3-day itinerary · Greece

3 Days in Mykonos

A realistic first-timer plan that walks the town on day one, from the Old Port and the lanes of Chora to the church of Paraportiani, the Archaeological Museum and an afternoon at Ornos beach before the sunset at Little Venice under the windmills; takes the 10:00 boat to Delos on day two for the sanctuary of Apollo, the Terrace of the Lions and the museum, and spends the afternoon on the sand at Platys Gialos; and heads inland on day three to the monastery village of Ano Mera, the long beach at Elia and the Armenistis lighthouse for the last sunset. Every stop comes with walking distances, boat times and the rules that matter in 2026.

3days
10sights
0.8 kmon foot between sights

Updated 12 September 2026 · 3 official sources checked · report an error

Little Venice and the windmills — Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0

The plan at a glance

Chora on foot, then Delos and a beach, then the island by road

Mykonos town is small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes, so day one never needs a vehicle until the bus to Ornos beach. Day two is built around the Delos boats, which leave the Old Port at 10:00 and come back at 13:30 in season, leaving the afternoon for the beach buses from Fabrika station. Day three needs a scooter, a hire car or taxis: Ano Mera is 7 km inland, Elia beach is on the far south coast and the lighthouse is at the northwest tip. Delos is closed to visitors in the winter months, the town's museums close on Tuesdays, and the wind, the meltemi, blows hardest in July and August, which is why the plan keeps the north coast for the calm days.

Day 1Chora: the Old Port, Paraportiani, the museum, Ornos and Little VeniceChora and the Old Port · Panagia Paraportiani · Archaeological Museum of Mykonos · Ornos beach · Little Venice and the windmills5 sights · 810 m on foot Day 2Delos in the morning, Platys Gialos in the afternoonDelos · Platys Gialos2 sights · Transport between sights Day 3Ano Mera, Elia beach and the Armenistis lighthouseAno Mera and the Panagia Tourliani monastery · Elia beach · Armenistis lighthouse3 sights · Transport between sights

At a glance

Ways to use these days

If it rains: 2 of the stops are indoors — Panagia Paraportiani · Archaeological Museum of Mykonos
For the view: Armenistis lighthouse
Outdoors: Ornos beach · Platys Gialos · Elia beach
Lightest day on foot: Day 1 — 6.1 km between stops
Most walking: Day 3 — 13.1 km

Morning

1Old town

Chora and the Old Port

The town the islanders call Chora was built as a maze on purpose, to confuse pirates and break the wind: cube houses limewashed every spring, blue and red doors, bougainvillea, 400 chapels and lanes too narrow for anything but a donkey. Start at the Old Port, where the fishing boats and the pelican Petros's successors hang about the fish market, walk up Matoyianni street past the boutiques, and lose yourself in the Kastro quarter behind it; the point is to get lost before 10:00, when the cruise ships arrive.

Plan about 1 h 30 min

330 m · about 5 min on foot

2Church

Panagia Paraportiani

The most photographed church in the Cyclades is five chapels built into and on top of each other between the 15th and 17th centuries, at the old side gate of the Kastro walls, and whitewashed so many times that the corners have melted into a single sculpted mass; it stands on the rocks at the northwest tip of the town with the sea behind it. It is best in the raking light of early morning; the interior is rarely open.

Plan about 20 min

Midday

LunchLunch is in the lanes: a gyros or souvlaki from the counters on the harbour, the tavernas behind Matoyianni street, or the fish restaurants of the Old Port. Kiki's Tavern at Agios Sostis has no electricity and no bookings and is famous for it, but it is 10 km away; keep it for day three.

Afternoon

480 m · about 7 min on foot

3Museum

Archaeological Museum of Mykonos

The small museum above the Old Port, built in 1902, holds the finds from the purification pit on Rhenia, where the Athenians moved every grave on Delos in 426 BC, and its one great object: a relief pithos of about 670 BC showing the Trojan Horse with warriors peering out of its portholes, the earliest picture of it that survives. Forty-five minutes is enough, and it is air-conditioned.

Plan about 45 min
Summer 9:00–16:00, winter 8:30–15:30; closed Tuesdays; €5

Bus from Fabrika station on the south edge of town, about 10 minutes; taxis from Manto Mavrogenous square

4Beach

Ornos beach

The closest proper beach to town, a sheltered bay on the south side of the isthmus with calm water in any wind, sunbeds, a row of restaurants on the sand and the water taxis to the other south-coast beaches leaving from its jetty; families and the yachts anchored offshore share it. It is the easy first swim, ten minutes from Fabrika by bus, and Agios Ioannis, the Shirley Valentine beach with the view of Delos, is one bay further west.

Plan about 2 h 30 min

Evening

Bus back to Fabrika and a 5-minute walk

5Waterfront and viewpoint

Little Venice and the windmills

The row of 18th-century captains' houses built straight up out of the sea on the west edge of town, with wooden balconies over the water, is Little Venice, and the bars that fill them are where the whole island comes for the sunset; on the ridge just above, the five surviving Kato Mili windmills, which ground the island's grain into the 20th century, are the postcard. Walk up to the windmills first, for the view of the houses with the sun behind them, then come down for a drink on the water and let the waves soak your shoes.

Plan about 2 h
Free; the windmills are on the ridge 5 minutes above the bars; arrive an hour before sunset for a seat

Morning

1Archaeological island

Delos

The birthplace of Apollo and Artemis in the myth, the holiest island of the ancient Aegean and, by the 1st century BC, a free port of 30,000 people, Delos was abandoned after two sackings and never resettled, which is why the whole city survives: the sanctuary of Apollo with its three temples, the Terrace of the Lions carved by the Naxians around 600 BC, the theatre, the houses of the merchants with their mosaics of Dionysus and the dolphins, and the climb up Mount Kynthos for the view over the Cyclades. The museum holds the original lions. The whole island is a World Heritage Site with no shade and no shops; take water and a hat.

Plan about 3 h 30 min
Site and museum €20, paid at the entrance; summer 8:00–20:00, closed Tuesdays in the museum's schedule; boats €25 return from the Old Port, April–November

Midday

LunchThere is only a small canteen on Delos, so lunch is back in town after the 13:30 boat: the harbourfront tavernas of the Old Port, or a bakery pie and fruit to take to the beach.

Afternoon

Bus from Fabrika station, about 15 minutes

2Beach

Platys Gialos

The wide, family-friendly beach on the south coast, fully organised with sunbeds, restaurants along the sand and the KTEL bus every half hour, is also the hub of the south-coast water taxis, which hop from here to Paranga, Paradise, Super Paradise, Agrari and Elia in a few minutes each; Psarou, the beach of the celebrity yachts and the most expensive sunbeds in Greece, is a 10-minute walk over the headland. Swim, eat on the sand, and take a boat along the coast if the afternoon allows.

Plan about 3 h

Evening

DinnerDinner in Chora: the courtyards off Matoyianni street, the fish tavernas at the Old Port, or a table on the water in Little Venice again if the first night was not enough. Book anything with a view in July and August.

Morning

1Village and monastery

Ano Mera and the Panagia Tourliani monastery

The island's only inland village, 7 km east of town, is the Mykonos of before tourism: a square of plane trees and tavernas, and the monastery of Panagia Tourliani, founded in 1542 and rebuilt in 1767, with a marble bell tower, a carved and gilded iconostasis made in Florence, a small museum of vestments and icons, and a courtyard fountain. It is open through the day with a break for the afternoon; dress with shoulders and knees covered.

Plan about 1 h 15 min
Monastery open mornings and late afternoons with a midday break; small entrance fee for the museum; cover shoulders and knees

Midday

LunchThe tavernas around the square of Ano Mera grill lamb and kontosouvli on spits and are where the island eats on Sundays; this is the place for a proper, unhurried village lunch before the beach.

Afternoon

9 km south of Ano Mera by road, about 15 minutes; the Elia bus from Fabrika is the alternative

2Beach

Elia beach

The longest beach on the island, a kilometre of sand at the end of a valley on the south coast below Ano Mera, is calmer than the party beaches to its west and quieter than Platys Gialos: two beach restaurants, sunbeds at the organised end and free sand at the other, clear water, and a mixed and gay-friendly crowd that has made it its own. The water taxis from Platys Gialos end here, and the bus from Fabrika runs in summer.

Plan about 3 h

Evening

About 20 km back across the island, 35 minutes by car; the last 2 km are a dirt track

3Viewpoint

Armenistis lighthouse

On the northwest tip of the island, 6 km from town on the road past Agios Stefanos and a final dirt track, the 1891 lighthouse looks across the strait to Tinos and gets the sunset without the crowds of Little Venice: a few cars, a few couples on the rocks, the meltemi in your face. The original lantern mechanism is in the Aegean Maritime Museum in town. Come an hour before sunset and drive back for a late dinner in Chora.

Plan about 1 h

Before you go

Good to know in Mykonos

Delos and the museums

The Archaeological Museum of Delos is open 8:00–20:00 from April 1 to October 31 and 8:00–16:00 in November, and closed from December 1, when visits can only be arranged exceptionally in writing; it closes on Tuesdays and on January 1, March 25, Orthodox Easter Sunday, May 1 and December 25–26. The €20 ticket also covers the archaeological site of Delos.Source: Directorate of Archaeological Museums, Hellenic Ministry of Culture · checked Sep 2026
Delos Tours' boats from the Old Port of Mykonos cost €25 return for adults, €12 for children aged 6–12 and are free under 5; the guided half-day tour is €79 for adults and €35 for children including the boat, the €20 site and museum entrance, an authorised guide and a wireless headset. Tours in English run daily at 10:00 from April 1 to November 10, with a second departure at 16:30 from May 2 to October 31.Source: Delos Tours, services and prices · checked Sep 2026
The Archaeological Museum of Mykonos in Chora is open 9:00–16:00 from April 1 to October 31 and 8:30–15:30 from November 1 to March 31, closed on Tuesdays; admission is €5, with free entry on March 6, April 18, May 18, the last weekend of September, October 28 and the first Sunday of each month from November to March.Source: Directorate of Archaeological Museums, Hellenic Ministry of Culture · checked Sep 2026

Questions

3 days in Mykonos: quick answers

Is 3 days enough for Mykonos?

Three days give you the town properly, Delos, and three different beaches. A fourth day is either a boat day, to Rhenia's empty coves or across to Tinos, or a pure beach-club day at Paradise, Super Paradise or Psarou, which the plan has kept out because they are best chosen by mood and budget on the day.

Which days should I plan around?

The archaeological site and museum of Delos are open daily in summer and close on Tuesdays in the museum's published schedule, and the Delos boats run only from April to November, so put the Delos day on a Wednesday to Monday between those months. The Archaeological Museum of Mykonos also closes on Tuesdays. Everything else runs daily in season; from November to March most restaurants and beach clubs are shut.

How much do the tickets cost?

The Delos boat is €25 return and the site and museum ticket €20 on arrival, or €79 for the guided half-day with everything included. The Archaeological Museum of Mykonos is €5. The windmills, Paraportiani, Little Venice, the monastery at Ano Mera and the beaches themselves are free; sunbeds at the organised beaches are the expensive part, from about €20 a pair at Platys Gialos to far more at the clubs.

How do I get around?

On foot in town, which is closed to cars. The KTEL buses run from two stations, Fabrika for the south beaches and the Old Port for Ano Mera, Elia and the north, every half hour in summer and late into the night, for a few euros a ride paid to the driver. Taxis are few and expensive. A scooter, ATV or small hire car is the practical answer for day three; the roads are narrow and the wind is real.

How much walking is this itinerary?

About 2 km on day one, all in the lanes of Chora; about 3 km on Delos on day two, uneven and without shade, so bring a hat and water; and short walks on day three plus the 15-minute path down to the lighthouse. Delos in July or August is best done early, on the 10:00 boat, before the heat.

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3 Days in Mykonos

Chora on foot, then Delos and a beach, then the island by road

Ways to use these days