Mykonos
Population 9300
The most visited and expensive of the Cyclades, Mykonos survives on tourism but handles it well. The island has marvellous variety with sandy beaches, countless bars, trendy boutiques, and romantic sunsets. Mykonos has long been a mecca for gay travellers.
Orientation
Mykonos has two ferry quays. The old quay, where most of the conventional ferries and some fast ferries dock, is 400m north of the town waterfront. The new quay is 2.5km north of town. Buses and vociferous domatia owners meet arriving ferries. When buying outgoing tickets, check which quay the ferry leaves from.
Information
There is no tourist office. There are countless options for Internet access, most charging around €3 per hour.
Hoteliers Association of Mykonos ((2289 024 540; www.mykonosgreece.com; Old Port; h9am-11pm)
Island Mykonos Travel ((2289 022 232; www.discovergreece.org; Taxi Sq)
Sights & Activities
Summer crowds consume the island’s capital, shuffling through snaking streets of chic boutiques and blinding white walls with balconies of cascading flowers. Little Venice, where the sea laps up to the edge of the buildings, and Mykonos’ famous hilltop row of windmills should be included in a stroll. The most popular beaches are Platys Gialos, the often nude Paradise Beach and mainly gay Super Paradise, Agrari and Elia beaches.
Paros
Population 12,850
The Greek Paros is more open and laid-back than Mykonos. It is an attractive island with good swimming beaches and terraced hills that build up to Mt Profitis Ilias (770m). It is famous for its pure white marble from which the Venus de Milo was sculpted.
Orientation
The main town and port is Parikia, on the west coast. Agora, also known as Market St, is Parikia’s main commercial thoroughfare. It runs from Plateia Mavrogenous, the main square (opposite the ferry terminal).
Information
Santorineos Travel ((2284 024 245) On the waterfront, it also provides tourist information.
Memphis.net ((2284 022 878; per hr €4; h9am-midnight) Opposite the ferry quay, to the left.
Sights & Activities
There are sealed roads the whole way round the island. En route, you can visit villages, such as Naoussa, Marpissa and Aliki, or swim at Logaras, Pounda and Golden Beach (Hrysi Akti). Golden Beach is also a popular windsurfing spot.
Parikia’s church Panagia Ekatontapyliani
(Our Lady of the Hundred Gates; (2284 021 243; h7.30am-9.30pm) is known throughout Greece for its beautiful, ornate interior.
Less than 2km from Paros, the island of Antiparos has fantastic beaches.
Santorini
Population 13,400
Stunning Santorini, officially known as Thira, is surely the most spectacular of the Greek Islands. Around 1450 BC, the volcanic heart of the island exploded and sank, leaving an extraordinary landscape. Visitors can’t help but gaze at the startling sight of the submerged caldera almost encircled by sheer cliffs.
Orientation
The capital, Fira, perches on top of the caldera on the west coast, and the port of Athinios is 10km away by road. The bus station and taxi station are located just south of Fira’s main square, Plateia Theotokopoulou.
Information
Dakoutros Travel ((2286 022 958; www.dakoutrostravel.gr; h8:30am-10pm) Opposite the taxi station.
Lava Internet Café ((2286 025 551; €1.50 per 15min) Just up from the square.
Post office One block south of the taxi station.
Santosun Travel ((2286 081 456; santosun@otenet.gr) On the main street of Perissa, on the southeast coast. Also has Internet access.
FIRA
The shameless commercialism of Fira has not quite reduced its dramatic aura. The Museum of Prehistoric Thira ((2286 023 217; admission €3; h8.30am-3pm Tue-Sun) has wonderful displays of artefacts, predominantly from ancient Akrotiri. It’s two blocks south of the main square.
Just behind the Catholic Cathedral, the Megaron Gyzi Museum ((2286 022 244; admission €3; h10.30am-1.30pm & 5pm-8pm Mon-Sat, 10.30am-4.30pm Sun), houses local memorabilia, including photographs of Fira before and after the 1956 earthquake.
AROUND THE ISLAND
Santorini’s beaches have black volcanic sand, and they sizzle in the sun. It’s a strange feeling to walk over black sand then onto smooth lava when going for a dip. Perissa and Kamari in particular are popular.
At the north of the island, the flawless village of Oia (pronounced ee-ah), famed for its postcard sunsets, is less hectic than Fira. It’s possible to walk from Fira in about three hours along the top of the caldera.
You can clamber around on volcanic lava on Nea Kameni, then swim into warm springs in the sea at Palia Kameni as a day excursion.
Ios
Population 1850
Ios has a deserved reputation as a party island, with sunbathing all day and drinking all night. The island has three population centres, all close together on the west coast: the port (Ormos), the capital, Hora (also known as ‘the village’), 2km inland and up from the port, and Milopotas, the beach 2km down from the Hora. The village has an intrinsic charm with its labyrinth of white-walled streets, and it’s very easy to get lost, even if you haven’t had one too many.
The bus stop in Ormos is straight ahead from the ferry quay. The bus trundles regularly up to the village. There is no tourist office, but Acteon Travel ((2286 091 343; www.acteon.gr) has four offices in Ormos, the village and Milopotas. Internet access costs around €4 an hour, and is scattered among hotels, cafés, bars and Acteon Travel.
Milopotas Beach has everything a resort beach can ask for, and isolated Manganari on the south coast has four sandy crescent beaches.
Ios has daily ferry connections to Piraeus (€18.80), and there are frequent hydrofoils and ferries to the major Cycladic islands. There are buses every 20 minutes between the port, the village and Milopotas Beach until early morning, and two to three per day to Manganari Beach.