Elia holidays

Holidays to Elia give you Mykonos’ biggest sandy beach on your doorstep, and top party stops a short drive away.

Fit for celebs

Elia’s plotted on Mykonos’ southern coast and is best known for being home to the island’s biggest sweep of sand. This beach is a firm favourite with holidaymakers, especially the LGBTQ+ community, and even A-listers have sunbathed on these sands. Turn your gaze inland, and you’ll find narrow streets lined with sugar cube-like buildings and peppered with tavernas, bars and little shops selling postcards showing off the picture-perfect town. It’s the ideal place to take it easy during the day then hit the buzzing beach clubs nearby at night.

All about the beach

Most of your days here will probably be spent flaked out on Elia Beach, or skidding along the water windsurfing and jet-skiing. The belt of sand is sandwiched between the island’s dramatic rocky cliffs, and cosies up to the turquoise Mediterranean Sea. Rows of thatched parasols and sunloungers are laid out at the edge of the water. This place is a lot quieter than popular beach clubs like Paradise and Super Paradise, so it’s become a bit of an unofficial nudist beach. And if you wander over to the far end of the shore, you’ll see a rainbow flag marking the sandy spot that the LGBTQ+ community have made their own.

Whitewashed windmills

For a spot of sightseeing in between sunbathing and partying, drive 20 minutes to Mykonos Town to see the island’s iconic windmills. They stem back to when wind power was used to grind grain to feed the locals, and was once where residents used to hang their laundry to dry. They have everything you’d expect of a Greek windmill, with whitewashed exteriors, thatched roofs – which make them look like they’re wearing parasols as hats – and bright red spindles which spin in the breeze.