Greece
Mykonos
Windmills turning above a labyrinth of whitewashed lanes where the Aegean nightlife never stops.
Five Venetian windmills turn on the hill above Little Venice, their sails catching the meltemi that drives whitecaps across the harbour below. The lanes of the Chora twist and narrow until laundry bridges the gap between buildings, and the sound of the Aegean is never more than a wall away.
Mykonos built its wealth on maritime trade and the grain those hilltop windmills once processed, but the island's modern identity revolves around a nightlife culture that has operated continuously since the 1960s. Little Venice's waterfront houses — balconies extending directly over the sea — date to the 18th century, when captains' homes doubled as warehouses. The labyrinthine street plan of Mykonos Town was reportedly designed to confuse raiding pirates, and it still confuses visitors today. Beyond the harbour, beaches stretch along the southern coast from the organised clubs of Paradise and Super Paradise to quieter coves at Agios Sostis.
Couple
Boutique hotels in converted sea-captain mansions, sunset cocktails at Little Venice with waves breaking beneath your table, and private boat charters to Delos.
Friends
Beach-club days that run from morning swim to sunset DJ set, bar-hopping through the Chora's maze of lanes, and late-night dining at harbour-side tavernas.
- The five 16th-century Venetian windmills on Kato Mili hill were built to mill wheat and still dominate the skyline above Little Venice.
- Little Venice's balconied houses extend directly over the water, with waves breaking beneath the dinner tables.
- The island's labyrinth of lanes was deliberately designed to confuse pirates — even locals navigate by instinct.
- Beach clubs run from sunrise to sunset and bars operate through the night — the island has no closing time.
Kopanisti cheese spread on warm bread — peppery, creamy, and found nowhere else in Greece.
Louza cured pork sliced thin at a harbour taverna while fishing boats unload the morning catch.
Niagara Falls
United States
Six million cubic feet of water per minute plunging into mist you feel a mile away.
Santa Maria
Portugal
The Azores' oldest island hides a red clay desert and golden beaches the other islands lack.
Santa Maria
Cape Verde
Trade winds blast a long golden beach where kitesurfers trace arcs above turquoise Atlantic rollers.
Jericoacoara
Brazil
Windswept dunes where the sun melts into the sea from a natural stone arch.
Santorini
Greece
White villages balanced on a caldera rim where the sea has flooded a volcano's shattered heart.
Meteora
Greece
Monasteries balanced on sandstone pillars 300 metres above the plain, reached by rope and faith.
Delphi
Greece
Stone terraces climb a sacred mountainside where the ancient world came to hear the oracle speak.
Rhodes Old Town
Greece
Medieval stone streets sealed inside fortress walls where Knights of St John once marshalled for crusade.