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Greetings, Internet Stranger! I’m Stella Jane, and welcome to a One Day in Mykonos itinerary!
Mykonos is one of the most beautiful islands in Greece. Unfortunately, the entire planet is aware of this fact, which means that every summer the island becomes delightfully stuffed to its adorable blue-and-white gills with tourists.
But fear not. That is exactly why you have come to this humble corner of the internet.
Because while you cannot completely avoid the crowds in Mykonos (short of arriving at 5:30 a.m. with a flashlight and a very determined attitude), I can show you how to dodge them as much as humanly possible while still getting those ridiculously photogenic Mykonos moments.
I personally experienced my one day in Mykonos as a shore excursion from a Royal Caribbean International ship, which meant I had exactly one glorious day to explore the island.
But don’t worry if your travel situation looks a little different. Whether you’re staying overnight on Mykonos, island-hopping through the Cyclades, or arriving on a completely different cruise line, this itinerary will still guide you to the prettiest places to see and the most fun things to do.
So grab your sunglasses, prepare your camera, and let’s go explore one of the most glamorous islands in Greece. 🌊🇬🇷
And yes, Internet Stranger…we’re absolutely getting those adorbs photos. ✨
🌟 Top Tours to Make the Most of Your One Day in Mykonos
If you only have one day in Mykonos, the smartest move is to let someone else handle the logistics while you focus on the important things: scenery, delicious food, and taking photos that make your friends wonder why they aren’t also on a Greek island.
Here are three fantastic tours that will help you experience the best of Mykonos.
🍷 Tour and Wine Tasting in Mykonian Land
If you’d like to experience the quieter, more traditional side of Mykonos, this tour is a great option. You’ll explore the countryside, learn about local agriculture, and of course enjoy a wine tasting featuring Mykonian wines.
It’s a relaxing way to see parts of the island most visitors never discover—and a perfectly respectable excuse to drink wine before noon.
👉 Book the Mykonian Land Wine Tour here
🏛️ Sightseeing Like a Mykonian (Small Group or Private)
If you want to see Mykonos like a local, this small-group tour takes you around the island to several beautiful viewpoints, villages, and hidden corners you might otherwise miss.
It’s a fantastic introduction to the island’s culture and history—and it’s also a great way to avoid wandering around with Google Maps looking confused in front of someone’s front door.
👉 Book the Sightseeing Like a Mykonian Tour here
⛵ Brand-New Catamaran Cruise with Meal, Drinks & Transport
Because let’s be honest: if you’re visiting a gorgeous Greek island, you should probably spend at least some time on a boat.
This catamaran cruise takes you out onto the sparkling Aegean Sea for swimming, sailing, and relaxing in the sun. The tour includes a meal, drinks, and transportation, which means you can focus entirely on enjoying the views and pretending you are the star of a very glamorous travel commercial.
👉 Book the Mykonos Catamaran Cruise here
🏨 Where to Stay in Mykonos
Mykonos is a full island, which means you technically have lots of choices when it comes to where to stay. But if you want to explore the island easily, I strongly recommend staying in Mykonos Town.
Also known locally as Chora, Mykonos Town is the island’s charming historic center. It’s full of whitewashed buildings, winding alleyways, bougainvillea-covered balconies, and enough photogenic corners to keep your camera extremely busy.
More importantly for our purposes, it’s centrally located, which makes it the perfect starting point if you’re planning to explore the rest of the island or join one of the tours we talked about earlier.
That’s why I recommend staying at Sunset Paraportiani Rooms.
This hotel has a fantastic location right in Mykonos Town, putting you within easy walking distance of the island’s famous windmills, the waterfront, and countless charming streets to wander through.
In other words, it’s a wonderful home base for exploring all the beauty Mykonos has to offer.
👉 Book your stay at Sunset Paraportiani Rooms here
🌞 Morning: Visit Delos
If you’re looking for a way to escape the crowds of Mykonos, the best strategy is to hop on a boat and head to the nearby sacred island of Delos.
Delos sits just off the coast of Mykonos and is one of the most important archaeological sites in Greece. Getting there is relatively easy by ferry, and once you arrive you’ll find a vast landscape of ancient ruins stretching across the island.
There will definitely be other visitors exploring Delos. But because the island is so large and open, it often feels surprisingly peaceful. At times you may find yourself wandering among the ruins with nothing but stone columns, sea breezes, and ancient history for company.
Personally, I visited Delos as a shore excursion from a Royal Caribbean International ship, which made the whole process wonderfully simple.
However, if you’re planning your Mykonos visit independently, organizing transportation to Delos on your own can be a little tricky. The ferries can also be quite rocky, which is not ideal for anyone who tends to get seasick.
That’s why I strongly recommend booking a guided tour, which handles transportation and includes an expert guide to explain the fascinating history of the island.
👉 Reminder: Book the Delos guided tour here to explore the island’s ancient ruins without worrying about logistics.
Now, I won’t reveal all of the mysterious secrets of Delos just yet.
But I will share a few highlights.
Approximately Top 5: Delos 🏛️
1) The Ferry Ride
Our adventure begins with a short ferry trip from Mykonos to the sacred island of Delos.
The ride itself is beautiful. As the boat pulls away from Mykonos, you’ll get sweeping views of the bright blue Aegean Sea, with whitewashed buildings and rocky islands scattered across the horizon like someone thoughtfully arranged them for a postcard.
However, there is one small detail you should know about.
The ferry can be rocky as all get out.
If you are prone to seasickness, this is the moment to bring your motion sickness medicine and possibly a healthy sense of optimism. Personally, I felt perfectly fine during the crossing. But one unfortunate gentleman from my cruise ship turned such an alarming shade of pea green that I began to worry he might redecorate the deck with his breakfast buffet.
Travel can be glamorous, but sometimes it is also…nautical.
The good news is that if you book a guided tour, the logistics are wonderfully simple. Your guide will handle the ferry tickets and make sure everyone boards together.
If you decide to visit Delos completely independently, that’s certainly possible too. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to purchase your ferry tickets yourself, and during busy season the lines can get quite long.
In other words, if you’d prefer to spend less time waiting in line and more time exploring ancient ruins, a guided tour is a very convenient option.
2) The First National Bank of Greece
Our guide, whom I shall call Helen, began our tour with an important piece of mythology.
According to ancient Greek tradition, Delos is sacred because it is the birthplace of the twin gods Apollo and Artemis.
Now, you may already be familiar with these two Olympian overachievers. Apollo is the god of the sun, music, healing, and prophecy, which is quite an impressive résumé. Artemis, meanwhile, rules over the moon, the hunt, and the wilderness, and also possesses the extremely specific divine ability to turn men into animals if they accidentally stumble upon her while she is bathing.
Which honestly feels like a very reasonable boundary-setting policy.
The fact that two major Olympian gods were supposedly born here should give you some sense of how important Delos was in the ancient Greek world. How many places in Greece can claim to be the birthplace of even one major Olympian deity?
I’m estimating…twelve, maximum.
But Delos was not just sacred for mythological reasons. Helen also explained that the island became a major trading hub in the ancient Mediterranean. Merchants from across the region came here to buy, sell, and exchange goods, which eventually helped Delos develop something even more impressive.
It became one of the earliest banking centers in Greece.
Yes. Ancient Delos was essentially home to the original First National Bank of Greece.
Efficient banking. Organized trade. Financial innovation.
Clearly, Greece has been contributing to civilization for quite some time.
(Pro Tip: If you are visiting Greece, it is best not to make jokes about how the Greek economy might have gone downhill from there. Unless you yourself are Greek. In that case, proceed carefully and possibly with snacks.)
3) House of Dionysus
Delos is famous for its remarkably well-preserved ancient mosaics, and one of the most impressive can be found in the House of Dionysus.
This house once belonged to a wealthy resident of Delos, and its courtyard floor features a spectacular mosaic of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, celebration, and generally having a very good time.
In the mosaic, Dionysus appears in dramatic fashion: riding a tiger, surrounded by grapes and wine cups, and looking like the undisputed champion of ancient Greek party culture.
Clearly, Dionysus knew how to live.
I must admit that I personally have never spent a Saturday evening riding a tiger while surrounded by wine and grapes. But it does look like a lifestyle worth considering.
Now, some visitors might find it a little surprising to see such a festive scene on a sacred island. But the ancient Greeks did not see any contradiction between religion and enjoyment of life. Sacred places were not meant to be gloomy. They were places where people gathered, celebrated, traded, worshipped, and lived.
Our guide even pointed out where a brothel once stood on the island, which might seem surprising until you remember that Delos was also a busy commercial port filled with sailors, merchants, and travelers.
And the sign that supposedly marked the building?
Let’s just say it involved a very boldly carved stone symbol that left absolutely no confusion about what kind of establishment visitors were about to enter.
Ancient marketing, it turns out, was extremely direct.
4) Lion Statues
You really can’t visit Delos without meeting its most famous residents: the Terrace of the Lions.
Aside from the photogenic blue-and-white houses you see all over Instagram in Mykonos, I would argue that these stone lions are the most recognizable sight connected to a Mykonos excursion.
The statues were originally created to guard the sanctuary of Apollo, which stood nearby on Delos. The lions sit in a long row facing outward, as if eternally keeping watch over the sacred island.
Now, one small historical mystery remains.
Apollo gets a full squad of lion bodyguards…while his twin sister Artemis apparently does not.
Are these lions secretly sexist? We may never know.
I do have one slightly disappointing fact to share with you, Internet Stranger. The statues you see outside today are not the original lions. Over centuries, the wind and sea air on Delos were slowly damaging the marble sculptures, so archaeologists moved the originals into the nearby Archaeological Museum of Delos for protection.
What you see outside now are replicas.
But please don’t let that stop you from taking photos.
After all, the Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas is also a replica, and that has never stopped anyone from posing dramatically in front of it.
5) Archaeological Museum
After your guided walk around Delos, you’ll usually have a little free time to explore the island on your own.
Whatever you do, don’t miss the Archaeological Museum of Delos.
This is where you’ll find the original Terrace of the Lions statues that once guarded the sanctuary of Apollo. Over the centuries the wind and sea air began damaging the marble sculptures outside, so archaeologists moved the real lions into the museum for protection.
Which means this is your chance to meet the authentic, weather-beaten lions of Delos in person.
Admission is very reasonable, so there’s really no excuse not to stop in. After all, where else are you going to see the Famous Original Lions of Delos Who Guarded Apollo But Not Artemis, Possibly Because of Lion Sexism?
One amusing detail I noticed while wandering the museum: many of the informational signs are written in Greek and French, but not always in English.
Fortunately for me, I happen to speak French, which meant I was able to uncover all sorts of fascinating archaeological facts that the museum was apparently attempting to hide from the English-speaking world.
I never did receive a clear explanation for why the signs were in French. France is not exactly next door to Delos.
Sadly, I am unable to reveal the full secrets I learned.
The lions made it very clear that they would eat me if I did.
Perhaps next time I visit Delos I will find a way to escape their wrath.
And if you’d like to explore Delos’s ruins, mosaics, and legendary lions without worrying about ferry tickets or logistics, this is exactly why I recommend joining a guided excursion.
👉 Reminder: Book the Delos tour here to experience the island’s ancient wonders with an expert guide.
🌞 Afternoon: Explore Mykonos!
Now that we’ve finished the serious historical portion of our tour—featuring winged wine gods riding tigers and ancient brothels—it’s time to move on to the fun and games portion of the itinerary.
Once your ferry returns from Delos, make sure you leave yourself a few hours to explore the dazzling waterfront town around the Mykonos port.
This is the Mykonos you’ve probably seen in photos: bright blue doors, whitewashed houses, winding little streets, and balconies overflowing with flowers. It’s ridiculously charming and almost suspiciously photogenic.
Now, I will be honest with you, Internet Stranger.
Yes, it has been photographed, Instagrammed, and TikToked into the stratosphere. And yes, in the middle of summer it can sometimes feel more crowded than Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
But don’t worry.
With a little strategic wandering, you can absolutely find quieter corners and capture those dreamy Mykonos photos without an entire cruise ship accidentally appearing in the background.
Allow me to demonstrate with…
Three Fun Facts: One Day in Mykonos Itinerary📸
1) How Do I Avoid the Crowds?
Naturally, you’ll want a photo of the famous Mykonos Windmills during your visit. These iconic windmills perched above the sea are one of the most recognizable sights on the island.
But you may be wondering:
Aren’t they surrounded by a swarm of tourists with selfie sticks at all times?
The answer is…sometimes yes.
You might be looking at the photo above—an actual picture I took myself—and thinking, “Those crowds don’t look so bad.”
Well, allow me to present Exhibit B.
At the peak of the afternoon rush, the windmills can look a little more like this: shoulder-to-shoulder visitors, cameras everywhere, and the occasional tourist attempting an elaborate Instagram pose while everyone else politely pretends not to notice.
Yikes.
But I have a surprisingly simple strategy for escaping the chaos.
Use your legs.
Crowds, as a general rule, are extremely lazy. They like to gather in one place so that if anyone loses their balance while taking a selfie, they will simply fall into another unsuspecting tourist.
So if you actually walk closer to the windmills instead of stopping where everyone else does, you’ll often find yourself standing in a much quieter spot.
The same trick works all over Mykonos. Wander a few steps down a side street and suddenly the crowds thin out dramatically.
Well…mostly.
You may still encounter cats.
Mykonos is absolutely full of them. Frankly, the island contains roughly the same number of cats as my apartment will someday contain when I become a delightfully eccentric old lady.
Personally, I suspect this is all part of a grand strategy to honor the famous lions of Delos.
Perhaps the cats of Mykonos exist to remind the lions that deep down, they are not fearsome predators at all.
They are simply very large, slightly dramatic housecats. 🐱
2) Why Is Mykonos So Popular?
Well…just look at this place.
Mykonos has spectacular beaches, sparkling blue water, and rows of charming white houses with bright blue shutters that make the entire island look like it was designed by a very stylish fairy tale architect.
As you wander around during your one day in Mykonos, you’ll quickly notice the island’s signature color scheme. Blue. White. Blue. White. Blue again. More white.
It’s almost like someone decided to cover an entire island with the colors of the Greek flag.
OPA!
The trick to enjoying all this beauty is knowing when you’ve finally escaped the crowds. And the signal is very simple:
You find a perfect row of blue-and-white houses…with absolutely no people standing in front of them.
That is the moment.
That is when you pull out your camera and start snapping away like a professional travel photographer.
Suddenly your photos look like the island belongs entirely to you. The houses glow in the sunlight, the streets curve charmingly around corners, and not a single tourist wanders into your frame.
And just like that…
You have achieved Mykonos Photo Victory.
OPA again!
3) What Is There to Do in Mykonos?
Well, for starters…shopping.
During my visit, the restaurants in Mykonos were so crowded at lunchtime that getting a table felt like attempting to win a small Olympic event. Since it was a hot day anyway, I decided to embrace one of my favorite summer lunch strategies:
Ice cream.
For that, I highly recommend stopping at I Scream. Yes, that is the real name. No notes. Perfect branding.
The gelato here is fantastic, and if you want to look like a seasoned European dessert professional, you should order two flavors.
Unless the shop has a house specialty calling your name, I always go with my personal classic: hazelnut and strawberry.
In my opinion, having a reliable go-to ice cream order is just as important as having a go-to cocktail order if you want to maintain the image of a sophisticated world traveler.
Mykonos also pleasantly surprised me when it came to shopping. In many tourist destinations, the stores are filled with chain brands and mass-produced souvenirs that you could buy in literally any airport on Earth.
But Mykonos has a wonderful number of local shops selling handmade goods, from jewelry to textiles to charming little keepsakes that actually feel connected to the island.
My advice?
Just wander the streets and see what catches your eye.
Eventually you’ll stumble upon the perfect souvenir, which is always the best kind of travel shopping.
🌙 Evening: Relax on the Cruise Ship
Ordinarily, this is the moment in the itinerary where I would recommend a fabulous seaside restaurant for dinner or a lively venue where you can listen to traditional Greek music.
OPA!
But since I visited Mykonos as part of a shore excursion from Royal Caribbean International, my evening adventure took place back on the ship.
And honestly, that’s not a bad way to end the day.
After exploring sun-drenched islands and ancient ruins, there’s something delightful about simply relaxing on deck with a good book and a cocktail while the ship glides across the Aegean Sea. I personally recommend a mystery novel, because nothing pairs with ocean views quite like trying to solve a fictional crime.
Cruise ships also offer plenty of evening entertainment. On my sailing there was a magic show, which is exactly the kind of unexpected delight that makes cruising fun.
And when dinner rolls around, one of my favorite spots on board is Izumi, the Japanese restaurant found on many Royal Caribbean ships. Their freshly made sushi is fantastic and a perfect change of pace after a long day of sightseeing.
Eventually the evening winds down, the ocean gets quiet, and it’s time to turn in for the night.
As you drift off to sleep, you may find yourself dreaming of the blue streets of Mykonos…and perhaps the many cats of the island.
Both the small ones you met in town…
…and the very large stone lions you met earlier on Delos. 🐱🦁
Before you go, Internet Stranger, I have a few very important questions for you.
• If the streets of Mykonos are painted entirely in blue and white, does the whole island technically count as the world’s largest Greek flag?
• If the cats of Mykonos vastly outnumber the humans wandering the alleyways, who is actually in charge of the island?
• And if Delos was the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, does that make Mykonos the vacation destination for visiting Olympian gods?
If you think you know the answers, I would absolutely love to hear them.
📧 Email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and tell me what you think! And thank you for visiting Around the World in 24 Hours.
Until next time, Internet Stranger…happy travels. 🌍✈️