Little Venice
Captains' balconies over the waves — the famous sunset seats.
sailko — CC BY 2.5 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
Chora is the perfect Cycladic maze: whiteness washing every wall each spring, blue and red doors and windows, bougainvillea exploding over deliberately narrow lanes — a winding design inherited from pirate centuries to lose the raider, today losing the visitor happily. Its waterline heart is Little Venice: sea captains' houses (18th century), their coloured wooden balconies hung directly over the waves — its cafés the eastern Mediterranean's most famous sunset seats, spray salting the sitters' feet. Behind them file the Kato Mili windmills, guardians of the picture. In the lanes: Manto Mavrogenous square for independence's heroine, small churches by the hundred, the old Kastro quarter, the fishermen's port with its famous pelican — and evening turns the town to elegance and sleepless night. Delos boats also leave from here each morning.
Captains' balconies over the waves — the famous sunset seats.
The oldest lanes around Paraportiani.
Coloured caiques and the town's pampered pelicans.
The heroine who funded the revolution with her fortune.
Chora, 84600 Mykonos
The Mykonos WindmillsThe Kato Mili windmills are Mykonos' signature: five white cylinders in straw ca4 minutes walk4.5
Panagia ParaportianiParaportiani is Greece's most photographed church — and not one church at all: f4 minutes walk4.4
The Archaeological Museum of MykonosMykonos' Archaeological Museum (1902) was built for one treasure: the necropolis7 minutes walk4.2North and east are decisively calmer: Agios Sostis and Panormos near-wild, Kalafatis sporty-familial, Ornos a sheltered equipped bay nearby. The famous south (Paradise, Super Paradise) is full-blast party — Psarou yachts and golden crush. The rule: the further from the southwest, the quieter the sand.
Two-three for the essence: a town-and-sunset day, a Delos morning with beach afternoon, a beach or Ano Mera day. The island is smaller than its fame — and peak prices make lingering frankly a financial decision.