Island tour, from Chora to Ano Mera

By 1700, the Kato Mili windmills were already grinding grain shipped in from Syros and Paros, their sails catching the summer etesian winds that define life on Mykonos. From Chora, you read history in small clues: Alefkandra’s waterfront houses braving spray, cubic Cycladic volumes shielding from the meltemi, and the five-chapel complex of Panagia Paraportiani—its earliest sections dating to the 15th century. Seven kilometers east, Ano Mera still moves to a rural beat; at its center, Panagia Tourliani (rebuilt in 1767) holds a Tinian-carved iconostasis and a bell cast in Trieste.

Here’s how it unfolds: your dedicated driver collects you at the hotel in a cool Mercedes, you focus on views, tastes, and photos while they handle the island roads. We glide from the windmills to Little Venice in minutes, pause at Paraportiani for the crisp morning light, then take a ridge road via Ano Diakoftis and reach Ano Mera in about 20 minutes; enough for the cloister, a frappé, or mezze—louza and xinotyro are local staples. The car waits, adaptably: detour to Kalafatis for a swim, or a photo stop at the Agios Sostis lookout when the wind eases.