6 Things to do in Mykonos

I have to say, I have a really weird feeling about Mykonos. It's incredibly beautiful and, visually, even better than I could ever have imagined, but because it's become the 'in' place to go in the past few decades, it's kind of been taken over by the wealthy squad. So you've got all these beautiful, traditional white and blue streets in Mykonos town, but then built into them are shops like Gucci and Louis Vuitton and this huge contrast, to me anyway, gave it the feel of  walking into a rich people's purpose-built playground rather than traditional Greece, which was a bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong; I'm so, so happy to have had the chance to visit and tick it off my bucketlist but I still haven't quite worked out how I feel about it... It's definitely somewhere I'd have loved to have seen 50 or so years ago anyway. Still, we did do some amazing things out there so I've put together a little guide of what to do and see when you're out there! Although Mykonos is known for its partying, we didn't actually hit any clubs as it was just the two of us and we're more of  a'drink at a bar' twosome rather than a clubbing twosome - otherwise known as pensioners -  so I can't give you any recommendations in that field unfortunately but, from what I've heard, Paradise Beach is the way to go. SO, without further ado, here are my Mykonos Musts:

LITTLE VENICE & THE WINDMILLS

Little Venice and The Windmills are probably two of the top tourist sights in Mykonos (aside from Paradise beach, of course) and are definitely worth checking out BUT just don't expect to have them all to yourself. I'd recommended checking out the windmills at sunset, like we did above, as they look just loverly with a pink and purple backdrop, plus Mykonos gets the most beautiful sunsets so you're unlikely to be disappointed. Little Venice, to be honest, I'd recommend checking out both during the day and at sunset. During the day it looks vibrant and and colourful and like I'd imagine the real Venice looks. By night they look much more Greek, I think anyway, and you can hop into one of the many bars or restuarants for a front row ticket to watch the sunset across the sea and the windmills. Romantic stuff, eh? 

BILL & COO

Bill and Coo Suites and Lounge is somewhere I'd highly recommend (if this was school I'd slap a big ass gold star beside it's name), which we visited on our second night for drinks and dinner. I'm not alone on this one either, it was actually voted Greece's leading luxury all suite hotel. We started off with a round of cocktails by the infinity pool, where we sat and watched one of the nicest sunsets I've seen.  Beautiful, innit? Rob's very well versed in the language of cocktails and is hard to impress (whereas I'm just happy if somewhere has a sex on the beach on the menu) but actually found one of the best ones he'd had here. If anyone's keeping tally, I think that earns them another gold star right there. We then headed over up the seated area for some food, and this is where the fun stuff really started.

We were presented with a seven (seven!) course meal and my whole gluten thang wasn't a problem at all - they were quick to change the recipe for each of the courses in order to cater to my ever-disappointing intolerance. It was like being in Willy Wonka's factory - there was everything from rice-infused tomatoes to lime flavoured foam (!) in there, most of which looked too pretty to eat. On top of that, the staff were all incredibly lovely and took are of you better than a grandma on a 'you need to get some meat on those bones' mission; I'm talking to the level where your drink's topped up before you've even realised you'd finished your first one. We then got a little sneaky peak of the rooms which was all very exciting.

They were exactly as I expected, minimal but lux with a whole load of swanky extras throw in. I'm talking private hot tub, free standing bath in the middle of the bedroom and EVEN a secret mini-bar esque drawer that's filled with sex toys for the more, um, adventurous couple. Hey, you in the corner - stop giggling.

By night, the pool is filled with tiny lights so that it looks like it's reflecting the stars in the sky above, which was completely and utterly breathtaking. Be it for a stay, a meal or a sunset cocktail, I'd definitely recommend squeezing in a visit to Bill and Coo! 

NICE 'N' EASY

Another restaurant I'd recommend is Nice 'n Easy. Cheap it is not, although we soon found out that's the case with most places in Mykonos, but the food was incredibly tasty and I had one of the best salmon fillets I've ever had*. However, the real bonus lies in the fact that they have a really, really extensive gluten free menu and it's all clearly marked out - a major godsend for me as I was struggling to find someone who even knew what gluten was, never mind what foods it was in.  

 * after Rob's that is** 

** Of course I'm writing that of my own accord (is he still there?)

GET LOST

Don't worry, I'm not being offensive - I mean that literally. The best thing we did there was spend an afternoon getting completely lost in the winding white and blue streets of Mykonos Town. They're up there with the most picturesque streets I've seen, and are guaranteed to make you leave with a smile on your face (and a whole host of Instagram-worthy photos). Whilst you're down there, make sure and pop into Gelarte on the sea front for an ice cream! There's Ferrerro Rocher, Snickers, Kinder Bueno, passion fruit, strawberry sorbet... the list goes on. If you're in a particularly 'fuck it' kind of mood, they specialise in wonderfully calorific waffles or crepes with ice cream, whipped cream and sauce. You can choose to sit in or take it away for a walk along the seafront! 

AGIOS SOSTIS & KIKI'S TAVERN

We took a day trip up to Agios Sostis beach for the morning which was lovely. It is, however, incredibly hard to get to - we were lucky in that we had the hotel's driver take us there, but if not then you have to take a bus and then walk, or get a taxi. We actually went up because we'd heard good things about Kiki's Tavern, which is a little restaurant tucked away on the edge of the beach that's all about getting back to basics - no electricity, music, or card payments and everything's cooked on the grill. However, I've got mixed feelings about it - like I said, the wealthy have kind of taken over Mykonos so the crowd there completely contrasted with what the retsaurant stood for; we actually heard both 'just tell them how important we are,  I'm absolutely not queuing' and 'don't they know who we are?' used in the space of five minutes which, until then, I thought only existed in films. Kiki's also seem to have matched their prices to this kind of crowd, so we ended up at about £60 for a pretty average lunch. So, good experience and I'm glad we did it but, again, my feelings are a mixed bag of fish.

ORNOS BAY

We only walked through Ornos bay on our way to Mykonos town, so I can't really recommend or not recommend it, but I thought I'd include this snap so that you can at least get an idea of what it's like. Beautiful, ya?

As you may or may not know, we stayed at Kivotos in Mykonos, and you can read my review and see my photo diary on that here! And sadly that was all we had time to fit in before we flew home! Sadly that brings my blog posts on Greece to a close - I really hoped you liked them and that they're helpful to any of you who end up heading out there. As always, please consider taking me in you case.

Thank you so much again to Kivotos, Blue Palace, a luxury collection resort and spa, Aegean Airlines and Discover Greece for organising such a wonderful trip. And, for more on Greece, check out www.discovergreece.com!

Amy
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