2 weeks in the Cyclades (page 1 of 7)

Hi everyone!

Blue skies (lots of them), whitewashed villages with steep alleyways, hundreds of churches, and... thousands of stairs? Welcome to the Cyclades! 🙂

We’d been dreaming about this for a while, but in July-August—with the crowds—no way! Now that I can travel outside school holidays, the Cyclades are back on the agenda. And so begins a loooong period of planning and second-guessing, with countless itinerary changes: the Cyclades, yes, but which ones? I was fixated on Folegandros (we won’t be going after all) and really wanted to visit Delos. So, for this first trip, it’ll be: Mykonos (and Delos)-Naxos-Amorgos-Santorini.

Saturday 24/05: Departure from Orly on a Transavia flight, arriving in Mykonos in the late afternoon. We found a hotel that offers free transfers (pretty rare and not insignificant—it’s 25 € each way for just a few kilometers 😠) and at a reasonable price (83 € per night for B&B). Time for dinner already: Greek salad and souvlaki (we’re in Greece, right?)

(Okay, this is actually a dakos with Naxos cheese, but I don’t have a photo of a Greek salad 😏).

Happy to jump into this new travel journal, Muriel! 🙂

Hi Muriel,

I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for the rest!

Marie Paule

Welcome to both of you! 🙂

Sunday, 25/05: We booked the tickets for Delos online the day before: departure at 10 AM, return at 1:30 PM. After a hearty breakfast, we set off. The hotel is located on the heights of Mykonos, and it takes less than fifteen minutes to walk down to the port (but "a bit" longer to walk back up! 😏). At this relatively early hour, there aren’t many people around. We pick up our tickets. The boat is quite full... with lots of American tourists (we later realized they were probably from a cruise ship).

So, let’s be honest—I was disappointed by Delos 🙁. Maybe my expectations were too high, or perhaps the very gray weather didn’t help (we didn’t have a choice of day since we only had this one to visit). Sure, the site is impressive in size, but compared to other Greek or Italian sites, the monuments or mosaics are much less well-preserved. That *could* have given the place a certain charm, but personally, I couldn’t imagine what it looked like a few centuries BC, and I missed having a model or detailed representation (there are just a few brief sketches in the guide provided at the entrance) that could have helped visualize it (by comparison, the museum at the Temple of Demeter in Naxos is tiny but showcases full-scale architectural elements).

So here we are on the site, heading to the right, toward the theater district.

In this area, you’ll find mosaics in the Houses of the Dolphins, the Trident, and the House of Masks. The theater:







Off the path, the House of Cleopatra and Dioscurides, whose statues still adorn the courtyard in a rather moving way:



A fork in the path to the right leads up to the summit (not very high, 113 meters!) of Mount Cynthus. About a third of the way up, the Cave of Heracles, whose statue has disappeared:



From the top, the 360° view must be stunning in good weather, but today, it’s really very (too) gray—what a shame!

We then head back down to the museum where we find (among other things) the originals of the Terrace of the Lions (which look more like lionesses, but oh well),



and then to that famous Terrace of the Lions. Only 5 remain (originally, there must have been 9—or was it 16? Not the same at all!). A 6th one is in Venice (apparently, it got a pretty strange head grafted onto it).



Along the way, one of the rare walls where some plaster and traces of paint still remain, giving us an idea of what the houses might have looked like.

To brighten up all this greyness, I take photos of the flowers 😏





We then return to Mykonos under an equally leaden sky.

On land, the tourist density has really increased (it’s 3 PM) 😏

We take a quick tour of Mykonos town and leave pretty quickly, arriving just as a few raindrops start to fall—rain that will intensify and last all evening.

We’ll come back tomorrow if the weather’s nicer!

From that corner of the world, I know (a little) Greece—mostly Athens and the Peloponnese, which I visited last century, Rhodes during the height of Covid, and Crete more recently (which I loved).

Let’s let Muriel guide us for this new adventure, though I never imagined the sun could be lacking—are they giving refunds? 😉

Starting tomorrow, the sun’s back and it’ll stay that way until the end 😎.

From tomorrow, the sun is back and it’ll stay that way until the end 😎.

Thanks for the heads-up, but I would’ve stayed anyway

Phew! 🤯🤯🤯

Hi Muriel, I see you’re already hard at work after your trip. I’ll be following your story closely—we know that region pretty well since we’ve been there several times (and we’re heading back to Amorgos and Naxos at the end of August, places we already know). That said, we’ve never been to Mykonos because it’s way too crowded in the summer. Jacques

Hi Jacques, Thanks for following this travel journal. Any other islands planned for late August besides Naxos and Amorgos?

Monday 26/05: This morning, the wind is blowing hard, but the rain has literally washed the sky clean of its impurities (apparently dust from the Sahara). A reddish dust covers cars and outdoor furniture, and I’m thinking of the cleaning staff who’ll have to scrub everything 😕.

Our ferry to Naxos leaves at 12:20, so we have time to take another stroll through the city, in the calm and under a bright blue sky. It’s definitely much prettier (and photogenic) 😎.

We more or less retrace the same route as yesterday but in the opposite direction. Despite the tourist crowds, the alleys have kept their charm (though there aren’t many people around at 9:30 yet).

Even the luxury shops have kept their local vibe 😏 (here in *Tria Pigadia* square, which means "of the 3 wells"; we spent quite some time looking for those wells before realizing they were the three white blocks topped with blue 🤪).

Next, we head to the famous windmills:

Then we walk down to the Alefkandra district (nicknamed "Little Venice"), a collection of 18th-century houses whose loggias open directly onto the sea. Legend has it this allowed owners to discreetly buy goods from pirates. Nowadays, the area is filled with bars and restaurants.





Finally, the Panagia Paraportiani church, a complex of five adjoining churches dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries.





Yesterday vs. today comparison: we made the right call coming back! 😎

We end up back at our starting point from yesterday, the port and its little adjoining beach.



All that's left is to head back to the hotel to finish packing. Then, probably unconsciously wanting to imitate Bruno (Montagnard) with a travel mishap...



... with my eyes glued to my phone (even though I complain enough about people who do the same without paying attention to their surroundings, especially in town), trying to find our way back through the maze of alleys, I didn’t see the first step! Trying to regain my balance, I tripped on the next one and ended up sprawled headfirst onto a terracotta planter on the ground. Well, a cut on my ear, a long scratch on my shoulder (the planter didn’t stand a chance 😏), and a few bruises the next day—more scared than hurt! The most surprising part? My camera, which I was carrying on a strap, was totally fine 😮 (my phone too, for that matter).

Thankfully, none of that stopped us from boarding on time (or almost) for Naxos. Surprisingly, the wind is much calmer at sea than on land, and the 1h15 trip is really pleasant. Naxos (Hora) in sight!

A trip that starts off like an action movie definitely deserves my attention, Muriel 😄. But I guess narrowly avoiding a disaster makes you appreciate the rest even more! Have a great evening, everyone 😊

Hey Christelle! Yeah, my first thought was, "I hope I don’t have to go to the hospital—otherwise, we’ll miss the boat!" 😏 After that, I was just grateful I could keep enjoying my vacation "normally" despite that fall (which could’ve ruined everything 😕).

First observation: we’re definitely not here to talk about causing any accidents on this forum, so everyone stay careful! 🤪

Second observation: it’s way prettier with the sun! 😄

Hi Muriel, Yes, 2 days in Santorini before catching the flight back. Otherwise, I see you had Folegandros on your list. Even though it’s a small island, we loved it. Jacques

I really hesitated between an eastern version (between Mykonos and Santorini) and a western version that would have gone through Milos and/or Sifnos and Folegandros. Maybe next time 😉

Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades (everything's relative!) and is known for its marble quarries, which have been used since antiquity (and marble is still very present in the villages). We rented a car for the 7 days we'll spend on this island, at a price that defies all competition (62 € for the week). Even though it was rented through a well-known site (rent...cars), I still wonder about the legitimacy of calling it a "rental agency" . Either way, we ended up with a Skoda Fabia in a Cycladic blue (somewhat muted by the same dust that settled on Mykonos and hasn't been cleaned off ). Despite its nearly 100,000 km on the odometer, it's in pretty good condition and will do the job perfectly for this week.

Heading to Filoti for 5 days. Since we couldn't find a B&B in the area, we rented a studio in the center of the village, just a stone's throw from a bakery, a mini-market, and some restaurants. Filoti is a charming village with a central location that makes it easy to explore the whole island.

View of Filoti from the road to Apeiranthos: The village:









It's also the starting point for one of the island's most famous hikes, the Mount Zas loop (the highest point at 1,004 m), but I must admit that the 700 meters of elevation gain somewhat put us off .

Tuesday 27/05: This morning we're visiting the island's most famous village, Apeiranthos. It's famous because it's nicknamed "the marble village." Yes, there's marble everywhere (in the pavements, window sills, walls...), but not necessarily how you might imagine it (sparkling white).

Like many tourist villages, the lower part of the village is set up with shops, bars, and restaurants... At this relatively early hour (9:30 AM), there aren’t many people around. The upper part of the village, on the other hand, is more or less abandoned,

but some houses are still inhabited (and well-maintained).

We head back down to start a hike we found on cycladen.be (thanks to this very comprehensive site for hikes 😉) that begins under a bridge at the bottom of the village (and it’s well-marked). It’s a round trip leading to the Agia Kyriaki church. It’s downhill on the way there... which means it’ll be uphill on the way back—I much prefer the opposite! We’re getting used to the many staircases along the trails and the gates we have to open and close (there are lots of goats on the islands, as well as sheep and a few donkeys). The path alternates between rocky, dirt trails, and nicely paved roads, offering varied and beautiful views.



We reach a small bridge and then have to climb (a little) toward the church.



The church is in sight (though it blends into the landscape 😉).



It’s very old (8th or 9th century), and a sign tells us it has magnificent paintings... but it’s locked! We head back the same way (but with different views).

I didn’t think to take another photo of the village on the way back, but it’s much livelier than when we left! It must be a must-stop for day tours—there are cars and buses everywhere... I can’t imagine what it’s like in July-August! 😮

A quick stop on the way back in Filoti to admire the panorama near the Rotonda restaurant (famous for its view, as the name suggests):