Mykonos Town vs Delos Tour

[deniuh]

Hello,

We are cruising in October and have a few hrs in Mykonos 12pm - 7pm. Princess is offering a tour to Delos from 12:30 - 4pm. If we do Delos, do you think we would have enough time to see Mykonos Town? For those of you who have visited both places, if you had had to choose between exploring Mykonos or going to Delos which would you pick? We both like history and ruins etc, and at the same time we love to soak up the local culture, flavors etc. Thanks in advance for your responses.

[cruisemom42]

I was on a Princess cruise with the exact timeframe. I had plenty of time to do the Princess tour (didn't think I'd be able to do it on my own due to the timing) and then to spend several hours in Mykonos town just walking around the twisty streets, etc. I took some lovely photos and also had time to do some shopping.

 

So yes, you CAN do both. And having done Delos, I highly recommend it if you have an interest in ruins. The tour gives you a nice walk around the area -- up the hill to the theatre, a duck inside a couple of the villas, and back down to the avenue of lions. The museum on site is also quite good.

[Hlitner]

Most of the tours work quite well on giving you enough time to see Mykonos Town. They will generally stop the cruise ship just off of Delos and tender folks on the tour directly to Delos. After touring the ruins of Delos (the only reason to go to Delos is if you want to see ruins) you will than board a boat for the trip over to Mykonos Town. Usually, those boats will drop you right in town from where you can later catch a shuttle bus (or walk) over to the port. In some cases, if the pier is full, they will have a tender operation on Mykonos in which case you would simply catch a tender from Mykonos Town to the ship. You can pretty much see most of Mykonos Town in one or two hours, although we prefer more time to just sit in a harbor-view cafe.

 

Hank

[MercedMike]

Mykonos is a pretty little seaside town, like thousands of others around the world ...

 

Delos is unique, the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, one of the most important sanctuaries of ancient times, a place that received magnificent and costly donations from the entire Greek civilization, a place that still somehow has that aura of something beyond this world, a place like very few others you will ever find anyplace on Earth.

 

At least that is the way I see it. If you can do both then do it. But if you have to choose ... well, for me there is no choice. Delos is a place that is a MUST.

[deniuh]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond to my query. Your responses, as impassioned as they are (MercedMike), are much appreciated :D

Hank and Cruisemom42, thanks for clearing up the time line a bit, we were very concerned that we would be practically choosing one or the other. Seems that may not be the case and we may be able to get an octopus dish out of it afterall!

[CintiPam]

Mykonos is a pretty little seaside town, like thousands of others around the world ...

 

Delos is unique, the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis, one of the most important sanctuaries of ancient times, a place that received magnificent and costly donations from the entire Greek civilization, a place that still somehow has that aura of something beyond this world, a place like very few others you will ever find anyplace on Earth.

 

At least that is the way I see it. If you can do both then do it. But if you have to choose ... well, for me there is no choice. Delos is a place that is a MUST.

 

Mike, beautifully put and absolutely correct. We missed Delos/Mykonos last September due to high seas and were thrilled to visit Delos in June. There truly is a special feeling when visiting Delos.

[tom_uk]

Everybody must make their own choices, of course, but if I was on Mykonos for just a few hours I don't think I'd go to Delos. Yes, Delos was important once but it's dead and deserted now. I'm more interested in visiting places where people are living and working now.

 

So an afternoon-plus on Mykonos for me might involve getting ashore as quickly as possible, wandering around the town and then perhaps eating some lunch at a restaurant Then maybe I'd take the bus to one of the beaches & perhaps manage a walk along the coast. Finally I'd get back to town (bus again, probably) and find Katerina's Bar (one of my all-time favourite spots) and enjoy a bottle of Mythos beer on the terrace overlooking the sea. If that happened to coincide with sunset, even better. All through the day I would have been absorbing and inhaling the sounds, scents & flavours of a living Greek island. Yes, an island dedicated to tourism; but nonetheless a living place.

[omarchs]

We had a similar situation last year on the Galaxy in Mykonos, but we got into port even later - around 2.

 

I love ruins, but I have to say that I am one of the few who thought it was a complete waste of time to go to Delos. Very important island, but personally the ruins were not very impressive compared to others I have seen in Europe.

 

Everything I had seen written said that Delos shuts down at 3 for visitors so I didn't even think that the tour would happen, but we did go. I was even more disappointing that the museum was closed since we were there so late and couldn't even view the original lions.

 

We ran back into town and did the very brief tour of the town, but would have liked some additional time to explore.

 

I think it depends upon what you want to do. It seems that a few hours is sufficient to explore the town depending upon how many ships are in port. It can be a very crowded port with 3+ ships and you may like the escape to Delos. The beaches are the other big attraction there and that's where I am heading next time.

[cruisemom42]

I suppose much depends on whether or not you are into ancient history and/or are a "ruins" person.

 

I would not have missed Delos, despite having been to ruins much more impressive. Knowing the "back story," I really got a lot out of the couple of hours I spent there. But then, I'm not a beach person, and I can relax in a tavern with a beer most anywhere in the world, including home. Similarly, I wouldn't have missed seeing the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, although only one pillar is now standing. To say that I was able to visit the site of one of the ancient wonders of the world was well worth the brief stop to me.

 

I'm returning to Mykonos next June, and I plan to visit Delos again. :)

[MercedMike]

I suppose much depends on whether or not you are into ancient history and/or are a "ruins" person.

 

I would not have missed Delos, despite having been to ruins much more impressive. Knowing the "back story," I really got a lot out of the couple of hours I spent there. But then, I'm not a beach person, and I can relax in a tavern with a beer most anywhere in the world, including home. Similarly, I wouldn't have missed seeing the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, although only one pillar is now standing. To say that I was able to visit the site of one of the ancient wonders of the world was well worth the brief stop to me.

 

I'm returning to Mykonos next June, and I plan to visit Delos again. :)

 

Delos is definitely of great interest to those who are "into ancient history and/or are a 'ruins' person." I am the first but not necessarily the second.

 

However, there is more to Delos than ruins. As I travel around the world, I have learned that there are certain places in the world where a Power of some kind can be felt by waiting quietly for it to come over you. I don't know the source of that feeling, nor what it means, but it is there. Delos is one of these places. Whatever power rested there in antiquity has not left. The Temple of Artemis, very near the Virgin Mary's house, is another. Some woman's presence can be felt there -- I don't know who she is.

 

It is interesting where the power speaks to me and where it does not. Stonehenge did nothing, but Salisbury Cathedral nearby is filled with it. The Ring of Brodgar in the Orkneys has the feeling that Stonehenge does not. I couldn't feel it in St. Peter's nor the Garden of Gethsemane, but perhaps that is because of the huge crowds. OTOH the Western Wall is full of crowds, but the feeling of a presence there is overwhelming to me. The Pyramids are too big and too far, but in the Mummy Room of the Egyptian museum you can feel the presence of awesome royalty. I also sensed the power in an ancient kiva at Puye Cliffs in New Mexico, and a few other places around the world.

 

Nature is not enough. The Grand Canyon nor the redwoods nor the fjords of New Zealand do not have the presence there. It seems that the places that have ancient associations are the ones where the power still lingers in some cases.

 

Of course many of you will think this is foolish, and prefer "getting the feel " of a place by meeting the locals in a pub. To each his own. But those who, like me, seek for that feeling of a power and a presence that speaks to us, Delos is a place not to be missed. The power has not left it.

[as19111]

Mike, I understand the "presence". I felt it very strongly at the House of Mary. I have a friend whose parents were from Ireland and immigrated to the US. Many years after their death, this friend returned to the village of origin. They were heading to a pub to inquire about relatives. Along the way, she stopped to scoop a tiny bit of soil into a baggie from "the homeland" (let's not talk about clearing customs here:rolleyes:). When she reached the pub, she learned that where she took the soil was in front of the home of her late father! Talk about presence!

 

While we were contemplating Delos, we elected to make this an off tour port day. We downloaded a walking tour of Mykonos and wandered around with our earphones describing what we saw. We stoped for a slice of baklava and a cup of coffee and tea. We people watched and more amazingly, we watched cars and small utility trucks navigate the very narrow streets without a scratch...quite a feat!

 

Should we return, we probably will tour Delos. As mentioned above, I can sit on a beach in many places, but I can't visit ancient ruins in every port.

[luv2travell]

dont miss out in seeing delos you have enough time to do both i was with my 3 year old son we stayed there for 3 hrs then walked around town eat shop for our growing christmas ornaments we even saw their famous pelicans and i we did this on our own..

[tom_uk]

Yes! The second of Luv2travell's pictures shows Katerina's Bar. I'm a happy bunny.

 

And, with respect to another poster - sitting on their terrace over that sea is not really the same as sitting in my local pub here in Sheffield.