Greece - Korina Miller [305]
Bus tickets are sold at machines, street kiosks, minimarkets and tourist shops. You must buy a ticket before boarding (buy return tickets if required), validate the ticket on the bus and hang on to it. From 12.15am to 6am all prices are €1.70.
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
For cars, expect to pay (depending on model) from about €45 per day, plus insurances, in high season; €35 in low season. For scooters it starts at €20 to €40 (ATVs) in high season; €15 to €30 in low season. Reliable hire agencies are the Mykonos Accommodation Centre and OK Rent A Car ( 22890 23761; Agio Stefanos). There are several car- and motorcycle-hire firms around the southern bus station in Hora.
TAXI
If you’re after a taxi ( 22400 23700/22400), you’ll find them at Hora’s Taxi Sq (Plateia Manto Mavrogenous) and by the bus stations and ports. The minimum fare is €3, but there’s a charge of €0.30 for each item of luggage. Fares from Hora to beaches: Agios Stefanos €8.50, Ornos €8, Platys Gialos €8.70, Paradise €9, Kalafatis €14.70 and Elia €14.70. Add €1.50 for phone booking.
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HORA (MYKONOS) ΧΩΡΑ (ΜΥΚΟΝΟΣ)
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Hora (also known as Mykonos), the island’s port and capital, is a warren of narrow alleyways that wriggle between white-walled buildings, their stone surfaces webbed with white paint. In the heart of the Little Venice area (Venetia), tiny flower-bedecked churches jostle with trendy boutiques, and there’s a deluge of bougainvillea around every corner. Without question, you will soon pass the same junction twice. It’s entertaining at first, but can become frustrating as throngs of equally lost people, fast moving locals and disdainful Mykonos veterans add to the stress. For quick-fix navigation, familiarise yourself with main junctions and the three main streets of Matogianni, Enoplon Dynameon and Mitropoleos, which form a horseshoe behind the waterfront. The streets are crowded with chic fashion salons, cool galleries, jangling jewellers, languid and loud music bars, brightly painted houses and torrents of crimson flowers – plus a catwalk cast of thousands.
Orientation
The town proper is about 400m to the south of the Old Port ferry quay, beyond the tiny town beach. A busy square, Plateia Manto Mavrogenous (usually called Taxi Sq), is 100m beyond the beach and on the edge of Hora. East of Taxi Sq, the busy waterfront leads towards the Little Venice neighbourhood and the town’s iconic hill-top row of windmills. South of Taxi Sq and the waterfront, the busy streets of Matogianni, Zouganelli and Mavrogenous lead into the heart of Hora.
The northern bus station is 200m south of the Old Port ferry quay, on the way into town. The southern bus station is on Fabrika Sq, on the southern edge of town. The quay from where boats leave for Delos is at the western end of the waterfront.
Information
BOOKSHOPS
International Press ( 22890 23316; Kambani 5) Numerous international newspapers, although editions are a day late. Also a wide range of magazines and books.
EMERGENCY
Police station ( 22890 22716) On the road to the airport.
Port police ( 22890 22218; Akti Kambani) Midway along the waterfront.
Tourist police ( 22890 22482) At the airport.
INTERNET ACCESS
Angelo’s Internet Café ( 22890 79138; Xenias; per hr €4; 10am-midnight) On the road between the windmills and the southern bus station.
Bolero Bar ( 6936322484; Malamatenias; ) Free internet for customers. Consoles and wi-fi.
Stairs Café ( 22890 26904; Plateia Manto Mavrogenous; ) Free internet for customers until 10.30pm. Consoles and wi-fi.
LAUNDRY
White Mykonos ( 22890 27600, 6977352531; Xenias; 9.30am-2pm & 5-9pm Mon-Fri) Machine wash and dry up to 5kg €10.
MEDICAL SERVICES
First Aid Clinic ( 22890 22274; Agiou Ioannou)
Hospital ( 22890 23994) Located about 1km along the road to Ano Mera.
MONEY
Several banks by the Old Port quay have ATMs. Eurobank has ATMs at Taxi Sq and Fabrika Sq.
Eurochange ( /fax 22890 27024; Plateia Manto Mavrogenous) Money exchange office in Taxi Sq.
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