I’ve been going to Mykonos for 30 years – here’s how to do the Greek island on a budget

PARTY isle Mykonos has always been sprinkled with more than a touch of glamour.

In the Fifties and Sixties, it was frequented by movie stars such as Grace Kelly and Brigitte Bardot as well as former First Lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who lends her name to riotous nightclub Jackie O’.

In recent years, it has played host to Beyonce and the odd Kardashian or two.

In 2023, George Clooney, Matt Damon and the Hemsworth brothers visited too.

I first discovered it 30 years ago, on a summer holiday as a hard-up student, and fell for its beautiful beaches, fantastic restaurants and enchanting maze of narrow lanes of main town Chora.

While there are some affordable souvenir shops, cafes and bakeries, you will also find designer stores, Champagne bars and bouji beach clubs.

I couldn’t afford those then, and let’s be honest, I still can’t.

So here’s my guide to enjoying Mykonos on a budget . . . 

FUN (ALMOST) FREEBIES

A POPULAR pastime in Chora is playing Spot The Pelican.

Pelican Petros, the island’s unofficial mascot, became famous in the 1950s, when legend has it a fisherman came across a wounded bird and nursed it back to health.

When he died some years later, Jackie Onassis donated a new pelican to the island.

Today, nobody is sure exactly how many Petroses there have been, but this one likes to wander around near Little Venice, where bars and houses sit on stilts that stretch into the sea.

Another must is to enjoy the island’s spectacular sunsets.

Bring a bottle to the small square opposite the five windmills — remnants of Mykonos’s former wheat-grinding industry — which sit above Little Venice, and watch the sun sink into the sea, turning the sky orange, scarlet and purple.

If you prefer to do this with a cocktail in hand, get to one of the waterfont bars, such as Caprice, Rhapsody or Katerina’s, early to bag a ringside seat.

BEACH LIFE

MOST of the popular beaches are on the island’s south coast.

If you want to avoid sun-lounger fees, invest in your own parasol at one of the beach boutiques and lay your towel on the sand.

Paradise, a glorious stretch of pebbly sand, tends to attract a younger crowd who like to dance to the music from the main bar.