Mykonos vs Santorini: Which Greek Island Should You Visit?

Mykonos and Santorini are the two best-known islands in the Cyclades, and they are often mentioned in the same breath. They are very different places. Mykonos is low and sandy, with long beaches and a town that stays up late. Santorini is the rim of a volcano, with villages on the edge of a cliff and a sea full of lava islets. We run yacht cruises in Santorini, and this is how we would explain the difference to a friend choosing between them.

Mykonos vs Santorini at a glance

The feel of each island

Mykonos is about the beach and the evening. Days are spent between the sea and a sunbed, and nights start late in Chora (Mykonos Town), whose white lanes fill with people after dark. Little Venice, the windmills and the old harbour are all within a ten-minute walk. Away from the town and the busiest beaches, the island is dry, rocky and quiet, with small chapels and empty coves on the north coast.

Santorini is about the view. The villages of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia sit along the top of the caldera, the cliff left behind when the centre of the island collapsed in a huge eruption about 3,600 years ago. Below them is a lagoon of deep blue water with two volcanic islets in the middle. Most of what people come for, the sunset, the hotels with infinity pools, the walk from Fira to Oia, is about looking out over that water.

Beaches

Mykonos wins on beaches. The south coast is sheltered from the summer wind and lined with sandy bays: Psarou and Platis Gialos for calm water, Paraga and Super Paradise for beach bars, Elia and Kalo Livadi for long stretches of sand. The water is clear, turquoise and shallow near the shore, which makes it easy with children. Our Mykonos guide has the full list.

Santorini’s beaches are volcanic and look nothing like that. Kamari and Perissa on the east coast are long beaches of black sand and pebbles, which get very hot by midday in summer. Red Beach, below red and black cliffs near Akrotiri, is the most photographed; the path down is often closed because of falling rocks, so most people see it from the water. White Beach, next to it, can only be reached by boat.

That is why, in Santorini, the best swimming is from a boat. On our semi-private catamaran cruises you swim at the volcano hot springs and, on the Gold route, at Red Beach, in water that is much deeper and clearer than at the beaches.

Nightlife

Mykonos is the nightlife island of Greece. There are beach clubs with day parties on the south coast, bars in Little Venice for the sunset, and clubs that open after midnight and close after sunrise. In July and August the island is busy every night of the week.

Santorini has a quieter evening. Most people watch the sunset, have a long dinner and go to bed. There are bars and a few clubs in Fira, cocktail bars with a caldera view in Oia and Imerovigli, and beach bars in Kamari, but nothing like the scale of Mykonos. If you want to dance until morning, Mykonos is the better choice; if you want a late dinner with a view, Santorini.

Sunsets and views

Santorini is the island for sunsets. From the caldera villages the sun goes down over the sea and the islets, and Oia castle is full an hour before. Imerovigli, Firostefani and the Akrotiri lighthouse are quieter. From the water, a sunset cruise lets you watch it without the crowd.

Mykonos has good sunsets too, from Little Venice, the windmills and the Armenistis lighthouse, but the island is low and the view is of the open sea rather than a caldera.

Things to do beyond the beach

In Mykonos:

• Delos. Half an hour by boat from the old port, this small island was one of the most sacred places in ancient Greece and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Plan half a day.
• Chora and Little Venice. Lanes, chapels, shops and the windmills above the harbour.
• Ano Mera. The inland village, with tavernas around the Panagia Tourliani monastery.
• A day at sea. The coves of the south coast and the uninhabited island of Rhenia are best reached by boat.

In Santorini:

• The caldera walk. About 10 kilometres along the cliff from Fira to Oia, three to four hours at an easy pace. Go early in summer.
• Akrotiri. A Bronze Age town buried by the eruption and preserved under the ash, often called the Greek Pompeii. The Wikipedia article on Akrotiri has its history.
• The volcano and the hot springs. Walk to the crater on Nea Kameni, or swim in the warm, orange water of the hot springs at Palea Kameni.
• Wine. Vines grow low to the ground in volcanic soil; the local white, Assyrtiko, is the one to try.

Santorini has more to see away from the beach, which is why we suggest giving it a day more than Mykonos.

Couples, families and groups

• Couples and honeymoons: Santorini. The view from your room, the sunset and the quiet evenings are hard to beat. A private catamaran at sunset is the day many couples plan the trip around.
• Groups of friends: Mykonos, for the beach clubs and the nights out. Santorini works too if the group is more about food, wine and views than parties.
• Families with small children: Mykonos for the beaches, Santorini for everything else. In Mykonos, stay near Platis Gialos or Ornos, away from the party beaches. In Santorini, a catamaran day gives children the swims the beaches cannot.
• First trip to Greece: Santorini, if you can only see one island. Nothing else in Greece looks like it.

Crowds, costs and the season

Both islands are at their busiest and most expensive in July and August. In Santorini the crowds are heaviest in Fira and Oia in the middle of the day, when cruise-ship passengers come up from the old port, and at sunset in Oia. In Mykonos they gather on the best-known beaches by day and in Chora at night.

Costs follow different patterns. In Mykonos, beach clubs, sunbeds, taxis and nights out are where the money goes. In Santorini, it is the room: a hotel on the caldera costs several times more than one in the villages inland or by the beach.

The season is a little longer in Santorini, from April to October, with boats running from March to November. Mykonos is fully open from May to October, and most hotels and restaurants close from November to April. June and September are the best months for both: warm sea, long days and fewer people. Our guide to the best time to visit Santorini goes month by month.

Getting there and between them

• By air: both islands have airports with flights from Athens all year, under an hour, and direct flights from many European cities in summer.
• By ferry from Athens: fast ferries reach Mykonos from Rafina in about 2 hours 30 minutes, or from Piraeus in about 2 hours 40 minutes. Santorini is further: about 5 hours from Piraeus on a fast boat and 7 to 8 hours on a conventional ferry.
• Between the two islands: a few ferries a day from April to October, about 2 hours 10 minutes on the fastest boats and up to about 4 hours on the slower ones. There is no direct ferry after October.
• By private yacht: you can cross in a day with stops on the way. Our Mykonos from Santorini trip passes Naxos and takes up to 10 guests.

Why not both?

With five days or more, most people do both: two or three days in Mykonos and three or four in Santorini. Start with Mykonos and end in Santorini if you want to finish with the calmer island and the sunsets; do it the other way round if you would rather end the trip with beaches and nights out. Avoid booking the ferry on the same day as an international flight, as summer sailings can be delayed by the wind.

In Santorini, all our boat tours leave from Vlychada Marina, with hotel pickup from anywhere on the island.

Is Mykonos or Santorini worth it?

Both are worth it, for different people, and both disappoint visitors who expected the other one. Guests who arrive in Santorini hoping for long sandy beaches find black pebbles and a cliff, and guests who come to Mykonos for dramatic views find a pleasant but low island built around its beaches and its nights.

Our honest verdict: if you can only see one island and you have never been to Greece, choose Santorini, because nothing else in the country looks like the caldera. If your holiday is about the sea, the sand and the nights out, choose Mykonos. And if you have the time, see both; the contrast between them is part of what makes the trip.