First thing you need to do, is cancel your Airbnb in the city center and book something at the top of the hill. You want a view, and you won’t get much of that in the city.

This is the view from the Haley Suite by ITravelHome. It’s a good 20 minute walk, up a very VERY steep hill. But it’s worth it, I mean, I’m not even kidding, I really did wake up like this.

But, let’s rewind a bit, you’re out of the airport and ready to begin the holiday. To reach the town, you’ve got 2 options: a 15€ to 35€ taxi 🚖, or a 2€ bus ride 🚍.

If you booked a flat with a kitchen, head to AB Supermarket and get yourself some survival elements, such as bottled water (yes, you can’t drink water from the tap) and alcohol (unless you’re made of money, you’re gonna want to lubricate with some drinks at home before going out)

As the end of the day closes by, you’ll start to notice why you needed the flat on the hill.

Nightlife in Mykonos town has begun. At the time of our visit, COVID19 safety regulations where at their highest level, which meant that bars and restaurants were to shut down at midnight. Which meant that we found ourselves at the peak of our outdoor dancing by 10pm (yikes).  This is how it went down:

Day 1: BEAAAACHHHH. We rushed to the most talked about, recommended, hyped beach in Mykonos: Platis Gialos.

How to get there: Lot’s of people rent a car or a scooter, but by now you can probably guess by now, we took the bus (2€). You can buy the tickets on the bus and check the schedules HERE (double check updates in person as they go every hour!)

What to expect: Luxurious beach beds far as the eye can see. Ranging from 25€-40€. Some include a drink! So look out for a good deal. Downside (or upside if that’s your vibe) expect club music all day long.

If you want to be extra: Hire a 10 minute banana ride. IT’S SO MUCH FUN.

How to get back to Mykonos: Plan your day around the bus schedule, and make sure you queue a bit before departure, or you’ll find yourself waiting for the next ones for ages.

MORE BEACH. This time around, we’ve learned our lesson and we hunted down a bed-free beach called Agrari. Getting there is quite the adventure. Get the bus from the Old port and get off at Elia Beach. Then turn right towards a rocky road that will lead you to a Elia nudist beach. Cross that beach into more rocky road and stop to take some gorgeous pics on the cliffs. (1.,2.) 

You’ll probably run into some ripped-god-looking dudes, totally up to you if you want to keep them on the background.

Finally you’ll arrive to a small and less crowded beach with a restaurant and facilities at hand. Time to chill.

Day 3: Chill day. The rush of Mykonos had to at some point slow down. So we decided that we would chill during the day and head to the party beach for the evening.

So we had a lovely day taking in the city at a slower pace, stoping at every corner to enjoy the shops, the instagramable corners and the cats. The cats are one of the most magical things about Mykonos (and possibly a bit of a pest problem too though) but running into these guys really made the city quite unique.

Finished the evening enjoying Little Venice during the day, which turned out to be as magical as during the night. Headed home early to have a home made ceviche, and get ready for night out numero dos.

After some heavy duty G&Ts we headed towards Fabrika to take the bus to Paradise Beach and made our way to one of the most recommended beach clubs: Tropicana. It’s exactly what you’d expect, foreigners dancing on tables with fog firing from the roof until sunrise, sorry until midnight, COVID19 rules.

This is so much fun, even if you’re not the club kinda person, it’s a must do. Take a taxi back to town for 25€-30€. They take cash, or card? Honestly I can’t recall.

Day 4: The upside of going home early is that you’ll find yourself fresh the next day. And so we did, almost all of us (sorry Diana we <3 you). And we took a ferry towards Tinos. After much research, Tinos turned out to be the perfect island for a day-trip. This underated island turned out to be one of my top top things about this trip.

How to get there: Book ferry tickets online (13€-20€) and leave from the New port.
   
    Extra tip: You CANNOT walk to the New Port. Take a bus or a sea taxi leaving from the Old Port-New port. Or don’t and just hitchhike with total strangers like us.

What to do in Tinos: When you arrive at Tinos, rent a car (30€) just across the port. Renting a car after 5 days without one sounded extreme, and we were not convinced but everyone online said this was the best way to explore the island. And they weren’t wrong but OMG it is f*** hard to drive in this damn island. Shout out to Natalia for putting up with the tiny roads, taking us up the mountains granting us horrible views of the sea. You’ll run into sheep, tiny churches and ugly natural landscapes. I mean just look at this:

VIDEO OF VIEW

Obviously I’m just kidding, Tinos is breathtakingly beautiful and in our short time there we hit 3 of the most amazing spots on the Island:

Drosia Taverna

This local restaurant is on top of a moutain overlooking the valley in a lovely little town called Ktikados. The food is cooked by Yiayia, the cutest old lady you’ve ever seen and run by her family. Which tells you already the vibe, the food and everything about it was a true local experience. Have the fried greek cheese (Saganaki) as a starter, Lamb as main and enjoy the view.

For another 15 min drive, head to Megali Ammos to find this surfing beach. Get on board with the slow paced vibe of mushroom beach umbrellas, and a 70’s smoothie van.

Svoura Tinos

On your way back to the city center, stop by Komi, another small town with a beatuful courtyard filled with old people playing chest and families enjoying a drink. Order the artichoke cake and an ice tea to finish the day off.

    Extra extra tip: do not get lost, these tiny tiny roads are a trap! so make sure you have time to plan out your route calmly and with time to spare. Much like the island itself, Tinos, unlike Mykonos, is a place to really slow down, in every sense.

Leonidas

If you’re making your way through the town, do make a stop at Leonidas, our tasty, friendly and go-to gyros place in Mykonos.

Veneti Bakery

Don’t miss the refresshing smoothies, top notch pastries (Mama feta kourou chees pie 4ever) and amazing friendly staff.

Roca Cookery

This cozy and elegant top floor restaurant has a really fancy vibe with affordable prices. Don’t leave Mykonos without having some seafood.

Eva's Garden

If you manage to squeeze in a chill night, definately go for dinner. I can only recommend what I’ve personally tried so Eva’s Garden has my vote. Get the full greek experience and have a Moussaka a better version of lasagna that goes well with some house red 🍷.

In hindsight, five nights in Mykonos is five too many. After visiting Tinos we realised that we wished we had island hopped to discover more hidden treasures of the Greek islands.

With that said, I’m glad we had so much time in one place, we had time to dance and people watch from our terrace, take +1000 pictures, build some leg work by going up and down the hill at least 6 times a day and stared to at least 5 uncomparable sunsets.

Thanks to Diana, Farah and Natalia for the photos, the dancing and the stories.