Mykonos

When sailing on an MSC cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, Mýkonos is the quintessential image of the Cyclades. In summer most people head out to the beaches during the day, so early morning or late afternoon are the best times to wander the maze of narrow streets.
 
The labyrinthine design was supposed to confuse the pirates who plagued Mýkonos in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and it has the same effect on today’s visitors. When you alight from your MSC cruise, getting lost in its convoluted streets and alleys is half the fun of the place.

From your cruise ship you’ll pass the archaeological museum on your way into town, which was specially built in 1905 to display artifacts from the cemeteries on Rínia Island, opposite Delos. A shore excursion on your MSC Mediterranean cruise can be the opportunity to discover Mýkonos’s museums and mansions. Lena’s House is a completely restored and furnished merchant home from the turn of the twentieth century.

The Folklore Museum, housed in an eighteenth-century mansion, crams in a larger-than-usual collection of bric-a-brac, including a basement dedicated to Mýkonos’s maritime past. The museum shares the promontory with Mýkonos’s oldest and best-known church, Paraportianí, a fascinating asymmetrical hodgepodge of four chapels amalgamated into one. Beyond the church, the shoreline leads to the area known as Little Venice because of the high, arcaded Venetian houses built right up to the water’s edge on its southwest side.

Together with the adjoining Alefkándhra district, this is a dense area packed with art galleries, trendy bars, shops and clubs. Beyond Little Venice, the famous windmills look over the area, renovated and ripe for photo opportunities.