lslay78

Mykonos has a reputation for being a bit of a party spot. My friend who just returned said the discos started at 4pm and hired professional dancers to work there and attract business. I would really like to visit Delos and that means about 2 nights on Mykonos for me in the beginning of October. Is there any place to get away from the crowds and tourists on Mykonos? Any secluded beaches (minus the big hotels and bars)? Hiking?
Of course, the disco could be an interesting experience...
Thanks for your help!

PurpleNeon

My husband and I spend 2 nights on Mykonos this June. We stayed at the Deliades Hotel in Ornos Bay. Ornos Bay is a 5 Euro taxi ride from Mykonos-town. The beach was quite nice and the area seemed a lot quieter. The Deliades was my favorite hotel; it was clean and beautiful and had the most amazing views of the water at Ornos Bay. We watched the sun set from our balcony on both nights and it was great! The taxi ride to Mykonos town is cheap and short; there is also a bus, but it ends around midnight (?).

There is also a water taxi that picks up right on the beach at Ornos Bay to go to Delos. I think the pick up was around 10:30 and the return was around 2ish. We, too, were hoping to enjoy Mykonos at a slightly less frenetic pace than it's reputation, and were delighted with our choice!

In retrospect, however, I would have spent 3 nights there. We ferried from Athens/Piraeus, so arrived mid-day on our first night. The 2nd day was spent at Delos and that night in Mykonos town. Our next ferry was early the next morning. This left us no time to rent a car to explore the rest of the island (something we really enjoyed doing on the other islands we visited).

Hope that helps!

KayF

We had 4 nights on Mykonos, staying at a hotel that was walking distance above the town, by the sea, and loved it. It was quiet where we stayed and we are not into nightclubs at all so we would go out for dinner and wander around the shops for a bit, maybe have a drink then go back to our hotel. I can look up the hotel name if you like. We caught the ferry to Delos one day, there are signs with times/prices etc at the waterfront. It was reasonably cheap and very interesting on Delos, it is also very hot and dusty with almost no shade so take some water and a hat.
Kay

jmw44

Thanks, Islay78, for this inquiry. I have sadly eliminated Mykonos from my Greek Island wishlist, because I thought there was not a chance of a quiet visit. The answers to your thread might give me hope. Kay, I'd love to read the name of your hotel. I've already bookmarked a little site that describes Purple's Deliades. J.

KayF

I had a look at my travel journal from Greece and the hotel was the Poseidon Hotel in Mykonos town. It would have been about 15 min walk down to the waterfront and only a few mins to restaurants etc. It was up behind the windmills you see in all the photos. We requested a seaview and from our small balcony had a wonderful view. The pool area was nice. Rooms were fairly basic but clean. We were there in late May, I guess it's a lot busier and noisier in peak season.
Kay

cristine27

lslay78
please do go to mykonos and don't worry at all about the crowds because that period you won't find any!!

111op

Check to see if October is still regarded as high season -- I suspect not. When I was there in mid June, it was actually quite pleasant and I had a surprisingly good time. I overheard one person telling another another that in August, a five-minute walk from where I was (Kalogera, I think, just a couple of blocks from the harbor) would have turned into a half-hour walk in August. Even the beach I visited was relatively uncrowded.

lslay78

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question. I'm glad to hear a different side of things and to find out about some "quieter" places on the island. I think you are right, 111op, about October being out of the high season. That would be an added bonus!

111op

Thanks for giving me the credit, but I think cristine was the one who pointed that out. In any case, I also think that October will be low season, so judging from what my experience was like in June, I think that you'll have a great time!

Ramblero

I stayed at Cavo Tagoo, about an easy 15 minute walk from town for 4 days in early Oct. It was wonderful and very quiet. And quite exciting, having left the windows open, when I opened the door upon returning and found myself blasted across the slippery marble floors due to the 25 mph seasonal winds. Exhilarating!!!

Songdoc

I just returned from a trip that included a blissful day in Mykonos. I too, wanted to avoid the disco atmosphere of Paradise and Super Paradise beaches. That's not my idea of paradise.

Thanks to the suggestions of Fodorites I took a taxi (5 Euros) from Mykonos town to Psarou Beach. I arrived around 10am and found an idyllic, QUIET beach, surrounded by cliffs that provided beautiful scenery -- and kept the wind at a minimum.

I rented a lounge chair and thatched umbrella for 7 Euros and soaked in the sun and the beautiful views. (Some of the chairs needed to have been reserved the previous day. It didn't make much sense since they were all empty and I was willing to pay -- but it was easy to find an equivalent chair ten feet away from the "reserved" area.)

There was soft music playing in the background -- barely audible depending on where you sat. One side of the beach had easy listening Euro jazz, while the other side had more traditional Greek music playing. But the music was very soft and this was definitely not the disco/party atmosphere Mykonos is known for. I walked along the paths high above the beach and took some breathtakingly beautiful photos.

Psarou beach is right next to the beautiful (but expensive) Mykonos Blu hotel and there are restaurants and snack bars right there. The main restaurant was beautiful but very expensive (20 euros for a club sandwich!).

By midday the beach had mostly filled up with European tourists -- primarily families and young couples. (FYI, if you care, about one-third of the women went topless.) But it never felt crowded or noisy.

When it was time to leave I could have called a taxi but chose the long hike up to the main road where I could get a bus back to town. I wound up enjoying walking along the road so much that I walked the 3 - 4 miles back to town. The views were beautiful and I stopped for a delightful lunch at a Taverna (9 euros for mkore than I could eat) and browsed in a mini-supermarket along the way.

The main road led me back to town near the area where the windmills (and hordes of tourists) are located. It was an absolutely wonderful, peaceful, relaxing day -- exactly what I'd hoped for.

jmw44

Hi all, I'm still following this exchange with interest. Kay, thanks for the name, but when I found a website, it didn't look "basic" to me. Could I have the wrong place? a 'complex'? big swimming pool? Thanks, J.

KayF

Hi jmw44
http://www.poseidonhotel-mykonos.com/index.html
This is the site, so yes it is the place you have looked at. The hotel itself was fine, nice pool, decent buffet breakfast but the room was fairly basic, not much in it and plain. We travel on a budget and I remember feeling quite disappointed with the room until we opened the shutters and saw the view - then the room didn't matter! I would stay there again, it's fine and in a good location, just don't expect luxury.
Kay