Mykonos Tour - Our Not So Amazing Day in Mykonos
Mykonos Tour
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On our recent sailing of the Sun Princess in the Mediterranean, I was most excited about visiting Mykonos. I woke up that morning full of excitement. I had booked a tour on the Shore Excursion Group, which had great reviews. I was ready to take on the day! The tour we did was Exclusive Mykonos Old and New.
This is me so excited I couldn’t stand it! Let’s do this!
Preface
I’ll start this when you buy a tour from Get Your Guide, Viator, Shore Excursion Group, or other similar companies. These companies are not facilitating the tours. They are marketing the tours. I like to buy from them so I can see reviews. Especially if it is somewhere I have never been. I have had a lot of success using them and will continue to use them.
I am a glass-half-full person. I try to see the positive in everything! I believe a smile can fix almost anything, but my friends, my positive attitude could not help this tour. It wasn’t horrible; I was never in harm’s way. However, I was so ready for this one to be over!
The Tour
We arrived in Mykonos around 12 and our tour started at 1. We ate a quick bite at Alfredo’s on the ship before we headed to our tour. I was happy and full. We quickly found where our tour group was meeting. The first thing I noticed there were quite a few people. I was surprised there were so many people on one tour with only one guide. I wasn’t the only one. People were commenting, “I hope they are going to split us up,” and ”There are too many of us.” I am not sure how many were on this tour, but we filled up a big bus. We asked the tour guide about earpieces to hear her since there were so many of us. She insisted we would be able to hear her. (She was wrong).
Beach
We loaded up on a bus and headed to a beautiful beach, where our guide gave no direction on how long we would be there. She just kept calling it a photo-op. I will say it was gorgeous. If I had been by myself, I would have booked a beach day in Mykonos, but my husband is not a beach person, so I booked this tour of exploring Mykonos.
It is a lovely beach - wish we could have stayed here all day!
We stayed at the beach for approximately 15 minutes, then we loaded back up on the bus to head to the town of Ano Mera.
Ano Mera
Ano Mera is a charming village on the island of Mykonos. Our tour included a visit to the Panagia Tourliani monastery, a snack, and about 10 minutes of free time. After a very long introduction to the monastery, we were allowed to explore on our own for a few minutes. We love visiting cathedrals, monasteries, and churches in Europe.
After a short visit to the monastery, we headed to a local cafe for a snack of Greek doughnuts and coffee. We had maybe 10 minutes left to explore the cute village and then head back to the bus to head to the new part of Mykonos.
New Mykonos
When we got off the bus, our tour guide purchased tickets for us to take the water taxi back to the ship. At this point, I looked at my husband and said we should leave the tour and buy our own tickets back to the ship. If I had realized it was only 2 euros a person, I would have done this. Hindsight 20/20 on this one. Our group of 40+ wandered the narrow streets of Mykonos. Every few minutes, we would stop to try to hear our guide speak to us. I will be honest, I have adhd and I am very active. This was agonizing to me. When we stopped, the insights were things I already knew. We seriously didn’t learn a thing on this part of the trip.
When we got to the windmills, I was over it! I wasn’t the only one. Everyone I spoke to was ready for it to be over! Someone asked if they could get their ticket back now so they could stay in the area. I sent my husband over for our return tickets! Freedom! We didn’t even know how to get back to the ship, but we didn’t care. We took off!
I want to point out that I have never written a negative review before; I usually find the good in every experience. However, during this tour, I spoke with a fellow passenger about her thoughts on it, and by the end of our conversation, we both felt like we were hostages on this tour. It was truly a disappointing experience!
I will add that Mykonos was charming. I really wish we had done something different this day. I did enjoy exploring the streets. I wish we had been able to explore them at our own pace. While I don’t recommend the tour we chose. If I were to do it again, I would pick one of these tours:
If you are new here, I am Julie. I use points, miles, and travel hacks to travel the world for free and cheap. I love to travel and hate wasting money. I am so thankful for the points and miles that help make our love of adventure and travel so affordable! If you enjoy learning about our family travels on points and miles, I would love for you to follow me on Facebook, TikTok, or YouTube to stay updated with our journey in leaving no point left behind.
