Mýkonos attractions
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An insider's guide to the best things to do and attractions in Mýkonos, including ancient Delos as well as the best beaches and where to scuba-dive. By Marc Dubin, Telegraph Travel's Greece expert.
The main town, the beaches and nightlife pretty much summarize the island’s charms.
The Hóra
With its windmills on the ridge overhead (these actually ground grain until the mid-1960s) and vernacular Cycladic architecture along narrow lanes, the Hóra (main town) of Mykonos is the main attraction, and a stroller’s paradise – albeit a very congested one in high season. The signature building is the lopsided, four-chapels-in-one Paraportianí in Kástro district beyond the west jetty.
Nearby “Little Venice” – so named for its arcaded, balconied medieval houses tottering right at the water’s edge – contains a goodly portion of the town’s art boutiques and quieter cafés. The diligent purist can find edification in four museums documenting the island’s past; the most reliably open of these, facing the old harbor, is the Archaeological Museum (Tues–Sun 9am–4pm). Most of the collection comprises Geometric and Archaic era pottery, far more fascinating than that sounds; the items repay close study for their detail – combat scenes from the Iliad, beasts real and fantastic, womens’ heads in profile, a winged female grasping two geese by the neck, as well as intricately carved Hellenistic funerary stelae and a bronze handle in the shape of a kouros.
Beaches
Paradise is the island’s party beach, a popular spot offering watersports (including a recommended dive centre) by day and clubbing on the adjacent headland after dark. Adjacent are the excellent beaches Super Paradise, mostly gay-patronised, and Paránga, with its recommended taverna and protecting headlands.
Family-orientated Psaroú, to the west, is again well protected, while the broad sweep of Kalafátis in the far east has another scuba centre and scenic islets to look at offshore.
Scuba diving
Dive Adventures (00 30 22890 24808; diveadventures.gr, May–Oct) at Paradise beach is one of the oldest established centres in Greece, with two wrecks, some caverns and various reefs nearby to explore. Even shore dives to shallow Bikini Reef are rewarded by a remarkable profusion of fish by Greek standards. Kalafati Dive Center (00 30 22890 71677; mykonos-diving.com, May-Oct) operates from the eponymous beach in the far southeast of the island. Budget €60 for a boat dive with them, all equipment included.
Day trips
Weather and sufficient passenger numbers permitting, excursion caiques sail up to three times daily between 9am and noon (returning 1.30pm, 3pm also 5.30pm later in summer, €19 return fare, 25min crossing in calm seas) from the old port’s west jetty to Delos islet, home to one of the major religious centres of the ancient world, as well as a thriving commercial town.
The French-excavated archaeologicalsite (daily 9am–8pm summer, closes 5pm off-season; €5, reduced for over 65s; tours €10, hire guides at the ticket booth) requires nearly three hours to visit properly. Blue wooden arrows point you towards the main attractions, but be sure to pick up a free, officially produced folding map with your ticket.
Highlights include colourful floor mosaics, courtyarded villas, Dionysian priapi on pillars, the famous Naxian lions (replicas) on their terrace, various intact if small temples, and a sweeping view over the place from Mount Kýnthos. The museum, about halfway along a typical tour, is a layout and lighting disaster – plans for a new one have been approved, with private funding. But the existing contents transcend its drabness: the original mosaic of a Dionysian panther, five of the original lions, quirky small statuary. The adjacent snack/drinks bar is equally unsatisfactory but provides the only shade or refreshment on the island.
Mýkonos Events Calendar
XLsior
August 19-23
This annual late-August gay festival completed its sixth season in 2015, and is set for 17–21 August this year. Essentially a moveable feast at various indoor bars and beach venues, with top international DJs, cabaret and cruises (in both senses of the word).
Contact: xlsiorfestival.com
Admission: varies
Mykonos Biennale
Early Summer, odd-numbered years
Focused at the outdoor Cine Mando, and the Lákka amphitheatre, the Mykonos Biennale – art exhibits, installations, a kite festival, a weaving residency and avant-garde performances – enjoyed its inaugural edition in June 2013. It repeated early July 2015, with video installations, short films, a kite festival, weaving residency and even grape-stomping. Keep an eye out for it in 2017.
Contact: mykonosbiennale.com
Admission: see website for details
