Ok back at it for the part 2 conclusion of Mykonos and Santorini. If you haven't read part 1 click here to see the review of Santorini.
Watch our video of Santorini and Mykonos
The boat from Santorini to Mykonos
The best way to go island hopping in Greece is by boat. The airports- which I will explain in detail later- are not well equipped with helping people travel. The boats however were a relatively quick (2 hour ride) and cost 65€ per person. With the cost of a checked bag alone this was a very financially viable travel option.
Like most things in the Greek experience, getting on the boat was an experience in itself. We were waiting around in an outdoor concrete shaded sitting area. After about half an hour our boat arrived. While waiting, there were announcements saying "Boat A will be arriving in 10 minutes please line up." The line up procedure to get onto the boat consisted of a single line of people(maybe 100-200 people) that had to walk through a vacant building that lead to the dock. The dock, mind you, was literally on the opposite side of a metal barrier next to the vacant building.
Much like the trains in Europe, hi-speed boat travel is adamant about being on time. The passengers disembarking the boat had to get off on the left side, the people boarding get on the right side. This happened at the same time, and when passengers have large baggage this caused a bit of a scramble. The ushers made sure that people hurry up and get on the boat as quickly as possible and if you are still loading your luggage when the boat is leaving you better hold onto the hand railing.
When we arrived to Mykonos we were well prepared and got all of the luggage prior to the boat stopping and waited at the gangplank while the boat rocked. Still MUCH better experience than flying.
Mykonos
Completely different from Santorini in almost every way. Mykonos is flat compared to Santorini. The vibe on Santorini was a mixture of family friendly mixed with romantic, while Mykonos has a very party vibe. The beaches at both locations are similar- hot sand and cool water, but Mykonos beaches were easily accessible. Depending on what you are interested in, plan the island accordingly.
Old Town
Old Town Mykonos is where the quintessential "Greece" pictures come from. The white buildings, the pink flowers, the smooth stone walkways. The stone walkways are painted white, and it receives a routine touchup to keep it looking photoriffic! The town is small, and has a mixture of clothing, food, and specialty stores. The prices for, well everything, was obviously more expensive in the touristy Old Town. Old Town starts to get busy towards the end of the night, after all of the beach clubs are winding down around the island. So if you want to avoid some of the party scene, go during the day.
The bus system around the island was fairly good(there wasn't any Uber) and it took us where we wanted to go for our short visit.
We didn't end up going to any beach clubs during our trip, we were only there for two days and weren't interested in spending 60€ for a beach chair.
For us, we experienced Mykonos enough with our short two day trip. We saw what we were interested in seeing, ate some more Greek food, and went to the beach. It was fine, but it wasn't anything as spectacular as Santorini.
Departure
On the day of our departure from Mykonos we were ready to get the show on the road. We got kicked out of the room at 1 pm and headed to the airport for a 6pm flight. It was a few extra hours at the airport, but we didn't want to spend the day holding onto our luggage. We're SOOOOO happy that we got to the airport when we did.
We got to the airport and found a spot outside(since there was nowhere to sit inside the airport). We ended up waiting around for an hour and a half. At around 2:30pm we decided to try and check our bag in for the flight. We waited in line for probably 30 minutes and got to the front. We checked the bag in and they said we should start waiting in the security line. This was 3 hours before the flight. Well ok, off we wait! The Mykonos airport had two security entrances, one on the left side of the "airport" and one on the right. That day ALL flights were getting sent out of the right side of the airport. While we were waiting, the security line kept growing and growing. Eventually the line was making its way outside of the airport. The line was snaking and weaving in and out, and people were getting territorial about their place in line.
Well I mean we were all waiting for 3 hours in this ridiculous security line some heads had to roll! As we were making our way to the front of security they were announcing that our plane was boarding. We talked with an agent at the airport and told them, but they told us we're close enough that we'll make it. Again 15 more minutes of waiting and still not at the front. An announcement goes over the speaker saying that all flights are delayed 45 minutes due to the security delay. Eventually we make our way to see this fabled security and see why this was taking so long. We get up and it's only four people. Two people are working the metal detectors and two are reviewing documents. You would've thunk that as large of a destination as Mykonos is, they would have some better systems in place. We managed to get through security and walk onto the plane. After we got on the Captain said they couldn't wait any longer and we were off to our next destination.
Overall impressions
The islands of Mykonos and Santorini are great vacation destinations. The differences between the two are pretty vast. Depending on the type of vacation you are wanting to experience plan a trip to each respectively.
I purposefully didn't mention the food in the first article, but we felt it should be stated.
When we conjure the images of Greek food things like falafel, pita, souvlaki, lamb, beef are a few of the dishes we think about. The food from chains like Nick the Greek offer these foods and this quality is what we are typically used to. When we experienced the food on Santorini and Mykonos we came in with too high of expectations. The food was delicious, and we did try all the aforementioned typical Greek cuisine(along with other popular local dishes). However, what we typically get at our local restaurants was pretty much the same quality and flavor as what we experienced on Santorini and Mykonos.
We went to highly reviewed, and hotel suggested restaurants, but none met our expectation of some deep, emotional, and life changing Greek food. Because we went in with too high of an expectation we left a little disappointed.
So if we can leave any food for thought-
-Go in with reasonable expectations on where you dine.
We were in
Greece for less than a week and felt that we saw and experienced all that we wanted to without leaving us bored. It's a great place to experience that's unlike anywhere we've ever gone, and we might make it a returnable destination in the future.
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