The Best Time to Visit Mykonos Greece

Hours, prices and access verified by the Mykonos Greece Tours team — last checked 2026-09-05

The weather answer to this question is easy and slightly misleading: July and August are hottest, so most people book them. The better answer depends on what closes, what fills and what it costs, and on one date most guides never mention — 30 November, when the last boat to Delos runs. The season decides what runs: most Mykonos day tours sail from April to October and thin out sharply after that.

The short answer, by traveller

You want the water above all

Late June to mid-September. The sea runs 21.5 to 24 °C and every boat is on its full timetable. Accept that the wind is strongest in this window and book mornings.

You want the island without the crowd

May or late September. Everything is open, the meltemi is milder, the fares are lower and the Chora is walkable in the middle of the day.

You are coming for Delos

Anything from April to November. Outside that the site is closed and the boats do not run. May and September give you the site with fewer people on it.

You are here on a cruise

Whichever day the ship gives you — but book a shore excursion ahead, because the island's supply of small vehicles is finite and several thousand passengers want it at once.

You want quiet and do not need a boat

April or late October. The town is itself again, the light is good, and the tavernas that are open are the ones locals use. Some of the water will be closed to you.

What is open, and when it closes

	Apr	May–Jun	Jul–Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec–Mar
Archaeological Site of Delos	Open 08:00–20:00	Open	Open	Open	Open to the 31st	Open 08:00–16:00	Closed
Scheduled Delos boats	From the 1st	Running	Running	Running	Running	To the 30th	Not running
Sea Bus between the ports	From the 1st	Running	Every 15 min on ship days	Running	To the 31st	Stopped	Stopped
Boat cruises in this list	First sailings	Full timetable	Full timetable	Full timetable	Thinning	Very few	Mostly none
Island tours by road	Running	Running	Running	Running	Running	Reduced	Reduced
Beach clubs and waterfront bars	Opening up	Open	Open	Open	Closing through the month	Mostly shut	Shut

Three lines in that table do most of the work. Delos closes on 1 December and does not reopen until 1 April. The licensed Delos boats run 1 April to 30 November. The Sea Bus between the two ports runs 1 April to 31 October. Everything else on the island is a matter of degree; those three are dates.

Booking outside the summer?

Boat timetables thin from late October, and the cards say which trips are still sailing when you are here.

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The five seasons of a Mykonos year

April and early May — the island waking up

Weather: 18 to 22 °C, five rainy days a month falling to three

Sea: 16 to 18.5 °C — swimmable and cold

Crowds: Light. The Chora is walkable at midday

Prices: The lowest of the open season

Trade-off: Some beach clubs are still shut and the water is bracing

Late May and June — the best-balanced weeks

Weather: 22 to 27 °C, effectively no rain, up to eleven hours of sun

Sea: 18.5 to 21.5 °C and climbing fast

Crowds: Building, but the lanes still empty by ten in the evening

Prices: Below the peak, and boats are bookable a day or two ahead

Trade-off: The meltemi arrives during June, usually as an afternoon wind

July and August — the peak, in every sense

Weather: 28 °C by day and 23 °C at night; twelve hours of sun

Sea: 23.5 to 24 °C, the warmest of the year

Crowds: Heavy, and heaviest on cruise-ship days

Prices: The highest, and boats fill three to five days out

Trade-off: The meltemi at force five to seven; expect re-routed sailings

September — the month most people should pick

Weather: 25.7 °C by day and only two rainy days

Sea: 23.5 °C, as warm as July

Crowds: Falling week by week after the first fortnight

Prices: Coming off the peak, without anything having closed

Trade-off: Very little. The wind eases and the sea does not

October and November — the closing weeks

Weather: 22 °C in October, 18 °C in November, and the rain returns

Sea: 21.5 °C in October, 19 °C in November

Crowds: Thin, then gone

Prices: Low, with less to spend them on

Trade-off: The Sea Bus stops on 31 October and Delos closes on 30 November

Cruise days, and why they matter to you

Cruise ships alongside the New Port at Tourlos, seen from the hill

A large ship can put several thousand people onto an island with one pedestrian town, and they arrive within an hour of each other. It changes the Chora completely between roughly ten in the morning and five in the afternoon, and it is why the same lane photographs empty at eight and impassable at noon.

Two things follow. If you are staying on the island, plan the Chora for early morning or after six, and take the boat or the north of the island in the middle of the day. If you are on the ship, book the shore excursion before you sail rather than at the pier, because the taxis and small vans are gone within twenty minutes of the gangway opening.

What a week costs across the year

Nothing on the island itself charges admission, so the seasonal swing is in flights, beds and boats rather than in tickets. The tour fares in this list are the operators' own and they hold across the season, which means the cheapest month to take a boat day is whichever month you can get a bed in. Where the season does bite is availability: in August a capped twelve-seat sailing is gone days ahead, and in May it is not.

The three dates worth writing down

1 April: Delos opens, the licensed Delos boats start, the Sea Bus starts

31 October: The Sea Bus between the New Port and the Old Port stops for the winter

30 November: The last scheduled Delos sailing; the site closes the next day

Questions about timing a Mykonos trip

How far ahead should I book a tour on Mykonos?

Between June and September, three to five days ahead is sensible, because the boats cap between twelve and twenty-five guests and the small-group vans at twelve to fourteen. In May and October a day or two is usually enough. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before means booking early costs you nothing if the plan changes.

Is Delos open in winter?

Not from 1 December. The site and museum run 08:00 to 20:00 from 1 April to 31 October and 08:00 to 16:00 through November, then close, with visits arranged only on written request. The licensed boats from the Old Port run 1 April to 30 November for the same reason.

What happens if the meltemi is blowing?

The route moves, usually to the sheltered south coast, and three of these operators write that into the listing rather than spring it on you. The meltemi is a dry north wind that runs from June to September and is strongest in July and August, at force five to seven. It eases overnight, so a morning departure is the calmer one.

How much do Mykonos Greece tours cost?

The range here runs from $44 for the sunset party boat to $183 for a private half-day with your own driver-guide, all per person. Mykonos Greece ticket prices cluster around $120 to $150 for a boat day with a meal and drinks, and around $60 to $130 for a half-day on land. The private tours quote per person with a two-traveller minimum rather than per vehicle.

For the numbers behind all of this, see the weather page; for what to actually do once you are here, things to do is ordered by how long each option takes. Mykonos Greece Tours shows what is sailing.

Sources

Checked on 5 September 2026. Season dates are the operators' and the ministry's own published ones for 2026 and they are reviewed each spring.

Whichever month you pick

Every tour here refunds in full up to 24 hours before it starts, so booking early costs nothing if the plan moves.

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