Delos and Mykonos in the same day

[budmeister]

I would like to do a Delos  guided tour and  a Mykonos tour in the same day. All of the Delos tours seem to take four hours and include a beach break, which I do not need. 

 

The ship tour to Delos says very strenuous and need to stand for 2 hours. Does Delos need to be 4 hours and very strenuous? Is there a way to do a guided tour of shorter duration without the beach break?

 

 

[bebe08]

When we were in Mykonos in 2019 we took a 3 .5 hour tour to Delos through Celebrity in the morning and then we explored Mykonos on our own in the afternoon.  I don't remember Delos being overly strenuous.

[konatyme]

In mid-September, we also did a short Delos tour (no beach break) with the ship (Princess), then just walked around Mykonos on our own. I didn't think the Delos tour was particularly strenuous, though it did involve some walking.

[Hlitner]

I cannot help you if you are sticking to cruise line excursions.  Delos is kind of like a desert island (with ruins) and is generally only open in the mornings.  You can take a cruise line excursion (which is usually very convenient since you will tender directly from your ship to Delos (and later will usually be taken to Mykonos).  If you were on your own, you could get various morning tours from Mykonos, but this can be problamatic for cruisers unless they are in town relatively early in the morning.  

 

We think that tours of Mykonos Town are a waste of money and time.  It is a relatively compact city with many narrow streets full of shops, cafes and restaurants.  Folks can simply walk around on their own (the town is overrun with other tourists) with the help of a paper map or working phone w map app.   Many cruisers will never understand that most excursions that take them to shops/restaurants choose those places because they either get kick-backs or are part owners.  When cruise line shopping lecturers (who are indirectly paid by the stores they recommend) tell you about guarantees, we quickly run to other stores :).  But far be it for me to burst the bubble of those who love their Diamonds International charms and other such "fine" items.  There are actually some excellent shops in Mykonos who sell some decent clothing and jewelry.  Whether they are really "good deals" is another issue.  If you are taking a scenic tour that will drive you around the island, that can be fine for folks that like to be driven around islands :).  Mykonos also has quite a few decent beaches for we beach lovers.  One can go to beaches on excursions or get to beaches on their own using the islands own bus system or taxis.

 

Hank

[pdmlynek]

On 10/16/2022 at 10:55 AM, budmeister said:

I would like to do a Delos  guided tour and  a Mykonos tour in the same day. All of the Delos tours seem to take four hours and include a beach break, which I do not need. 

 

The ship tour to Delos says very strenuous and need to stand for 2 hours. Does Delos need to be 4 hours and very strenuous? Is there a way to do a guided tour of shorter duration without the beach break?

 

 

Please read @Hlitner's comment.  His advice is correct, ... as always.

 

When we were planning our day (9 hrs) on Mykonos, there seemed to be 3 different options:

(A) Mykonos town and Delos;

(B) Mykonos town and celebrity beaches; and 

(C) Mykonos town and drive to other parts of Mykonos island.

 

We chose (A).  The public boats to Delos leave from the western side of the Old Port, at 9:00, 10:00, 11:30, and 17:00, and head back from Delos at 12:00, 13:30, 15:00, and 20:00.  The boat ride is about half an hour each way.  

 

Delos is a huge archeological site; supposedly larger than any in Greece.  You could spend many days or weeks exploring it, but a 3 hr visit will give you a good flavor.  Luckily Delos has been relatively well preserved because it did not have and population in post classic time due to limite water, so the local people have not taken apart the monuments for their own use as in most other places.  It has been excavated since last 19th century.

 

Mykonos town is fairly compact, so you don't really need too much time in the town. 2 to 3 hours of wandering about is fine.

 

We chose not to go for Option (B), because these party beaches (on the western half of the southern coast, from Playa Ornos to Super Paradise Beach), where jetsetters meet, and billionaire's yachts are anchored off shore, seemed just too expensive and crowded for us, and there were much more beautiful Greek beaches at other island. If you want to go there, make sure you read up on the public transport to there (some beaches have bus stops, others don't)

 

We chose not to do option (C), and not rent cars like we did on other island, because most of the islands that we visited on the cruise were more beautiful than Myconos.