Mykonos

Mykonos has its own airport with seasonal international service and significant private traffic in summer, plus fast ferries from Athens and neighbouring islands. In peak weeks, both the airport and the port are congested and transfer timings need margin.

Roads are narrow and parking in town is effectively impossible; most villas rely on drivers rather than self-drive.

Villas dominate the upper end: four to eight bedrooms, infinity pools, staff by arrangement. Location matters for wind and for distance to town — the southern coast is more sheltered and holds the beach clubs; the north is wilder and quieter.

Hotels are excellent but small, and the best rooms are committed early for August.

Day boats run to Delos and Rhenia for swimming and archaeology, along the southern beaches, and across to Paros and Naxos. Charter weeks use Mykonos as a base for the wider Cyclades.

Wind dictates everything: a good captain will move the itinerary to the lee side rather than fight it.

Beach club lunches, town tavernas, and a growing set of ambitious restaurants around the town and the southern coast. Greek cooking here is often excellent and occasionally overpriced; the older places up in Ano Mera are the counterweight.

Peak-season reservations at the known rooms and beach clubs are competitive and carry minimum spends.

Mykonos has one of the Mediterranean’s best-known late scenes, running from beach clubs in the afternoon through town bars to clubs that finish at sunrise. It is also entirely avoidable if that is not the trip.

Table service, guest lists and entry all sit with the venues and remain subject to their approval, minimum spends and door policy. Transportation is essential — the roads are dark and the walk back is not one.

Villa weddings, beach club events and hotel buyouts are all established, with a supplier base used to international guests. Wind is a genuine design constraint for outdoor ceremonies and for anything involving fabric, flowers or sound.

Guest accommodation usually spans multiple villas and hotels, which makes transport planning central.

Delos is one of the most significant archaeological sites in Greece and takes a morning. Beyond it: the town before nine in the morning, the windmills at the end of the day, Ano Mera for a slower version of the island, and wellness at the villa when the pace catches up.