Mykonos.

Reopened spring 2025 under the Caprice group — directly beneath the Kato Mili windmills, the most-photographed Mykonos Town dinner address. Charcoal-grilled fish, raw seafood platters, an outdoor terrace with the windmills above and the Little Venice rooftops below. Reserve the sunset slot; the cruise crowds clear by 7 p.m. and the room is at its best at 9.

Twenty-five years in and still the dinner-into-party room on the island — tucked off Matogianni in a Paola Navone–designed garden you'd never spot from the lane. Chef Christos Fotos cooks Mediterranean without borders; the wine list runs deep. Tables hold until midnight, then the music climbs and the room turns. 7:30 p.m.–3 a.m., May through September; book two weeks ahead minimum for August.

The Mykonos Town institution — a tables-on-the-water bar in Little Venice since 1962, the rare place where the locals stopped fighting the tourists a long time ago and now show up themselves. Book a front-row table for 7 p.m. in summer; the light starts going by 7:45, the wind picks up, the waves come over the threshold, the show is on. Don't stay for dinner; eat better elsewhere.

A cocktail bar in a converted hilltop fortress above Mykonos Town — the highest licensed terrace on the island, 180° of view from Delos out to Tinos. Reserve a railing seat for 5.30 p.m. in summer; the sun goes behind Rhenia at 8.30 and the show takes 90 minutes. Cocktails are €18–25, food is fine. One drink, the photograph, leave for dinner.

A new (post-2020) cocktail bar in Little Venice from the Semeli Group — small, dim, the room people who care about cocktails are quietly relieved to find on this island. Cover charge €25–40 to keep the casual crowd out. The bartenders compete internationally; let them drive. Reserve weekends.

The longest-running nightlife institution in Mykonos Town — four floors of bars and a yard that spills into the alley, mixed crowd, open until daylight. Not for the cocktail purist; for the late-night Mykonos experience nobody else does the same way. The Mykonos Town finish to most Mykonian nights since the 1980s.

Nobu Matsuhisa's Mykonos outpost at the Belvedere Hotel — celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2025, the longest-held fine-dining address on the island. The Nobu greatest hits (black cod miso, yellowtail jalapeño, rock shrimp tempura) on a candlelit garden terrace overlooking Chora. Reserve a month ahead in August; the sunset slot is the move.

At Bill & Coo The Coast (the adults-only Bill & Coo sister property on Agios Ioannis beach) — chef Yiannis Babalis runs the kitchen, the menu is the Monte-Carlo Beefbar group's Mykonos edit. Charcoal-grilled steaks, raw beef preparations, the sunset platform straight onto the Agios Ioannis bay. The most-considered hotel-restaurant on the south coast.

At Santa Marina, a Luxury Collection Resort on the private Ornos peninsula — the Buddha-Bar group's Mykonos outpost, pan-Asian on a terrace cantilevered over the bay. Sunset DJ set from 6 p.m.; dinner from 7.30. The Ornos splurge — easier to book than Matsuhisa or Beefbar, almost the same scene, slightly less Town-circuit pull.

Psarou beach since 2003 — the original luxury beach club, the table that defined the Nammos international brand (Cannes, Dubai, Limassol, all came after). Sunbeds €120–250 a pair in August, lunch typically €150–300 a head, the magnum-of-rosé sport is real. If you came for the cliché, this is it; if you came for the Mykonos that's already happened, this is the one to compare everything else against.

On the headland between Paraga beach and Kavos lagoon — the Soho House Group-aligned beach club that's now the music-led alternative to Nammos. Mediterranean-pan-Asian kitchen, a long lunch platform, and a DJ programme (international names) that builds into a sunset set on the headland. Books out 2 weeks in August. The right pick for travellers who came for the scene-not-the-status.

The most-considered north-coast beach club — on Panormos beach, white-on-white pavilions, a kitchen run by chef Maria Loi (Greek-American, Manhattan and Athens credentials). Quieter than the south-coast set, more luxurious than the south-coast clubs charge for, the right pick on the days when Nammos and Scorpios feel like a queue. Sunset on the Panormos sand is the trade-off for skipping Oia.

On windward Ftelia beach on the north coast — bohemian-luxe pavilions, the kitesurfers in the bay, a kitchen that takes ingredients seriously (the olive oil is house-pressed, the cheese is local kopanisti). Less velvet-rope than Nammos and Scorpios, more design than Principote. The contrarian beach-club afternoon. Lunch is the move; bring a hoodie — the wind drops the temperature 5–8°C from 6 p.m.

The polished south-coast pocket — Psarou has Nammos (the original luxury beach club), Ornos has Santa Marina's private beach and family-friendly water, both within 10 minutes of each other and 10 minutes from Chora by cab. The default south-coast day if you want the photograph and the food and the sand. Book sunbeds 1-2 weeks ahead in season.

The two beaches that defined Mykonian club culture in the 1990s — Paradise (the original, slightly faded), Super Paradise (the heir, still going). DJ programmes from 1 p.m., afternoon-into-evening. Younger crowd than Psarou; less velvet-rope than Nammos. The afternoon-into-sunset move when you want music and a swim and not a credit card workout.

From the Platis Gialos dock the water taxi runs every 30 minutes to every other south-coast beach — Paradise, Super Paradise, Paraga, Agrari, Elia — €15–25 each way. The Mykonian beach-hopping move; cheaper, faster, and more atmospheric than cabbing between them. Drop your bag at Branco or Avli tou Thodori for lunch in between rounds.

The north-coast beach Mykonos has quietly defended for decades — Agios Sostis is a small, unorganised cove (no sunbeds, no club, no shade you didn't bring) and Kiki's Tavern is at the top of the cliff above it. Swim, climb up for the no-reservations lunch, descend for the post-meal second swim. The most-defended Mykonian half-day.

No road, no power line, no cell service — drive the dirt track north of Ano Mera until the bay opens, then swim. The taverna sits on the sand; lunch takes three hours; the only people there are the ones who knew to make the drive. The contrarian Mykonian afternoon.

The north-coast alternative to the south-coast beach-club circuit — Panormos is a long sand crescent with Principote on it (chef Maria Loi's pavilion-style beach club, less velvet-rope than Nammos). Quieter, more luxurious for the price, the right pick on the days when the south coast feels like a queue. Book the sunbeds 1 week ahead.

The half-day sailing trip that pairs the UNESCO Delos site with a swim at the uninhabited Rhenia islet (the largest, quietest swim cove in the Cyclades after the Sarakiniko Milos system). Small-boat operators leave from Mykonos Old Port and Tourlos; six-passenger gozzo trips around €250/person, group catamarans €120. Skip the 50-passenger party boats.

The six 16th-century thatch-topped windmills on the ridge above Little Venice — the Mykonian sundown the postcards undersell. Get to the windmill row by 7 p.m. in summer; the sun goes behind Delos around 8.30; the windmills are at their best in the orange minutes just before. Pair with a Caprice Bar table immediately after for the wave-on-the-floor hour.

A cocktail bar in a converted hilltop fortress above Mykonos Town — the highest licensed terrace on the island, with 180° from Delos out to Tinos. Reserve a railing seat for 5.30 p.m.; the 90 minutes of pre-sunset light are the photograph. One drink, the show, leave for dinner.