- Photo courtesy: mykonostraveller.com
This summer we recommend you to take a Greek Island vacation at Mykonos in the Cycladic region of the beautiful Aegean Sea. Mykonos is famous for its vibrant beaches, beautiful nature, small alleys and village clusters. Mykonos reserves its identity as a beach destination where you’ll find umpteen virgin beaches and also crowded ones but there is much more than just beaches for your holidaying. The nightlife scene is awesome and some people consider Mykonos as the Ibiza of Greece, it’s not uncommon to spot many music events happening on this Island with world renowned DJs playing peppy numbers in the midst of popular movie celebrities from all around the world.
Getting to Mykonos
When you fly into Mykonos you will be landing at Mykonos Airport (JMK) which is just 4 km away from the downtown, plane travel is the best way of reaching this Island from another country or continent but if you are residing in the same continent or a nearby place then consider taking a cruise ship, most cruises to Mykonos in Europe have Italy as the embarkation port and some recommendable cruise lines are Royal Caribbean, Princess, Disney and Holland America. Taking a cruise ship will give you a one-of-a-kind experience and I highly recommend this mode of getting to your Island destination. A thing to note is almost all cruise lines dock at the new port in Tourlos when you reach Mykonos and you can take the cruise shuttle bus from the dockyard to reach the Mykonos town. The other option is to take ferry rides from the Greek mainland to reach Mykonos you’ll find numerous high-speed Catamaran services operating from the port of Piraeus in Athens and it takes close to half an hour to reach Mykonos. You can expect a slow ferry to cost about 32 Euros and a fast ferry to cost about 54 Euros approximately.
Getting around the Mykonos Island
There are many ways for you to get around the island you could take a bus, boat, taxi, car or a bike to reach the places of your interest on this island. It is highly recommendable to use the car or bike option as it will give you the ease of convenience to move around freely. Renting a bike is probably more practical than renting a car because parking is always an issue on Mykonos and even in terms of cost it’s cheaper than renting a car, just look for the area near the southern bus station which is home to numerous such bike and car renting agencies.
That said, I will now list the must-do things for you while you are holidaying in this great travel Mecca.
- Just 3 km south of Mykonos Town lies Ornos beach, the most family friendly beach of this Island. You can think of swimming and sunbathing on its warm sands. En route to the Ornos beach you will find many shopping markets, cafes, taverns, restaurants and boutiques at Mykonos Town. A must-do thing for you is walking inside the alleys of this town, on your way you’ll be bumping into beautiful buildings and the local people, taking photographs of the buildings is highly recommended for treasuring picture perfect memories of your vacation.
- For swimming and snorkelling we recommend you to explore Lia Beach, located 14 km east of Mykonos Town. This beach has no public transit so you can only get to this beach by either car or bike and a must-do thing on this beach is visiting the nearby Luna Taverna for some authentic Greek food.
- Visiting the Armenistis Lighthouse is another highly recommended activity when you are in Mykonos Town. The lighthouse is a 19 metre tall structure that lies on the northwestern tip of this island overlooking the Aegean Sea and the neighbouring islands of Tinos in the background. We highly recommend taking snapshots of the scenic views from the lighthouse.
- Elia beach is the longest beach of this island and is located 11 km southeast of Mykonos town and it’s easy to reach by a bus from Mykonos Town. This beach is an ideal spot for relaxing on the warm sands while bathing in the hot sun.
- Another iconic attraction in the Mykonos Town is Little Venice, the place gets its name from Italy’s Venice because of its close resemblance to it in terms of the architecture. Head to this place for getting stunning views of the many windmills that this place is famous for and also don’t miss taking a cruise from Ormos port to witness the sunset on the sea.
- Platis Gialos Beach is the best beach for beach goers, located in the southern part of the island the beach boasts of having white warm sands, crystal clear and turquoise waters and is ideal for relaxing with families. The beach has umpteen beachside cafes, bars and taverns just make sure you sample some good food and wines from these hangouts for an enhanced beach experience. Just a small note the very best beaches of Mykonos lie in the southern part of the island so if you have more time you can explore more on this side of the island.
- Taking a dive at Paradise house reef is another must-do activity while you are on this island. Simply travel to Mykonos Diving centre on Paradise beach for scuba diving to get a feel of the underwater marine life which is filled with rare species such as sponges, nudibranchs, colourful wrasses, sea breams and barracudas. The good news is the Mykonos Diving center has the best scuba diving equipment and guides for your underwater exploration.
- Finally taking a tour of the nearby Delos, a holy island of Greece which is a UNESCO heritage site is something you cannot afford to miss when you are in Mykonos. Delos is world renowned for being the birthplace of Greek mythological characters Apollo and Artemis. Travel here if you want to experience the remnants of Greek civilization, the place boasts of housing some well preserved ancient stadiums, gyms and other monumental structures. A visit to the Archaeological Museum is a must when you visit Delos.
