Part Two: Our Honeymoon in Mykonos, Greece

Hey hey! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving last week! I was in Maine celebrating with my family, and it felt so nice to be able to drive to Thanksgiving this year, rather than fly. I love living on the same coast as my family!

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Today’s post is all about our honeymoon in Mykonos, Greece. If you missed part one about the two days we spent in Athens, you can click here to read the post.

We traveled from Athens to Mykonos on a teeny tiny Olympic Air plane. I’m not typically scared of flying, but I’ll admit that small planes like we flew here make me nervous. Luckily, we were only in the air for about 30 minutes, so I wasn’t nervous for too long. The carriers who fly between the Greek islands are typically low cost, which means that if you don’t care to select your seat and only have carry-on luggage, then your ticket could potentially be very inexpensive. We wanted to sit next to each other and we each had one large suitcase to check, so we paid additional fees for those upgrades, but the cost was still relatively cheap (about $70 USD per person).

Where We Stayed:

When we arrived at the Mykonos airport we were picked up by our hotel’s complimentary shuttle. We stayed at the Mykonos Bay Hotel for six nights. We chose the Mykonos Bay Hotel because it was one of the very few hotels we found that had direct access to the beach, a swimming pool, and a close proximity to Mykonos Town.

When we first arrived we were put in a guest room next to the hotel’s laundry room, which was extremely noisy. We immediately knew that if we wanted to enjoy our time in Mykonos and get any quiet time, then we’d have to find a different room. After speaking with management, they were able to switch us to a beautiful guest suite with a private jacuzzi for our first night and then move us to a sea view room located far away from the laundry room for our remaining nights.

We were very grateful that they were able to accommodate the change, but if you do stay at the Mykonos Bay Hotel, make sure to request a room away from the laundry facilities. I also highly recommend upgrading to a sea view room. You’ll love opening your doors to this view every morning!

The guest rooms at the Mykonos Bay Hotel are pristine white (classic Greek style) and modern. Just like most European hotels, the rooms are small, but still very comfortable. I particularly loved the rain shower, fluffy robes, and slippers in our room. Also, each room is equipped with a Nespresso machine, which comes in handy if you are experiencing jet lag or just need a mid-day pick-me-up.

The hotel also offered an incredible complimentary Greek buffet breakfast daily.

The options were endless: dozens of artisan breads and crackers, a rotating selection of traditional Greek pastries (I may or may not have had baklava every morning…), pancakes, sausage, granola, Greek yogurt, eggs, nuts, cheese, fresh fruit, coffee, tea, and so much more. We made sure to fill up our plates each morning to start the day on the right foot.

Since we had just come from a crazy week of wedding celebrations, we decided to take a few afternoons to just relax, and laid on the beach chairs with our books. I went through two books in four days!

How We Got Around:

Because our hotel was so close to Mykonos Town, we were able to walk there daily to eat and shop. I highly recommend staying in a hotel that is walkable from Mykonos Town because you’ll be able to do so much more by foot. The streets in Mykonos are very narrow and there are no sidewalks, so walking can be especially dangerous at night. If you do walk on the streets at night, wear light colored clothing and constantly be on the lookout for oncoming traffic.

You can rent a car, ATV, or scooter; however, parking a car is sometimes difficult and maneuvering around other (crazy) drivers on an ATV or scooter isn’t the easiest. We chose to rent a car for one day just to explore other parts of the island, but in the end we decided it was too stressful to drive on the old and narrow streets. We likely wouldn’t do it again.

Taxis in Mykonos are very expensive because there are so few of them, yet there are many tourists looking for rides. A five minute taxi ride could easily cost you 20 Euros, so keep that in mind before taking one. Many hotels offer complimentary shuttles to and from Mykonos Town, which is another great thing to look for when selecting a hotel. Some shuttles operate on a schedule and others, like our hotel, are available whenever you call for them.

There is also a bus system in Mykonos that appeared to be very popular, but we didn’t use it. It has many routes and seemed relatively inexpensive, so that is certainly another option to get around the island.

What We Did:

Walk around Mykonos Town

image source

Exploring Mykonos Town is SO much fun! The cobblestone streets are filled with fantastic restaurants, clothing and accessory shops, and souvenirs. When they were constructed many, many years ago, the streets were intentionally designed like a maze to confuse pirates. I loved getting lost in the maze of streets because every turn we took we stumbled upon something new we hadn’t seen the previous day.

Watch the Sunset

The sunsets in Greece are undeniably gorgeous. We spent some evenings watching the sunset from our hotel porch and other nights watching it along the beach in Mykonos Town. Pro tip: you can buy a bottle of beer (or in my case bottle of prosecco) from a shop in Mykonos Town and carry it with you to watch the sunset. The shop we purchased from even opened the bottles for us!

Mykonos Sailing with Artemis

If you do one excursion in Mykonos, make sure it’s this sailing trip. We had SO. MUCH. FUN!

Artemis operates two daily sailing trips from his personal sail boat – one in the afternoon and one at sunset. We chose the 5 hour afternoon trip and were among a small group of three other couples, so eight passengers total. We really lucked out because the other couples on our trip were a blast to hang out with and we all hit it off right away. (We even keep in touch on social media now!)

The boat makes two swimming stops and the trip includes an all you can eat and drink (beer and wine) Greek meal. Artemis cooked an INCREDIBLE Greek feast by himself on the boat. We were amazed what he could whip up using a small portable grill and sailboat kitchen. He’s a pro sailer and cook!

I really can’t recommend this sailing trip enough!

Where We Ate:

Vergera

Vergera is a great little cafe right on the water at the edge of Mykonos Town. We loved the chicken kebabs and grilled vegetables.

Kastros

We loved Kastros so much that we went there twice throughout our six day stay. It’s located in Little Venice, overlooking the water and sunset. We made early dinner reservations both nights so we could watch the sunset while we ate. Everything on the menu is fantastic, so you really can’t go wrong!

M-eating

If you’re looking for an upscale meal that will impress you, go to M-eating.  The presentation and flavors were fantastic. We loved sitting on the porch that overlooks the hustle and bustle of Mykonos Town, so try to get a seat outside if you can.

Pepper Souvlaki

Pepper has THE BEST chicken souvlaki sandwiches. They even have whole grain pitas available, which was an extra win for us. Each giant sandwich was less than 4 euros, so it was by far our cheapest meal on the island. Travis loved these pita sandwiches so much that one night he had one after we had already eaten dinner. He just couldn’t leave Mykonos without having a Pepper souvlaki sandwich one last time!

Keep Reading…

Part Three: Our Honeymoon in Santorini