Just across the water from the beach clubs and cocktail bars of Mykonos lies an island that could not be more different. Delos is uninhabited, silent, and covered in the ruins of what was once one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. For nearly a thousand years this tiny island was the most sacred place in Greece, the mythical birthplace of the gods Apollo and Artemis, and a religious and trading centre that drew pilgrims and merchants from across the Mediterranean. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and an open-air museum, and a short boat trip from Mykonos takes you straight into it. If you do one thing beyond the beaches on your trip, make it this. Here is everything you need to know before you go.
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Why Delos matters
To understand Delos, you need to know the myth. The story goes that the goddess Leto, pregnant by Zeus, was hunted across the earth by the jealous Hera and could find nowhere to give birth. Delos, then a barren floating rock, took her in, and here beneath Mount Kynthos she gave birth to the twin gods Apollo and Artemis. In gratitude, the island was anchored to the seabed, and it became the holiest sanctuary of Apollo in the Greek world.
That religious importance turned a bare, waterless island barely three and a half kilometres long into a place of enormous power. For centuries it was so sacred that no one was allowed to be born or to die on Delos, and the sick and the pregnant were removed to the neighbouring island of Rhenia. Later it became a thriving free port and one of the busiest trading hubs in the Mediterranean, with a population of perhaps thirty thousand people from across the ancient world, before it was sacked, looted and slowly abandoned. What you walk through today is the ghost of that whole civilisation, frozen in time.
How to get to Delos from Mykonos
Delos can only be reached by boat, and there are no hotels, no restaurants and nowhere to stay, so every visit is a day trip. The boats leave from the Old Port in Mykonos Town, and the crossing takes around 30 to 45 minutes. Boats generally run from around April to November, with several sailings a day, and no crossings on some days depending on the season, so always check the current timetable when you arrive. You can plan the trip on our Mykonos to Delos ferry page.
There are two ways to do it. The first is to buy a return boat ticket and make your own way around the site. The second, and the one most people find more rewarding, is to book a guided tour, which includes the return boat, the site entry and a qualified guide who brings the ruins to life. Delos is vast and the ruins need context to make sense of them, so a good guide genuinely changes the experience from wandering among piles of old stone to understanding a lost city. Whichever you choose, the morning boat is usually the best, as the site is quieter before the tour groups arrive and the light is better for photographs.
Tickets and costs
There are two separate costs to be aware of. The return boat ticket from Mykonos is one price, and the entry ticket to the archaeological site, bought at the ticket office as you step off the boat, is another. The site entry is paid in cash on arrival, so carry euros. If you book a guided tour as a package, the boat, the entry and the guide are usually all included in one price, which often works out simpler and sometimes cheaper than arranging each part separately.
Prices change year to year, so check current rates when you book rather than relying on old figures. As a general point, everything around Mykonos is more expensive than the rest of Greece, and the Delos trip is no exception, but almost everyone who goes says it is worth it. Booking a tour in advance is wise in the busy months of July and August, when both the boats and the guided tours fill up.
What to see on Delos
The site is large and you could spend a whole day here, but most visitors have two to three hours, which is enough to see the highlights at a relaxed pace. These are the things not to miss.
The Terrace of the Lions
This is the postcard image of Delos, and rightly so. A row of archaic marble lions, carved and gifted by the people of Naxos around 600 BC, once stood guard over the Sacred Lake, crouched and snarling, facing the dawn. There were originally somewhere between nine and sixteen of them. The ones you see on the terrace today are replicas, standing in the exact spots of the originals, while the weathered original lions are kept safe inside the site museum. One of the ancient lions was carried off by the Venetians in 1716 and still stands at the entrance to the Arsenal in Venice. Standing before this line of stone guardians, with the empty island stretching around you, is one of the great moments of any visit to the Cyclades.
The Sacred Lake and the palm tree
Near the lions lies the Sacred Lake, the very spot where, according to the myth, Leto gave birth to Apollo clinging to a palm tree. It is strange and a little haunting to see it now, because the lake is dry. It was drained in the 1920s to stop the spread of malaria, and today it is a shallow dip in the ground marked by a single palm tree planted in memory of the myth. There is something quietly moving about standing at the place that gave the whole island its meaning, now silent and empty.
The Theatre Quarter and the mosaic houses
For many visitors this is the real highlight. The Theatre Quarter is a dense maze of narrow marble streets lined with the grand houses of the wealthy merchants who lived here when Delos was a booming port. Several of these houses still have their mosaic floors in place, and the quality is extraordinary. The House of Dionysus has a famous mosaic of the wine god riding a panther, visible from the path, and the House of the Dolphins and the House of the Masks have equally beautiful floors. There are said to be over 350 mosaics on Delos, one of the greatest collections of ancient mosaic art anywhere. Above the houses sits the ancient theatre itself, which once seated several thousand spectators.
Mount Kynthos
If you have the energy and the heat allows, climb Mount Kynthos, the highest point on the island at around 113 metres. It is a short but steep walk of about 15 to 20 minutes up an ancient stepped path, passing the sanctuaries of foreign gods including the well-preserved Temple of Isis on the way. From the summit, the view is magnificent. You look down over the whole ruined city laid out below, and out across the sea to Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Syros scattered across the horizon. It is the best way to grasp just how large the ancient city was.
The museum
The small site museum is well worth the 30 minutes or so it takes to see it. It houses the original marble lions from the terrace, along with statues, pottery, jewellery and everyday objects found during more than a century of excavation, which give a real sense of daily life on the island. Do note that the museum sometimes closes for restoration work, so it may not always be open when you visit.
The one thing everyone says: there is no shade
If there is a single piece of advice that comes up again and again from people who have been, it is this. Delos is bare, dry and completely exposed, with almost no shade anywhere on the site. In the middle of summer it gets very hot very quickly, and there is no café or shop to buy food or drink, only toilets and the small museum gift shop. People genuinely underestimate this and suffer for it.
So come prepared. Bring more water than you think you need, a hat, sunglasses and strong sun cream, and wear light, cool clothing. At the same time, pack a light layer, because Delos can be very windy and the boat crossing can be breezy. Wear proper walking shoes or sturdy sandals, as the paths are rocky, uneven and unpaved throughout. Bring some snacks too, as there is nowhere to eat. Get these simple things right and you will enjoy the visit far more.
The best time to visit
The most comfortable months to visit Delos are the shoulder seasons, roughly April to June and September to October, when the weather is warm but not scorching and the crowds are thinner. July and August are hot and busy, and the exposed site can be genuinely draining in the midday heat.
Whatever the month, aim for the first boat of the morning if you can. You get the site at its quietest before the guided tour groups arrive later in the morning, the light is beautiful for photographs, and you avoid the worst of the midday heat. One thing worth knowing is that the strong summer meltemi wind can make the crossing rough or even cancel the boats in July and August, so if there is a particular day you want to go, book it but keep a spare day in your plans in case the sea is against you. For a fuller picture of conditions through the year, see our Mykonos weather guide.
How long do you need?
Most people spend two to three hours on Delos, which covers the main sights, the mosaic houses and the museum comfortably. If you also want to climb Mount Kynthos and take your time, give yourself closer to three or four hours. If you go independently rather than on a fixed tour, your return boat ticket is usually not tied to a specific sailing on the morning boats, so you can catch a later boat back and stay as long as you like within the day. On the single evening sailing, though, everyone leaves together on the last boat, as no one is allowed to remain on Delos overnight.
Combine it with Rhenia
Right next to Delos lies the uninhabited island of Rhenia, and some boat trips combine the two, pairing the ancient ruins of Delos with a swim and a lazy few hours on the quiet, clear-water beaches of Rhenia. If you want to balance the history with a proper Aegean swim, this is a lovely way to spend the day, and it makes the most of the boat trip out into these beautiful waters.
Is Delos worth it?
Yes, and it is the one cultural trip on a Mykonos holiday that almost everyone comes back raving about. It is a complete contrast to the glamour and the beach clubs, a quiet, powerful and slightly eerie place where you can walk through the actual streets of a city that was old when the Romans were young. People who expected to be dutifully ticking off a ruin often find it the highlight of their trip. Go in the morning, take a guide if you can, bring water and a hat, and give yourself time to let the strangeness of the place sink in.
Plan your visit
Delos is one of the best reasons to look beyond the beaches on a trip to Mykonos, and it pairs well with everything else the island offers. For the full list of experiences, see our guide to the best things to do in Mykonos, and to sort out the practicalities, read how to get to Mykonos, getting around Mykonos and our guide on where to stay in Mykonos, where staying near the Old Port makes the early Delos boat much easier. To plan the crossing itself, see the Mykonos to Delos ferry page and the main ferry page. To see how Mykonos and Delos sit within the island group, use the Mykonos map and the Greek islands map.
