Mykonos

A magnet for the jet set, Mykonos dazzles in summer with its beach clubs, luxury boutiques and buzzing nightlife. Yet beyond the glitz lies a quieter charm: winding lanes, golden beaches and sacred ruins that whisper of Greece’s ancient heart.

In the peak summer months, Mykonos earns its reputation as the St Tropez of the Aegean, with exclusive beach clubs pumping out house music, harbours filled with superyachts and no shortage of high-end hotels, designer boutiques, fashionable nightclubs and gourmet restaurants.

But there’s more to Mykonos than just glitzy excess. Hora, the island’s well-preserved port and capital, is a tangle of narrow alleyways, cobbled streets and whitewashed buildings, overlooked by the town’s famous windmills. Elia has a beautiful Blue Flag stretch of beach and offers a host of watersports. The sheltered waters of Fokos Bay, in the north, provide delightful swimming for all ages, with a renowned taverna nearby for when you’ve worked up an appetite. While the nearby island of Delos, 30 minutes away by boat and mythical birthplace of the god Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, remains one of the most important archaeological sites in all Greece.