Above and below are two views of Mykonos Town and the Mykonos Old Port area, as seen from a hilltop vantage point to the northeast of the island’s Tagoo district. Click on each image to view full-size photos.
Tag: Mykonos (page 15 of 24)
Thrillseekers take a wild tube ride at Mylopotas beach on Ios
Take the tube: Going for a swim in the sea is the time-honoured traditional way to cool off and seek some relief from the searing summer sun in Greece. Activities on the water can help beat the heat, too, with tube rides and sports like kitesurfing and wakeboarding offering a wet ‘n’ wild workout for people seeking a much more active and exciting adventure.
But if you’re too timid to skim across the sea under sail or motor power, you can still have a blast watching a novice try one of the sports for the first time, observing experienced participants honing their skills, or seeing a professional make even the most difficult maneuvers look almost effortless.
Windsurfing, canoeing, sea kayaking, sailing, and stand up paddle boarding (SUP) are among the mainstream watersports offered at beaches on some of the islands in the Cyclades (as well as in other island groups and many places along the coast of the Greek mainland).
For people seeking more speed and excitement, alternative activities include jet skiing, waterskiing, wakeboarding, water tubing and banana boat rides. In some locations, kite surfing is available for enthusiasts eager to experience the thrills and adrenalin rush of an extreme water sport.
Mountains on nearby Paros island provide a backdrop to this kitesurfer skimming the choppy surf off Agios Prokopios beach on Naxos
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The acclaimed Nobu Matsuhisa Mykonos restaurant at the Belvedere Hotel (seen in this photo from the Belvedere’s Facebook page) has been celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. Click on the picture to view a full-size image.
Table talk: One of the most popular vacation destinations in Greece, Mykonos is renowned for beautiful beaches and dynamic summer nightlife. But even though the island boasts more than two dozen major beaches, plus scores of bars and nightclubs, choosing where to swim and party will be probably be a much easier task for visitors than deciding where to dine each day.
With over 200 restaurants ranging from takeout gyros and souvlaki shops to traditional Greek tavernas and high-end gourmet establishments offering a variety of international cuisines, Mykonos is a veritable gastronomic paradise. But with such a vast and diverse array of eateries, many tourists understandably feel daunted by the daily dining dilemma — where to go for breakfast, lunch and dinner?
In a series of posts over the next couple of weeks, I will tell you about the Mykonos restaurants and bars that have been getting the best buzz this summer. I have been monitoring social media and online travel sites since early spring, and have been gathering feedback from friends and acquaintances on the island as well as people who have travelled there this summer. I also chatted about restaurants with dozens of visitors and locals during my own visit to Mykonos in mid-May.
To kick off my Mykonos food and drink 2013 reports, here’s a list of the dining places in and close to Mykonos Town that people have been talking about the most. I will report on popular bars and the hottest beach area restaurants in separate, subsequent posts.
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The Jackie O’ Beach Club & Restaurant opened July 1 at Super Paradise beach on Mykonos. The aerial photo below shows the new club’s location on the hillside overlooking the west end of picturesque Super Paradise beach. The pictures were posted on Facebook by club co-owner Carsten Stehr, who created the stylish new beach venue with business partner Michalis Sigounas. Click on the images to view them in full-size format.
Club class: A stylish new restaurant and bar has opened at Super Paradise, one of the legendary party beaches on Mykonos.
Featuring Cycladic sculptural design elements in an amphitheatrical hillside setting at the west end of Super Paradise beach, Jackie O’ Beach boasts a large open-air bar, a 150-seat restaurant, private lounge areas, its own beachfront, swimming pool, jacuzzi and even a church. A Sotris clothing and fashion accessories shop is also part of the complex, which opened on the site of the former Coco Beach Club (see my August 16 2011 post for a description of the old club, as well as photos of the location’s terrific views of Super Paradise beach and bay).
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This promotional image for this weekend’s Mykonos Biennale depicts a view of the picturesque blue-domed church at the Mykonos harbourfront, as seen from the entrance colonnade at the Mykonos Town Hall
Cult event: Most people associate Mykonos with beautiful beaches and scintillating nightlife, but this weekend the island will draw international attention for arts and culture instead as it plays host to an avant-garde festival of visual art, music, dance and film.
The Mykonos Biennale, a cult event featuring a video film festival, contemporary art installations and live dance and musical performances, takes place at a variety of venues in and around Mykonos Town as well as on nearby Delos island during the four days starting Friday June 21.
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Musician Andreas Tsironis plays the bouzouki while one of the island’s famous pelicans preens on the wall behind him in the Kastro area of Mykonos Town
Tunes for tourists: Cruise ship passengers who headed for the Kastro area of Mykonos Town in hopes of seeing one of the famous Mykonos pelicans, as well as the iconic Paraportiani Church, got a triple treat while visiting the island recently.
They not only got to see both the church and one of the popular birds in the same place, but they also got to enjoy some live musical entertainment at the same time, courtesy of a local bouzouki busker.
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A chapel dedicated to Agios Iakovos occupies a lonely location on a hill above Agios Sostis bay on Mykonos. Click on the photo above to view it full-size.
Side view of the chapel from the highway leading to Agios Sostis
Front view of the Agios Iakovos chapel
Inscriptions beside and above one of the chapel’s blue doors
A pelican entertains tourists in the Kastro area of Mykonos Town
Bookings up: The 2013 travel season appears to have gotten off to a good start for Mykonos, one of the top tourist destinations in the Greek Islands.
While I was on Mykonos from May 13 to 18 during my annual Greek holiday, I spoke to dozens of hotel managers, restaurant staff, shop proprietors and other people involved in businesses that depend upon tourism. Virtually everyone told me there was more tourist traffic on the island this month compared to the same time last year, and all signs (so far, at least) suggest the rest of the travel season will be much busier than it was in 2012.
Regular readers will recall that, in my series of reports about my 8-day visit to Mykonos in May 2012, I frequently mentioned how unusually quiet the island had been, even on days when cruise ships called into port. Mykonos Town was practically empty of tourists most times I walked around, and lacked the typically vibrant energy, hustle and bustle that I had encountered on seven previous trips to the island.
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