Mýkonos

When Le Corbusier toured Mýkonos in 1939, before it was covered with millionaire villas and hotels, he was astounded. ‘Whatever architecture had to say,’ he remarked. ‘It is said here.’

This dry, lunar rock pile, tickled by the meltémi (its old nickname was the ‘Island of Winds’) but graced with 35 soft sandy beaches and a beautiful white Cycladic town, is probably the most famous island in Greece, the island to see and be seen, with the country’s most exciting nightlife—if money is no object.

In 1961, when Jackie Kennedy made her first of many trips and met island mascot Petros the pelican, Mýkonos was a peaceful fishing island. Her paparazzi-accompanied presence was like fairy dust, and hey presto! tolerant laid-back Mýkonos quickly became a gay resort, the joy of the jet set, the first island to officially sanction naturism on some of its beaches.

Today it’s become one of the choice summer hang outs for the glitterati, Instagram influencers, tech billionaires and oligarchs who arrive on super yachts or helicopters. Private heliports in the most exclusive beach clubs make getting there a snap.