When to visit Mykonos: May or August
People ask us when to visit Mykonos. The honest answer is that Mykonos in May and Mykonos in August are not really the same place, and the right month depends on what you want from the evening.
May and early June
The island is awake but unhurried. The sea is still cool, the lanes of Chora are walkable at any hour, and you can decide at seven o'clock where to eat at nine. Light lasts long into the evening and the terraces are comfortable without wind.
This is the season for people who came for the island rather than for the crowd. It is also the easiest time to get the table you actually wanted, on the night you actually wanted it.
July and August
High summer is loud, bright and genuinely fun, and it asks for a little planning. Restaurants fill days in advance, the town is busiest between nine and midnight, and the meltemi can blow hard enough to reorganise an evening.
Two habits make August easy. Book dinner before you book anything else, and treat the early evening as part of the meal rather than a queue: a drink somewhere with a view, then a table. Our evening guide to Mykonos Town maps one version of that day.
September and early October
Many people who work here will tell you this is the best month, and they are not being contrarian. The sea is at its warmest, the light turns golden earlier, and the island exhales. Dinner feels unhurried again.
Our season runs from the beginning of May to around 10 October, so early October evenings are the last of the year and they are often the loveliest.
What about the meltemi?
The meltemi is the north wind that runs down the Aegean, and it is strongest in July and August. It is the reason the island stays bearable in high summer, and also the reason a ferry is occasionally late or a beach on the north coast turns choppy.
For dinner it matters less than people fear, but it is worth a light layer. Evenings on any open terrace can be several degrees cooler than the afternoon suggested, and hair that took an hour will not survive the walk up. Nobody here minds. It is part of the place.
Which month suits a celebration?
If the evening is the occasion, a birthday, an anniversary, a proposal, the shoulder months are kinder. In late May, June and September a large table is easier to place well, the service has more room to breathe, and the light at dinner is at its best.
We can seat up to 80 guests, from a reserved corner to the whole rooftop, and those arrangements are far easier to make outside the first fortnight of August. If you have a date in mind, our private events page explains the formats.
What do people wear?
Smart and relaxed. Mykonos Town is not a jacket-and-tie island, but it is not a beach bar either: linen, a good shirt, a dress that survives a breeze. The one piece of real advice is flat shoes. The lanes are polished marble, they are beautiful, and after dark they are slippery.
What it means for dinner
Krama serves dinner nightly from 19:30 until around midnight, from the à-la-carte or the six-course tasting menu. A table at 19:30 gets the last of the sunset light over the rooftops; a table at 21:30 gets the full evening, when the pool is lit and there is music.
In May and late September you can often book a few days ahead. In July and August, book as soon as you know your dates. If you are travelling with a group of more than twelve, write to us rather than booking online, and we will plan it properly.