a scam — the food is usually good and the service is real. But budget it honestly: a couple doing one smart beach club per day will spend more on the beach than on the hotel. Many people alternate, taking one club day and then two quiet days at a free or cheap beach, and that is the sensible pattern.

There are free beaches. Agios Sostis in the north has no loungers, no music and no bar, just a taverna up the hill. Fokos and Merchia are similar. Bring your own shade.

The meltemi, and which beaches survive it

The meltemi is a dry northerly wind that blows across the Aegean through the summer, and on a low, treeless island it is a bigger factor than on Rhodes or Crete. In July and August it can blow for three or four days at a stretch, hard enough to close the small boats to Delos and to make an umbrella a liability.

The south coast is sheltered: Psarou, Platis Gialos, Ornos, Paradise, Super Paradise and Elia stay usable in almost any wind. The north — Ftelia, Agios Sostis, Panormos — takes the full force, which is why Ftelia is a windsurfing beach rather than a sunbathing one.

The practical advice is simple. Book a hotel on or near the south coast, and if the wind picks up, move to the south side for the day rather than fighting it.

Where to stay

Chora, the old town. Whitewashed lanes laid out to baffle raiders, or so islanders will tell you, with Little Venice on the water and the windmills above. It is walkable, full of restaurants and bars, and it is where you want to be if the evenings matter more than the beach. Two caveats: the lanes take no vehicles, so a taxi leaves you at the edge and your luggage is carried, sometimes several hundred metres; and it is noisy until very late in season.

Ornos is the family choice — a sheltered, shallow bay with a proper village behind it, restaurants at normal prices and a short hop to town. If you have children and you are coming anyway, book here.

Platis Gialos and Psarou are the organised-beach addresses. Platis Gialos is the transport hub for beach boats along the south coast. Psarou is small, glamorous and expensive.

Agios Ioannis and Agios Stefanos are quieter, with sunset views towards Delos from the former and the ferry port near the latter.

Kalafatis and Elia are further east: bigger resort hotels, longer sandy beaches, watersports, and 20 to 25 minutes from town. Good value by Mykonos standards, dependent on transport.

Ano Mera is the inland village, ten minutes from anywhere by car, with a monastery, a normal Greek square and prices from another island entirely. It is the budget answer, and it only works if you have a vehicle.

Getting around, and the taxi problem

Mykonos has around thirty licensed taxis for the whole island. That is not a typo, and it is the single most common practical complaint from visitors. At 02:00 outside a club in August, there is no taxi, and there will not be one for a long time.

Work around it. Buses run from Fabrika square and the Old Port to the main beaches and are cheap and reasonably frequent in season. Many hotels run their own shuttles — ask before booking, it is worth real money. Private transfer companies and pre-booked cars exist and are the usual answer for arrivals. Quad bikes and scooters are everywhere and are also the island's main source of holiday injuries; the roads are narrow, unlit and shared with buses.

To be clear about our role: outside Turkey we quote accommodation through partner agencies. Our own vehicles and drivers work in Antalya and along the Turkish coast, not in Greece. Any Mykonos transfer is arranged locally and will be shown in your offer if you want it included.

Hotel stock and what a budget buys

There is very little all-inclusive here and not much half board. Most properties are bed and breakfast, and you eat out at Mykonos prices.

In May, June or October, 130 to 180 EUR per person per night buys a good four-star with a pool away from the famous beaches. The design-led boutiques and the small luxury properties on the south coast start around 250 per person and go up without limit. In August, expect all of it to roughly double or worse, and the better addresses to have been full since winter.

Three details worth checking before you commit: whether the hotel runs a shuttle, whether it is on the south coast or exposed to the north wind, and whether the walk from the road to reception involves steps and how many.

Getting there

Mykonos Island National Airport (JMK) is 4 kilometres from Chora, roughly ten minutes by road. It takes seasonal flights from across Europe and frequent domestic services from Athens.

By sea, fast ferries from Rafina take two to two and a half hours, and from Piraeus around three, with slower conventional boats taking five. Ferries arrive at the New Port at Tourlos, north of town, not at the Old Port; check which one your ticket says, because people get this wrong and it is a taxi ride apart. Boats to Delos, the archaeological island half an hour away, leave from the Old Port and are cancelled outright when the meltemi is up.

When to go

May and June are the best value and increasingly the best weather: warm, open, and without the August wind at full strength. The sea is swimmable from late May.

July and August are peak in every sense — hottest, busiest, windiest and most expensive. This is when the island is at its most spectacular and its least relaxing.

September is excellent. The sea is at its warmest, the wind eases, and the crowds and rates fall noticeably after the first week.

October is quiet and lovely, but the season is ending: beach clubs close through the month and by late October much of the island has shut.

November to April is closed. A handful of hotels and tavernas in Chora stay open for the local population, and that is all.

Who should skip Mykonos

Families with young children, in most cases. The famous beaches are loud, the water at the club beaches is busy with boats, the roads are dangerous for pedestrians, taxis are scarce, evenings are late, and a family of four will pay Mykonos prices for a holiday that Kos, Rhodes or the Turkish coast delivers better and for a third of the cost. Ornos and the family-run hotels around it are the exception, not the rule.

Anyone travelling on a budget. There is no cheap version of this island in season, and pretending otherwise leads to a week spent saying no.

And anyone whose interest is culture. Mykonos itself has little; Delos next door is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, and it is a half-day trip, not a reason to base yourself here.

Getting a real price

Mykonos rates move more violently than anywhere else we quote. The same room can be 180 EUR in May and 700 in the second week of August, and the good properties with shuttles sell out months ahead.

Tell us your dates, how many of you there are, and whether the priority is the town at night or a quiet beach in the day. A consultant replies within one working day with two or three properties, the honest distance and transport situation for each, and the reasoning behind the shortlist. The quote is free, it commits you to nothing, and no payment is taken on this site.