Can Mykonos Really Be That Beautiful?!

10 years ago if you had mentioned Mykonos to me, I wouldn’t have a clue where it was. Fast forward to 2019 and we can all recognise a photo of it straight away. Thanks to Instagram, there are various places around the world that have gone viral due to their beauty. Mykonos is one of them.

However, I have been disappointed by a number of places I have first seen on Instagram, so when I was boarding a plane from London to Mykonos, I reminded myself not to get too excited, all those photos I had seen had probably been taken at 5am and edited to the max.

We arrived on the island around 9pm (thanks Easyjet for the delay!) and it was dark. We took a taxi to our hotel and instantly I felt like everything would be okay. Our hotel was absolutely gorgeous, and considering we hadn’t paid that much for it, it was a bit of a bargain too. It was a classic whitewashed, sugar cubed building, with a pool overlooking Mykonos Town.

The next morning I set my alarm for 7am, I wanted to find my way into town before the rest of the tourists. However, upon doing this, I realised a few hours later that I really didn’t need to! You see, in Greece, people don’t really get up too early. Mykonos is not a party island in the sense of Ibiza, but there are a good amount of bars and clubs that people sleep until midday. The people you see wandering around at 9am are either locals who are setting up their shops for the day or cruise passengers!

It became apparent within a few minutes that Mykonos is not only as beautiful as the photos online suggest, but even more so. Because in a photo you cannot capture the sounds, the smells, and the atmosphere.

I was only on the island for a few days, because of this I didn’t really have the time to go too far. My sister and I were spending the majority of our time on the nearby island of Paros, Mykonos was just our stepping stone. Mykonos is dotted with stunning boutique hotels with incredible infinity pools, thanks to the nature of the island’s terrain. It is a hilly island with picturesque towns spreading out towards the sea. I am sure there are many beautiful villages to explore, but Amie and I stuck to Mykonos Town, the largest town on the island and also the most convenient place to base yourself when you want to be close to the airport and the ferry port.

Mykonos Town is a maze of white streets with chequered pavements, blue shutters and depending on what time of year you visit, lots of pink bougainvillaeas. The main attraction is Little Venice, a collection of streets that lead down to some fantastic bars and restaurants on the seafront. This is also a great place to be at sunset!

Mykonos Town and the island as a whole is also home to a thick dusting of gorgeous churches, perfect for sheltering in when you need a rest from the sun. The reason there are so many is due to an ancient law in which islanders had to build a church on their land before they could build a house!

As you can see from the photos, you don’t have to be a photographic genius to show off the island’s beauty. Those who have followed me for a while know I am a photoshop novice, and whilst I use Lightroom to add filters over my photos, I have no idea how to add or take away objects from a photo, what you see is quite honestly what you get. This is the Mediterranean at its finest.