Whereas our last video on Mykonos took you through what we got up to on this beautiful island,
I wanted to make this follow up, to take you through some of the things I wish I’d known
before visiting. Tips such as how to get around, where best to stay, when to visit, information
around beach hopping, reservations, possible costs and why you’ll probably need to change your toilet
habits. This guide will make your trip all the more enjoyable, so you can sit back and focus more
on the good times. This is Suitcase Monkey with 10 things to get the most from your time in Mykonos.
Let’s start with when to visit as Mykonos very much adheres to an on and off season,
both of which have their pros and cons. The island is in full tourist mode from the start of June
to the end of September. We travelled late August with the main downside being that it
was incredibly hot. Much like we experienced in Santorini, 30 degrees has never felt so
burning and sometimes it did mean that for a couple of hours each day,
we valued shelter over sun. This is also where you’ll experience crowds
the most but literally everything will be open, and running more frequently.
April, May and October are good shoulder options, especially price wise, but some tours,
restaurants, or activities may be running at a reduced capacity,
so check before you travel if there’s something specific you’re interested in.
Visiting from November to March really is off season, with most of the things shown in our
previous vlog being completely closed. The upside is that accommodation prices can drop to 50%,
and those picturesque streets will not going anywhere.
Please do let us know in the comments if you’ve visited during this time
as it’d be interesting to hear your experiences.
In terms of how many days to visit, you could probably see all the major sites over 3 full days
and then add on any time you want after that for relaxing or just taking your time.
You can easily get by without making any dining reservations in Mykonos but they are recommended
for Little Venice and the 180 sunset bar that we visited. For Little Venice,
we found it best to grab a seat in the morning, where there was always plenty of space.
The websites for most restaurants and bars I looked into, didn’t allow online bookings and
instead opted for the email us approach, which in 2022, might as well be a fax, especially since
none of them actually replied. So either calling ahead or in person is suggested, if you want to
guarantee the top location for dinner or lunch. I’ll cover the 180 sunset bar later in this video.
Now let’s talk getting around the island itself. The “interesting fact” that I kept
hearing is that there are only 30 taxis in the whole of Mykonos, which did seem to fit in with
my own experience. I certainly never just saw them driving around, looking for customers.
This limited supply makes them an expensive option. We paid €25 for a 15 minute taxi ride,
so keep that in mind when budgeting, but also when selecting the location of your hotel.
We were also advised to pre book the taxi in advance due to the shortage of cars.
And if anyone wants to start a Mykonos taxi joint venture together, I’m all ears.
If you want to explore the whole island more than we did, and there are plenty of areas
we didn’t visit, then obviously hiring a car or quad bike is the best way to get around,
especially if you’re not situated near a bus stop. It is a fairly small island to drive around,
with the longest route east to west only taking 40 minutes. Cars and Quad bikes are easily available
from the airport, your hotel or in Mykonos Town right next to the Fabrika bus terminal.
For us, the buses were perfectly fine for the amount we wanted to move around. They were clean,
air conditioned, and with wifi. They generally departed once an hour and all routes serve the
two main bus terminals, which are located 20 minutes apart, north and south of Mykonos Town.
Although this wasn’t relevant for our journeys, this could mean that you’d need to change buses
to get to some routes around the island, which would really add on to your overall journey time.
All bus routes will take you to Mykonos Town so again, keep this in mind when
choosing a hotel location if this kind of thing is important to you.
They are super cheap though, with tickets costing between €1 to €3 and
you can buy them either at the terminal booths or from the driver as you board.
In terms of where to stay, I can only answer that question, based on the experience we had,
but here are my thoughts. The first easy answer is Mykonos Town itself. Almost everything is here,
apart from beaches and as just mentioned, all buses will start or end at the 2 nearby
Terminals. Unless you’re there for nightlife specifically, the only thing I would search for
in hotel reviews is the noise level of where you’re looking at as this could be an issue.
Most of the popular locations for best beach hotels are along the south coast, all with direct
links to Mykonos Town. But to be honest, from what I’ve seen, there are great hotels spread all over
the island so as long as the transport works for you, you can’t go too wrong in terms of location.
Personally speaking, we wanted somewhere quiet, by the sea, but still with easy walking distance
to a couple of beaches and restaurants, and with easy access to Mykonos Town.
So with all that, we staying in the South West, near Ornos Beach. Mykonos Town was only 15 minutes
away, with the bus stop at the end of our road. The hotel also provided a free shuttle bus return
to Mykonos Town in the evening, which we used a couple of times and was really convenient.
I’ll leave a link in the description for the place we stayed at to check prices,
but overall we loved it. Both the breakfast and dinners were excellent,
the staff and cleanliness were great, we enjoyed their spa and massage centre,
with a small secluded one at the bottom of the cliff face. A free airport shuttle
was also included in the price which again was really convenient. And, you do get to ride in a
golf buggy as you’re taken to your room, which was almost worth the price of admission alone.
I also want to mention some smaller local tips that are good to know before arrival. THE number
1 rule is, do not flush toilet paper down any of the toilets! There are around 10,000 people
who actually live in Mykonos year round, so the drains were not built to cope with the mass influx
of tourists so they will get blocked if misused. So you should always use the bins next to every
toilet to dispose of all used paper. Now, at first it sounds horrendous but you literally get used to
it after about 2 days so I’m more mentioning it so it’s not a sudden surprise for you.
Almost everywhere took credit cards, including restaurants. But it is worth having a bit of cash
on you, as there were a few places that didn’t plastic. For example, we did need cash for the
buses and at the official Delos Island ticket booth. It was because of this reason, that we
actually ended up buying the Delos tickets at the Sea & Sky Travel agency since they accepted card.
Literally just a minute away, you could also buy a bunch of other tours and ferry options from here.
In terms of getting around on foot, there were a lot less steps in Mykonos Town compared to our
visit in Santorini. So if mobility is on your mind, then this would be easier in comparison.
For our beach and boat day, the water taxis depart from each stop, once an hour, from 10am to 6pm.
It only cost €20 for unlimited water taxis, so was a great way to get around and see most of
the popular spots along the south coast. The boats themselves were pretty comfy, for what they were,
but do note that the Platis Gialos stop was the only stop with a permanent dock,
so some of my older viewers may need to limber up before climbing aboard elsewhere.
Feel free to pause the screen here while I give a
quick summary of what to expect from each beach that we visited.
If you want to stay at any particular beach for a while, be prepared that Sunbeds can really
ramp up the price of your day. 2 sunbeds and a shared umbrella will start from about €30,
but prices can easily creep over €100, with the price climbing the closer you get to the water,
and just, y’know, how swanky an umbrella it is.
In terms of how much things cost, I always find this bit difficult to talk about,
because you can always spend, as much, or as little as you like, depending on what you buy,
how much you buy, and so on, so just to give you an idea; lunches and dinners were on the mid to
expensive side, similar to London prices I guess, but without the super cheap places.
So, as a couple, without being too extravagant,
lunches would range from €20 to €50 and dinners from €50 to €100.
The Delos Island tour was €60 per person which included the guide and the return ferry. Cocktails
can be found from around €10 but can easily go up to €15/20 in the more swanky places.
If you haven’t already seen the full Mykonos vlog that shows most of the dining spots we enjoyed,
I’d check that out for more suggestions. But 2 places I didn’t include in that
video which I really enjoyed was Bowl; a really relaxed,
healthy lunch spot a few minutes walk from Ornos Beach. And also Pasta Fresca Barkia,
which as the name suggests has a great selection of Italian food, with a cute outside dining setup.
So I had quite a few comments about our visit to the 180 Sunset Bar, so I wanted to cover a few
booking points here separately. For me, this was my favourite evening we had, so I would
definitely recommend you pre book through their website. There is a minimum spend for each person,
which for us was €60 a head, and then all food and drinks we ordered came off that total.
We booked the unglamorous stairs area which was actually the starting price, hence we were
relegated to sitting on a cushion on a step, which, was actually better than it sounds. The
location meant we were right near the front, and got an up close performance which was excellent.
It also got us a couple of cocktails each, these tacos and edamame beans, and then these
large servings or battered prawns with a sweet and sour dip and this wonderful fruit platter.
As mentioned, €60 is the smallest minimum spend, which goes up to 150 per person,
for the nicest tables. For walk ins, there will be a wait, with a minimum spend of around €10 to €15.
But, again, I would suggest to pre book if you want to get the best overall experience.
If you haven’t yet seen everything we got up to on the main Mykonos vlog here on YouTube, then I’d
strongly suggest you give that a watch, along with our Santorini videos. And please leave your own
Mykonos tips below, to help anyone else who might be planning a trip. Please leave a like below,
which helps support the channel so until the next one, thanks for watching, Suitcase Monkey.