Second to Santorini, Mykonos is the most popular Greek Isle. Images of celebrities sunbathing and dancing the night away immediately come to mind when thinking of the Cyclades’ “party island.” I was excited for Mykonos. I love a good scene and couldn’t wait to experience the super-luxe life as the end to our Greek Island tour.
Factors to consider when reading our opinions: We went on shoulder season and were on a backpacker budget. If you come in summer ready to splurge, you may have a different experience entirely.
What We Loved About Mykonos
The Town
The main town in Mykonos, Chora, is great. With whitewashed walls and narrow cobblestone streets, it is all charm. There are dozens of high-end shops, restaurants, and bars making it the perfect place to stroll around each evening. Plus the churches have red roofs, which was a fun contrast to Santorini’s famous blue ones. Be sure to see the Kato Milli windmills and Little Venice.
The Food
As with all of Greece, the food is phenomenal. You can almost forget the outrageous price tag once you take a bite of baked feta and delicious seafood. Our favorite place for a nice date night is Yialos Yialos, while cheap gyros are the best at Souvlaki Story. We also really loved the food at quaint, family-owned Nicolas Tavern. The tables are on the sand and the service is excellent!
Renting ATVs
Like the other Greek Islands, renting ATVs is the best way to get around! It was a little cold one day so we decided to explore the island on a self-guided tour rather than hit the beach.
We stopped at the Mykonos Brewery and Mykonos Vioma Winery. The brewery was great! It is located underground a shopping center and we tried a flight. It is pretty standard but still small and lowkey so it wasn’t crowded at all. The winery was awesome too! We had a small tour, tastings, and lunch. We just showed up and they were able to accommodate us. There are a few farm animals and it is a unique way to spend the afternoon. I really enjoyed it!
We also took our ATV to the other side of the island from where we were staying and checked out Ftelia Beach to watch some windsurfers. We took the bus with ease a couple of times too, but the freedom and fun of an ATV is way better!
The Beaches & Beach Clubs
The beach scene in Mykonos is complex with pros and cons. The beaches are beautiful and the water is absolutely stunning. The only problem is you can’t even see the sand due to the hundreds of chairs placed inches apart from one another. And they all have a $50+ price tag.
Mykonos has quite the beach party scene. I was ready for a Vegas pool party experience but because we were there in late September / early October most things were closed for the season. I wanted to go to Sant Anna and Scorpios, they both looked amazing. They were closed so we couldn’t go but be sure to put them at the top of your list.
A few day clubs were open while we were there but they were putting out a weird vibe. It was more Florida Spring Break than Las Vegas glam. We still had fun though! We spent an afternoon at Paradise Beach and it was very entertaining, to say the least! On our four-wheeler day, we stopped by Super Paradise Beach, another party hot spot, but it was pretty cold and a private group (appearing to be high school age) were the only people there so we left. I had to check out Psarou Beach and the famous club Nammos, complete with a private helipad for celebs, so we walked over there but again it was closed for low season. The water at Psarou was the prettiest for sure!
My favorite beach day was when we rented chairs, drank champagne, and got beach massages on Paraga Beach! Regardless of budget, you have to live it up one day, you’re in Mykonos! (Did I mention our champagne was from a gas station!?) Splurge for a chair at one of the many vendors or grab a daybed at Kalua.
Check out our complete guide to traveling the Cyclades here!
What We Didn’t Love About Mykonos
The Prices
Everything was totally overpriced in Mykonos. I understand that it is a luxury vacation destination and an island so everything has to be imported, but compared to Santorini and the other Greek Islands we visited (heck, even Hawaii!), it was outrageous. There was a milkshake for $40 y’all. And it didn’t even have alcohol in it! Here is a picture of the menu at one of the restaurants on Psarou Beach in case you think I’m being a cheapo. Yep, that’s cocktails for 30 euro! I’m all about a great craft cocktail and will pay for premium ingredients, but I saw and tasted these cocktails they were artificially colored and gross. It’s like the staff has bets to see which tourist will fall for what!
Our Hotel
Our hotel we found through Airbnb was just okay. The location was fabulous and it was reasonably priced so that was nice, but you had to pay for beach chairs and the on-site restaurant was disappointing. If you need a cheap spot in a good location, you can check it out here.
Overall, we were pretty disappointed with Mykonos. It had all of the similarities of the other isles but with double the price tag. Again, had we visited in a better season we may have had a different experience. All of the islands are so close to each other you might as well check it out for yourself.
Slightly Sad in Mykonos,
-Ray