10 Best Things to Do in Mykonos Greece, and How Long Each One Takes

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

Bougainvillea over a whitewashed lane in Mykonos Town

The short answer

Five of these are free and reachable on foot or by bus. Three need a boat: Rhenia, Delos and the sunset from the water. One — the Armenistis Lighthouse — has no bus service at all, which is the clearest reason a guided circuit exists on an island this small.

How to read this list

Ten options, each with the hours it genuinely takes rather than the hours a brochure gives it. The Chora entries are free and need no booking. Everything that leaves the town needs either a bus, a vehicle or a boat, and the difference between those three is most of what a Mykonos day costs.

#	What	How long	What it costs	Bus?
1	Swim at Rhenia from a boat	5-6 hours	From $112 upwards	No boat, no Rhenia
2	Walk the Chora	2 hours	Free	Yes
3	Land on Delos	Half a day	€20 plus the crossing	Old Port boat
4	The Kato Mili windmills at sunset	30 minutes	Free	Walk from the harbour
5	A drink in Little Venice	1 hour	The price of the drink	Walk
6	Ano Mera and the 1542 monastery	1-2 hours	€2	Yes, from the Old Port
7	A beach on the south coast	Half a day	Free, or a sunbed	Yes
8	The Armenistis Lighthouse	Half a day round trip	Free	No bus
9	A walking food tour	3 hours	From $164	Meets in town
10	The sunset from the water	3 hours	From $44	Meets at the harbour

✅ Useful tip. Do the Chora before ten in the morning or after six in the evening. Between those hours on a cruise-ship day it is a different town entirely.

1 · Swim at Rhenia from a boat

A boat anchored over pale sand in the turquoise shallows off an uninhabited island

The best water around Mykonos is not on Mykonos. Rhenia is uninhabited, has no road and no jetty, and its bays sit out of the north wind, which is why every cruise here anchors off it rather than at a beach you could reach by bus. Swim stops run from ninety minutes to four hours, and that number is the honest way to compare one boat against another.

Allow: five to six hours. Book: three to five days ahead in July and August — these boats cap at twelve to twenty-five.

2 · Walk the Chora, early or late

The lanes of Mykonos Town were laid out to confuse raiders, and they still work. Between about ten and five on a cruise-ship day they are impassable; at eight in the morning and after six in the evening they are one of the best walks in the Cyclades. The fixed points are the Kastro quarter, Little Venice on the Alefkandra waterfront, and the windmills above them.

Allow: two hours, and expect to get lost twice. Cost: nothing.

3 · Land on Delos

An hour's sail west is the religious centre of the ancient Cyclades, and what survives is a whole town at ankle height: house floors with the mosaics still in them, a theatre cut into the slope, an avenue of lions. Ninety minutes ashore covers the main avenue and the museum at a steady pace; the scheduled boat from the Old Port gives you three and a half hours.

Allow: half a day. Cost: €20 for the site, plus whatever gets you there — and no cruise fare includes the ticket. Full detail on the Delos page.

4 · The Kato Mili windmills at sunset

The Kato Mili windmill row on the ridge above Mykonos Town

Ten mills in a line on the ridge above the harbour, out of roughly twenty-eight that once worked the island, most of them built by the Venetians from the sixteenth century. They ground grain for ships crossing the Aegean, which is why a bare waterless island had a milling industry: the wind that makes the crossing hard turns a sail. Ten minutes uphill from the waterfront, free, and busy at sunset for good reason.

5 · A drink in Little Venice

Eighteenth-century merchant houses with their balconies built out over the water rather than set back from it. The ground floors are bars now and the sea still breaks underneath them in any wind. It is the most expensive stretch of waterfront on the island and a sunset table is booked rather than found. See key highlights for what you are looking at.

6 · Ano Mera and the monastery of 1542

Eight kilometres inland, and the one place on Mykonos that still looks like an ordinary Greek village: a square, plane trees, tavernas and residents. At its centre is the walled Monastery of Panagia Tourliani, founded in 1542 by two monks from Paros. Entry is €2. The KTEL bus goes there from the Old Port station, which makes it the easiest inland trip without a vehicle.

7 · A beach on the south coast

Ornos, Platis Gialos, Paradise, Elia and Kalo Livadi are all on the bus, all sheltered from the north wind, and all free to walk onto. A sunbed and umbrella costs whatever the club in front of you charges, which on this island can be a great deal. The sea runs 21.5 to 24 °C from June to October — the weather page has it month by month.

💡 Did you know? No bus serves the north of Mykonos. Armenistis, Fokos and Ftelia are reachable only by vehicle, quad or tour, which is why a guided circuit exists on an island you can cross in forty minutes.

8 · The Armenistis Lighthouse

The Armenistis Lighthouse silhouetted at sunset above the sea

The north-west headland, facing the strait to Tinos, and the point where the island runs out. There is no bus. Getting here needs a vehicle, a quad or a tour, which is the clearest single illustration of what a guided circuit buys on an island this small. Six of the tours in this list stop here.

9 · A walking food tour of the back lanes

Three hours on foot from the Manto Mavrogenous statue, through the Kastro quarter and Tria Pigadia to Little Venice, with a stop at Gioras, the wood-fired bakery whose entry is covered by the fare. It is a walking tour with food attached rather than a restaurant crawl, which is why it doubles as the best orientation you can buy here.

10 · The sunset from the water

Everyone watches the sun go down behind Little Venice from the shore. The other angle costs From $44, the lowest fare in this list: down the coast to Agios Stefanos for a half-hour swim, then holding station off Little Venice for two hours while the light goes, with a DJ and a bar aboard. It is a party boat carrying up to 137 people and over-eighteens only, which is either the appeal or the reason to book a catamaran instead.

What to do when the wind is up

Between June and September the meltemi runs at force five to seven. Numbers 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 on this list are unaffected; numbers 1, 3 and 10 may move to the sheltered south coast or, occasionally, not run. Book the water for a calm morning and keep the town for the windy afternoon. Things to do covers the same ground with the booking details attached.

If a day of it is what you have, the Mykonos day tours here are sorted by how long each one needs.

Every trip named here is compared on price, hours and what the fare covers at Mykonos Greece Tours.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a car on Mykonos?

Not for the Chora, which is closed to traffic and walkable end to end. The KTEL buses reach Ornos, Platis Gialos, Paradise, Elia and Ano Mera on a published timetable, which covers the south. A tour or a hire vehicle is how you reach the north and the lighthouse, where the buses do not go.

Are Mykonos Greece tours suitable for children?

Many are, and the minimum ages here run from none at all to eighteen, so check before you book. Two operators provide child seats and accept strollers; the party boat and two of the sailing yachts are adults only. Mykonos Greece day tours by van tend to suit families better than the open sailing boats.

Can I swim on every boat trip?

On every cruise here except the sunset party boat, which stops once at Agios Stefanos for about half an hour. Swim stops run from ninety minutes to four hours, and almost all of them happen off Rhenia rather than off Delos. Snorkel gear is included on six of them and rented on one.

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.

Do all Mykonos boat tours stop at Delos?

No, and this is the single thing most worth checking before you book. Three of these cruises tie up and let you ashore for about ninety minutes; three sail past without stopping and state that in their inclusions. Every card here says which.

Tours that cover this list

Small-Group Half-Day Tour in Mykonos

Windmills, Little Venice, Ano Mera and a beach in one four-and-a-half-hour run, with hotel pickup included.

From $129 per person

Check Availability

Mykonos Greece Catamaran Cruise: Day or Sunset, with Meals and Transfers

The boat half of the list: two hours anchored at Rhenia, with the van, the meal and the wine in the fare.

From $130 per person

Check Availability

Food Tour in Mykonos Walking and Tasting Experience

Three hours walking the back lanes of the Chora, with the wood-fired bakery included.

From $164 per person

Check Availability

Discover Mykonos ATV Tour with 650cc Quads

The lighthouse and the north coast under your own throttle, on a 650cc quad with a lead rider.

From $118 per person

Check Availability

Ten options, one small island, and about three days to fit the good ones in. Whichever you pick, it refunds in full up to 24 hours before it starts.