Mykonos

Five mills that ground grain from the sixteenth century still stand on the rise. Their roofs are thatched in reed, and though they no longer turn the sails remain.

Houses built hard against the water push their balconies out over the sea. On a rough day the spray reaches the ground floor windows.

White walls run on until direction goes, and passing the same corner twice is ordinary. Only the door frames and steps carry colour, and people navigate by those.

Five small chapels grew into each other and now read as one white mass. Repeated coats of lime have rounded every corner into a blur.

Half an hour by boat, an uninhabited island that is entirely an archaeological site and once held the sanctuary of Apollo. Nobody may stay on the island, so the last boat time matters.

Marble lions raised in the seventh century before our era guard the way to the sanctuary. What stands outside is a copy, and the originals are in the island museum.

A sand beach with no facilities, where nobody rents out umbrellas or chairs. There is no shade, so an umbrella has to come with you.

A lighthouse of 1891 occupies the northwestern headland of the island. The wind hits it straight on, and on many days standing there is a struggle.

An inland farming village whose square is set around a monastery. Prices sit below the coast, and in the evening local residents come out onto the square.

A wounded pelican taken in by the town in the 1950s began a line that still lives at the harbour. It has no fear of people and walks between the taverna tables.

Built in 1905 where the harbour ends to the north, it is packed with pottery from a burial pit on nearby Rhenia. A 7th-century BC storage jar carries the Trojan Horse, counted among its oldest depictions. The Delos boat quay is close by.

Opened in 1985 in an old Chora house, with ship models running from ancient hulls to steamers. Navigation instruments, old charts and coins stamped with ships fill the rest. Sailors' gravestones have been moved into the back garden.

A south coast beach lined with clubs that turn the music up from midday. Buses leave from the Fabrika stop in Chora, and small boats run from Platys Gialos. For a quiet swim, walk to the west end away from the clubs.

A small sheltered south coast cove with calm water and yachts anchored offshore. Pricey sunbeds cover most of the sand, among the island's dearest. Unclaimed sand for a towel survives only at either end.

At the head of a deep northern bay, it takes the summer meltemi wind full on. People come to windsurf and kitesurf rather than swim, and gear can be hired. Unlike the south coast there is no music, only wind.

An uninhabited island just west of Delos, where ancient graves were moved when Delos was purified. Today people take a boat from Mykonos to swim in its clear bays for a day. There are no shops, so bring water and shade.