Sunday's New York Times has one of those nifty "36 Hours" stories on the Greek island of Mykonos, doling out sage advice on where and when to drink, eat, party, and sleep. According to the newspaper of record, the island's tourist infrastructure has crept upscale over the past few years, following a bleak period "not so long ago" of overcrowding and atrophy.
We can't debate the differences between Mykonos now and Mykonos when Jackie O discovered it, but know one thing for sure: the place is spectacular, whether or not it's currently in vogue with the A-list travel set (whoever they are). After a five-day visit to the island few years ago, we concluded that you'd really have to have something wrong with you if you couldn't have a good time in Mykonos. From the winding, pedestrian-only streets of the old town to some of the best beaches in the Aegean, it's (almost) everybody's idea of a summertime paradise. Everybody under fifty, in any case.
The story highlights the Belvedere Hotel as the "gold standard of Mykonian chic," and I think they nailed it there. Turn up the volume and watch the video on the hotel website. Sure, it's a bit Euro-cheesy, but you know you want it. We couldn't afford the Belvedere so we stayed in Hora town at the Philippi Hotel, which was grand and had an excellent garden restaurant. Our balcony overlooked Kaloyera Street, and we got quite a view of the revelers celebrating the Greek soccer team's victory in the 2004 Euro Cup. Groups of vacationing Greeks were singing, dancing, and shooting dangerous-looking fireworks in the air and at each other. It was awesome.
Their beach advice seems sound as well, calling out Agios Sostis on the north side for those who want to avoid the crowds, and anointing Elia as the new gay party beach, having recently overtaken Super Paradise. We took a caique shuttle boat to both Paradise and Super Paradise (ridiculous names, to be sure) and found them both fantastic. There were all kinds of people, just doing their own thing, nothing too outrageous. But then, we arrived early in the day, and the beach bars don't get hopping until late.
More of Mykonos a Very Nice Place to Visit
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