The island’s famous windmills provide a scenic backdrop to seaside tables at a cocktail bar in the popular Little Venice area of Mykonos
A wall on one of the buildings at Hotel Tagoo in Mykonos displays elements of traditional Cycladic architecture and design
This Google map image shows Delos island’s location between Mykonos, right, and Rinia, left. Mykonos offers the closest and most convenient access to Delos, with ferry service from the Mykonos Town harbour
[Editor’s Note: Please see my Visiting Delos in 2016 post for current Delos information, including new ferry ticket prices and new fees for admission to the Delos archaeological site.]
Getting there from Mykonos: It’s relatively easy to reach Delos from Mykonos, which just happens to be the closest populated island.
Every day except Monday, when Delos is closed to the public, excursion boats depart the Mykonos Town harbour in the morning, and return in the early to mid-afternoon. Three different boats — the Delos Express, the Margarita and the Orca — offer round trips that typically depart at 9, 10 and 11 a.m., and return from Delos at 12:15, 1:30 and 3 p.m. I say “typically,” because the service depends upon both the season and demand. In May 2011, for instance, boats departed Mykonos only at 9 and 10, and returned at 12:15 and 3. In extremely windy or stormy weather, the boats might be cancelled altogether. You don’t have to return on the same boat that took you to Delos; you’re free to select whichever returning boat you prefer.
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Approaching the northwest end of Paradise beach from a coastal path
Lounge chairs and umbrellas line the stretch of coarse golden sand along Paradise beach in front of Freddy’s restaurant and the Tropicana Club
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The Flyingcat 4 highspeed ferry powers its way through wavy rough seas as it approaches the Old Port of Mykonos on a very windy May day
Fast ferry favourite: It’s a familiar sight in the Cyclades, and a favourite mode of transport for tourists travelling the popular corridor between Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Ios, Santorini and Crete. It’s the Flyingcat 4, a highspeed passenger ferry operated by Hellenic Seaways. Built in England in 1999, the catamaran ferry carries up to 440 passengers in airline-style seats, and can travel at a top speed of 40 knots. It plies the Aegean Sea between Crete and Mykonos between April and late October each year, offering daily trips from May through September (except for two Wednesdays per month when the ship stays at its home base at the port of Heraklion, Crete for maintenance.) It leaves Heraklion in the morning, reaches Mykonos around 2.30 in the afternoon, and then heads back home.
We’ve had a grand total of four one-way trips on Flyingcat 4 so far, though it feels like we’ve been on it more times than that (perhaps because we took its smaller sister, Flyingcat 3, from Paros to Pireaus one holiday).
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