Nightlife in Mykonos Island

Mykonos runs on a late timetable. Dinner rarely starts before ten, the bars in Chora fill after that, and the clubs do not get going until one in the morning or later. The beach clubs work the opposite shift, opening in the early afternoon and peaking around sunset. Almost everything listed below runs from May to September only, most of it takes reservations, and several venues attach a minimum spend to a table.

Sunset and Early Evening in Chora

Mykonos Town is where the night starts. The lanes are pedestrian and tightly packed, so an evening here usually means walking between four or five places rather than settling into one.

180 Sunset Bar occupies the site of the Panigirakis castle on the hill above town, and its two-tier stone terrace looks out over Chora, the old port and across the water to Delos and Rheneia. The terrace is divided into roughly ten separate seating areas, from a low deck laid with cushions to an open wooden bar, and the kitchen serves Greek dishes alongside the cocktail list. It is not a casual drop-in: booking carries a minimum spend of around 100 euros a head, taken as a deposit up front and deducted from the final bill.

Bao's is on the Little Venice waterfront, a small whitewashed room whose view takes in the windmills on the hill above, the line of houses hanging over the water and the sunset behind them. It runs as a drinks-and-watching spot early on and turns into a bar with a DJ and a crowded floor later. Frozen cocktails are its speciality.

Bars That Become Clubs

Queen of Mykonos, in the middle of Chora, works as a champagne and cocktail bar through the afternoon and evening, then turns into a party at around one in the morning, usually led by the staff. Its tables spill into the lane outside, which in a town of three-metre streets is half the appeal. The house cocktail, the Queen, mixes vodka, champagne, mandarin and yuzu and comes with gold flakes.

Bonbonniere sits in the Tria Pigadia quarter, directly opposite the Louis Vuitton boutique, and is the sister venue of the London club of the same name. It serves food on its outdoor terrace during the day and becomes a club at night, booking guest DJs and pulling in a celebrity crowd. Reservations, a dress code and a long champagne list come with the territory.

Moni stands a few steps from the church of Panagia Paraportiani: a small whitewashed room with contemporary furniture, set up by a group of international regulars who have been coming to the island for decades. It is deliberately intimate rather than large, books headline DJs into a booth in a room that holds a fraction of what the big clubs do, and runs until sunrise.

The Clubs

VOID is in the Lakka quarter of Chora, a short walk back from the port, and is the town's main purpose-built nightclub - multi-level, hard-lit and organised around the dance floor, with international DJs through the summer and the usual confetti and balloon drops. Its third level, the Gallery, is an invitation-only room with windows over the floor and a bar of its own.

Cavo Paradiso, open since 1993, is the island's original superclub, set on the cliff above Paradise beach, and it does not open its doors until well after midnight. It is a taxi or club-bus ride out of town, and its season now starts in the first half of May.

Beach Clubs

The daytime version of all this happens along the south coast, where the bays are sheltered from the meltemi. Nammos at Psarou is the best known, half restaurant and half beach club, with a boutique village behind it. Scorpios at Paraga runs a long programme of melodic and organic house from late May to the start of September, built around sunset rather than around midnight. SantAnna, also at Paraga, works from a large pool deck. All three open between early and late May and close at the end of the season.

Most of these places are within a few minutes' walk of the old port, and the tenders back to the anchorage run late, so many charter guests combine their days at sea with an evening here before the boat carries on to Delos or the next island down the chain.