What should I avoid in Mykonos?

The waterfront restaurants along Little Venice in Chora look wonderful at sunset, with waves slapping against the stone foundations and that warm Aegean light hitting your glass. A basic seafood pasta at Kastro's or Caprice runs €24-32, and the portions are smaller than what you'd get for €14 at Kounelas near the old port, where the grilled octopus actually tastes of char and sea salt rather than a freezer. The same pattern holds on Matoyianni Street, where every second shop sells €90 scarves you'll find for €35 in Athens' Plaka district. Worth noting, the cocktail bars along the waterfront charge €16-20 for drinks that cost €8-10 two blocks inland at Semeli. Dinner at Little Venice is paying a premium for geography, not the kitchen.

Nammos at Psarou Beach is the one that gets the celebrity press. A sunbed and umbrella pair runs €80-150 depending on row, and a bottle of rosé from the menu starts at €90. The bass is loud enough that you feel it vibrating through the wooden deck beneath your feet. If €150 for a sunbed sounds like your thing, fine. But if you're expecting a relaxing beach day, you might find yourself irritated and €300 lighter by 4pm. Super Paradise has a similar setup at slightly lower prices, around €60 for a sunbed, but the atmosphere skews more spring-break than Cycladic. Agios Sostis sits about 8km north of Chora with no sunbeds, no bar, no music. You carry water and a towel from Chora. The sand is coarse, the water is cold enough to make you gasp in June at around 21°C, and it's one of the few beaches on Mykonos that still feels like a Greek island.

The taxi situation on Mykonos is notorious. There are currently around 31 licensed taxis for the entire island, and in peak season Mykonos hosts over 100,000 visitors at a time. The taxi stand at the port in Chora often has a 45-minute wait after 10pm. Drivers sometimes quote a flat €20-25 for a trip that should cost €10-12 on the meter, so always insist on the metered fare. The better move is renting a car from a local agency near Fabrika square for €50-70 per day. Avoid the quad bikes and ATVs that rental shops offer for €25-40 per day. Mykonos has steep gravel roads, sharp turns with no guardrails, and the meltemi wind can gust to 50-60km/h in July and August. Mykonos Health Center in Chora treats ATV crashes regularly from June through September.

Cruise ships dock at Tourlos, and between 10am and 4pm from May through October, groups of 2,000-4,000 passengers per ship flood into Chora's narrow lanes. The lanes in the Kastro quarter are barely 2 meters wide. The smell of sunscreen and the clatter of rolling luggage on marble fill passages that were sized for donkeys, not groups of 40. If you want to see the Paraportiani church, built in stages starting from 1475, go before 9am or after 5pm. The Delos ferry from the old port takes 30 minutes, and the first departure at 9am gets you onto the island before the big tour boats arrive around 10:30. By noon the Archaeological Museum of Delos, which opened in 1904, feels packed to the walls. The meltemi winds blow strongest from mid-July through mid-August, strong enough to cancel ferry services for 1-2 days at a stretch and to turn a beach umbrella into a projectile.