Mykonos.
Despite having some of the most beautiful streets you’ll ever witness, is often referred
to as the party island.
But since our hardcore, rave, drug fuelled days are well behind us, we’ll be showing
you another side, one slightly more suited to a couples retreat, or y’know, your Gran.
So be prepared for the best seaside treks, beautiful beaches, our delicious food discoveries,
ancient ruins, how to grab the top spot for a coffee, our most enjoyable sunset experience
yet, and finally, how this island even makes a covid test look like fun.
If you’re new here then welcome.
We make travel movies from around the world, hoping you might just find your next holiday inspiration.
This is Suitcase Monkey, spending 4 stunning days in Mykonos.
So, this was actually our first international holiday since the Pandemic started, and just
being on foreign soil, was strangely, yet understandably exciting.
And it was because of this, that our first night was a personal highlight.
Especially when it seemed they’d organised fireworks for our arrival, which was a little
embarrassing, I’ll admit.
So, we were finally abroad.
But it would be our first full day tomorrow, where we’d get a true taste of what Mykonos
had in store.
After getting familiar with our hotel, we took a local bus to explore a littler further.
I’ll be covering general tips such as transport in a separate video, so what’s important
for now, was our destination.
Mykonos Town, or Chora to the locals, is the most densely packed hub, famed for its iconic
peppered pathways, beautifully presented boutiques and mouth watering food.
It’s easy to get lost here with its winding routes but that was exactly the plan.
The many Windmills of Mykonos were largely built by the Venetians, starting from the
16th century.
Primarily used to mill wheat, they were a valuable source of income until they closed
in the 1950s.
From a peak of 28 mills, only 16 still stand, and these 6 are the most sought after for
a photo opportunity.
By complete convenience, Mykonos’s other postcard shot, is located directly opposite.
This beautiful area is known as Little Venice, and is now home to trendy bars, cafes and
restaurants.
Available seats are often hard to find, so we found late morning the best time to enjoy
the view.
The name Little Venice dates back to a time of Venetian rule, and the sailing merchants
built these homes, with their motherland in mind.
After all the narrow streets, this area, known as the Old Port is a welcome opening up, and
was the location for our first delicious lunch.
The popular Captains restaurant is a great spot and I’d really recommend it.
Specialising in sharing plates to squabble over, these meatballs with yoghurt dip were
on point, the Octopus bites super succulent, and this Greek salad, for a guy who usually
isn’t a fan of his greens, was excellent.
We spent the rest of the afternoon just wandering around, exercising in both window shopping
and ice cream.
To an extent though, we were killing some time, as this was the only night we’d booked
a table for the evening.
Just over a week ago, before even arriving, a Greek friend told us about her favourite
bar, with amazing views, food and drink.
And as it would later turn out, this recommendation would also become, my personal favourite sunset
on this whole trip.
So this is the 180 sunset bar.
It’s almost essential to pre-book a spot for the best views, skipping the long wait
for walk ins.
You pay a cover charge in advance but food and drink then comes off that fee.
So, for us, €60 per person, got us enough food and drink, this view and a great live
performance right in front of us.
But, this place isn’t called the sunset bar for no reason.
In the minutes before the sun finally touched the sea, a dramatic opera ballad, blared out
of the speakers and for this, by now, slightly drunken Englishman, was a surprising climax,
if not a little cheesy.
Now that our first full Mykonos sunset was behind us, we were looking forward to a slower
pace by the beach.
Our hotel was situated in the south west, a short bus ride from Mykonos Town, and apparently,
next to Catastrophe Canyon.
Being sandwiched between two beaches, it was remote enough for some peace but close enough
for some hospitality.
The hotel itself was lovely, landscaped over several floors along the cliff face, taking
you down to a small private beach.
We had a couple of meals at the main restaurant over our time here and they never failed to
impress.
Plus, as a side note, the Greeks seemed to have nailed bread.
All bread we had in this country was excellent.
Our room itself, had a nice little balcony which was perfect for a morning coffee I’ll
leave a link to the hotel in the description for those wanting to check it out.
But for us it was just what we wanted and I’d certainly recommend it.
A short walk down the hill, Ornos is a popular family beach, complete with some modern restaurants
and places to soak up the sun.
We stopped for lunch at this seafood place, called Kouzina.
Now, for those who remember, in our last Greek holiday to Santorini, I had the audacity to
order sushi; something numerous commenters simply couldn’t fathom.
So with their words still ringing true in my ears, we happily tucked into this big ol’
plate of Californian rolls.
Listen, if it’s 30 degrees, and I’m by the beach in a seafood restaurant, there ain’t
much better…
than cold refreshing sushi.
As a main course, we then ordered pasta, which since we weren’t in Italy, was probably
also a terrible idea.
I also wore this hat, which was made in China, and then still also had plenty of time for
Greek food during my non binary existence.
For our evening meal, we wandered in the opposite direction to Agios loannis, which was the
filming location for parts of the movie, Shirley Valentine.
Whilst smaller than Ornos, being on the West coast, it certainly packs a punch with its
sunsets and a handful of great dining choices.
We had an excellent meal at Pili Beach restaurant which focussed on traditional dishes with
a contemporary approach.
Both the quality of the food and the sunset colours makes this an easy recommendation
if you’re in the area.
With our legs now truly rested, tomorrow would see us leaving the shores of Mykonos for a
day trip to Delos Island, one of the most important mythological sites in all of Greece.
The first inhabitance of this island dates back 5,000 years ago.
Delos became sacred after the son of Zeus, Apollo, was born here.
And since that point forward, no mere mortal has ever been allowed to either be born here
or die here.
I guess once you start with the Greek God Apollo, it probably isn’t appropriate for
Steve to be the follow up.
The remains of homes, markets, temples, statues, town squares, all signify the bustling lives
that once lived here.
And you can even still witness the signs of life and heavy footfall today.
And it’s these moments where you’re reminded, that Greece is the birthplace of western civilisation,
of democracy, philosophy and theatre.
As someone who’s treaded the stage boards myself, it was a real privilege to walk around
this amphitheatre, that in its heyday, would have held 6,500 people.
It’s actually believed that the Greek poet Thespis, was the first person to have ever
taken on the storytelling role of an actor.
Which in turn, explains the origins of the word thespian.
The whole tour takes around an hour, with our guide passing on tales of the old from
her bluetooth microphone into my bluetooth headset, which generally worked pretty well.
It was very windy however, so it did often mean some interference.
“So welcome to the House of Dyonisis. this is a 2 storey..."
"which I think you’ll agree
is pretty mind blowing…)”
The whole tour takes around an hour, with another hour to wander around yourself.
It’s certainly worth a trip if you appreciate this sort of thing and it made for a nice
change of scenery.
The rest of our afternoon was spent back in Mykonos Town, where we enjoyed this Souvlaki
in pita bread.
This Greek fast food is marinated grilled meat, oftentimes pork, and is usually just
served on a skewer but goes perfect inside a wrap.
For another change of scenery, we opted to have dinner in the hotel next door to our
own.
And as it turned out, this hotel was super nice and as I walked passed their private
infinity pools, I’m not ashamed to say, made me a little jealous.
It did actually feel like we were cheating on our hotel, and our hotel, was only next
door.
But tonight was actually our penultimate evening, and were looking forward to a mini hike around
the south shores, for our last day.
But before that, we first had to take care of everyones new favourite part of the modern
day holiday experience: The romantic, pre departure, lateral flow, Covid test.
The Mykonos Water Taxi links 7 different beaches that are all dotted along the south coast.
For €20, you get unlimited boat trips throughout the day and with every stop having their own
reason to visit, it makes for an enjoyable, simple day trip, filled with cocktails, bars,
restaurants, sun soaking, and food.
I’d also recommend the hour plus walk from Platis Gialos Beach
to Paradise Beach.
I’ll link a useful site in the description below for more information on this walk and
the boat map.
Unless you’re watching this video immediately after it comes out, I’ve also made an accompanying
video guide, which goes less into what we did and more into more useful information
if you’re thinking of visiting Mykonos.
Such as getting around the island, where’s best to stay, using cash versus card and other
local tips we picked up.
So if you’ve found this useful, please check that one out also.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and give the video a thumbs up, which
really helps us and is appreciated.
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I don’t post all that often, at least by normal standards, so I hope you can enjoy
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Thanks for watching Suitcase Monkey.