Mykonos Μύκονος Overview

Mykonos is renowned as an island of hedonism where the sea glistens next to the equally sparkling sweaty bodies of the naked old men beside it. Here, brown netting passes as a shirt, beaches are clothing optional, and happy hours come three times a day. Island-revelers sleep from 7am-2pm and then head to the beach to bring the day in with a piña colada and a discussion of their alcohol intake the night before. But the Dionysian impulse is only one side of the island. Tourists less inclined to relax on the scantily-clad beaches or rage at the local club scene can wind through the intertwined streets of Mykonos Town. If the nudity and drunkenness is making you blush, take a water taxi and head to a more family-friendly beach. Expensive restaurants, creperies, and shops line the tourist-packed streets of the town. In the middle of the island between Mykonos Town and Paradise Beach, houses are as white as Crest models' teeth and jut out from the parched earth, disturbed only by the lizards scuttling amongst long forgotten (or never remembered) Red Bull cans. Along the roadside, donkeys and chickens nibble on hay from behind rusted wire fences. Mykonos' gay scene far surpasses that of other Greek islands, and here men or women walking holding hands or kissing does not elicit so much as a second glance. With this mix of grandparent-friendly town and adult-only clubs, Mykonos can be made to suit any traveler's desires—though those seeking nighttime extravagance are the most likely to be sated.