MYKONOS UNBUTTONED: Glamour, Grit, and the Golden Hour on Greece’s Most Infamous Island
There’s a moment just before sunset in Mykonos when the whole island seems to hold its breath. The whitewashed buildings of Chora blush peach. The Aegean glitters like spilled champagne. And everyone—yes, everyone—from bronzed honeymooners to billionaire boaters to a dreadlocked man selling kaftans—is facing west, waiting for the sun to drop like a curtain on another day of hedonistic magic.
Welcome to Mykonos: part postcard, part fever dream, all attitude.
Chora, or Mykonos Town at Sunset
A Labyrinth of Light and Life
Step off the ferry and into Chora, the island’s white-labyrinthine capital, and the world feels like it’s been scrubbed clean. The winding alleyways—originally designed to confuse pirates—now dazzle influencers. Bougainvillea explodes from every balcony, and cats sprawl in the sun like locals with nowhere better to be. And every turn reveals either a tiny blue-domed church or a boutique selling linen shirts that cost more than your flight.
But beneath the picture-perfect polish, Mykonos pulses with layers. Yes, you’ll find luxury—Louis Vuitton lounges near the harbor—but there’s also lingering grit. Fishermen still mend nets in the early morning. Elderly women still sweep their stoops. Mykonos hasn’t entirely sold its soul; it’s just learned how to market it.
Agios Sostis Beach
Paradise After Midnight
To discuss Mykonos without mentioning its nightlife is like describing New Orleans without mentioning the jazz. When the sun sets, this island wakes up. The party is democratic here: millionaires and misfits sharing the same dance floor, bare feet and designer heels kicking up the same sand.
Scorpios is the epicenter of boho-glam revelry—think fire dancers, mezze platters, and tribal house beats as the sun melts into the sea. For something a bit grittier (and gayer), head to JackieO’ Beach Club at Super Paradise Beach, where drag queens strut with the swagger of Greek gods.
And yet, if you want silence, Mykonos offers that too. Wake early (or don’t sleep at all), and you can have a stretch of Agios Sostis beach entirely to yourself—just you, the salt breeze, and a couple of goats who clearly couldn’t care less that Lenny Kravitz might have napped there once.
Interni Restaurant
Eat Like You Mean It
Mykonos has shaken off the souvlaki stereotype and embraced a more refined palette, though, to be clear, a good gyro still hits like poetry after a beach day.
Start your culinary pilgrimage at Kiki’s Tavern, a power-free taverna with no phone, no reservations, and a wait that feels more like a rite of passage. What follows is grilled meats, marinated vegetables, and views that taste like summer.
At the other end of the spectrum, Interni serves haute Mediterranean in a hidden garden, where the crowd is part runway show, part art installation. And for the perfect marriage of humble and haute, stop at a seaside bakery for a warm tiropita and eat it with your feet in the sand.
Panagia Tourliani Monastery
The Art of the Escape
Here’s the secret to Mykonos: Leave it.
Not forever. Just for a few hours. Rent a scooter and head inland, where time slows and the party soundtrack fades. Tiny villages like Ano Mera still honor a quieter rhythm. The Panagia Tourliani Monastery is a cool, candlelit reprieve from beach-thumping bass. You might even meet a local who remembers when Jackie O came to town—the first time.
Final Thoughts at Golden Hour
Mykonos is not for everyone. It’s too loud, too sexy, too self-aware. But for those who lean into its contradictions—ancient and modern, sacred and profane, polished and raw—it is unforgettable.
Here, a day can end with an $800 bottle of rosé or a bare-bones ouzo on a fisherman’s stoop. Or, if you’re lucky, both.
Because that’s the thing about Mykonos.
It always leaves you wanting just one more night.
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IF YOU GO:
Best Time to Visit: Late May or early September. The weather’s perfect, the water’s warm, and the crowds are (relatively) thinner.
Stay: Cavo Tagoo for Instagram clout, The Wild Hotel for secluded luxury, or a traditional Cycladic guesthouse in Chora for something soulfully simple.
Pack: Linen everything, SPF 50, and your best excuse for staying out until sunrise.
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Jeremy Rill is a Denver-based travel writer and photographer who believes the best souvenirs are stories you can’t quite tell your mother.
