Whitewashed cubes climbing a hillside, wooden doors painted the same blue as the sea below, the late-afternoon meltemi cooling the terraces. The Cyclades are the islands the rest of the world thinks of when it pictures Greece — and yet most of them are nothing like the Mykonos postcards. We keep villas on three: Serifos, Kea, and one quiet corner of Mykonos itself. This is what makes each different, and how to choose between them.
Why the Cyclades
The Cyclades are a tight cluster of about thirty inhabited islands at the heart of the Aegean, named for the rough circle they form around the sacred island of Delos. They share an architecture — flat-roofed white houses, churches with sky-blue domes, narrow lanes built to confuse pirates — and a climate of summer-long sun, breezy afternoons, and the kind of sea that makes northern Europeans rethink their swimming abilities.
What they don’t share is character. Mykonos and Santorini are the cruise-ship islands: spectacular, busy, internationally famous. Paros and Naxos are the family-and-young-couple all-rounders: enough infrastructure to feel easy, enough beaches to spread the crowds. Serifos, Sifnos, Folegandros, Amorgos — the Cyclades’ “second tier” — are the islands a generation of returning Athenians keep to themselves: rougher, quieter, and the closest thing to what Mykonos was in the 1970s.
At La Villa e Bella we’ve chosen our three islands deliberately. Serifos for the people who want the Cyclades without the noise. Kea for the people who don’t want a long ferry. Mykonos for the people who do want Mykonos but not the harbour-front bedlam. They’re three different holidays, all unmistakably Cycladic.
When to go
The Cycladic season runs late April to mid-October, with three distinct windows.
May and June are the quiet months. The wildflowers are still on the hillsides, the sea has warmed enough to swim from late May, and the wind — the legendary meltemi — hasn’t yet built to its August strength. Daytime temperatures are 22–28 °C; the islands’ best beach tavernas are open but rarely full.
July and August are peak season — the heat tops 32 °C, the meltemi can blow steadily for days, and Mykonos in particular fills up. Serifos and Kea handle the crowds far better; you’ll still find empty beaches at midday on Serifos in mid-August. Book accommodation early.
September and early October are arguably the islands’ finest weeks. The sea is at its warmest of the year, the meltemi has dropped, the harvest is on (capers from Serifos, wine from Tinos), and the cafés in the choras belong to locals again. By mid-October most beach tavernas have closed and the ferry schedules thin out.
November to April, the Cyclades sleep. Most accommodation is closed; ferries run a reduced schedule; the islands turn back to the few thousand year-round residents and their goats.
The three islands we keep villas on
Serifos — the Cyclades the locals kept to themselves
Serifos is small (about 75 km²), mountainous, and gloriously underdeveloped. Its chora (capital) sits 300 metres above its small port, Livadi, and is one of the most photogenic villages in the Aegean — a layered tumble of white houses winding up to a Venetian castle ruin, with all of the southern Aegean spread out below.
The island has more than seventy beaches and almost no high-rise development. Psili Ammos is the islanders’ favourite — a long, sheltered, fine-sand bay with a single taverna at the back; Karavi, accessible only by boat or a steep walk, is the prettiest; Avlomonas and Lia are the easy options. The food on Serifos is some of the best in the Cyclades — small, family-run tavernas, local capers and saffron, lamb baked in clay pots in wood-fired ovens.
Getting there: ferry from Athens (Piraeus), 2.5–4.5 hours depending on the boat. No airport — which is part of the appeal.
Kea — the island closest to Athens
Kea — also called Tzia — is a one-hour ferry from the small port of Lavrion on the east coast of Attica. That short hop is the island’s defining feature: it’s the easiest Cyclades island to reach, which has kept it a long-standing weekend retreat for Athenians but largely off the international radar.
The landscape is greener than the rest of the Cyclades — Kea has springs, oak forests, and walking trails that connect ancient stone-paved paths between the four main villages. The Lion of Kea, a 9-foot-long lion carved into the bedrock around 600 BC, sits at the end of a 30-minute walk from the chora and has the kind of presence photographs don’t manage. The beaches — Spathi, Otzia, Koundouros — are quieter and fewer than on Serifos but no less swimmable.
Getting there: 1 hour from Athens by car to Lavrion, then 1 hour by ferry. No airport.
Mykonos — the famous one, on quieter terms
Mykonos needs little introduction: the most internationally known Cycladic island, the one with the harbour-front nightlife and the celebrity-spotting summer scene. Most of that lives in the half-square-kilometre around Mykonos Town.
Step ten minutes inland or twenty minutes along the coast, and the Mykonos most travellers don’t see takes over: dry stone walls, fig trees, family chapels, beaches that are quiet by 7 pm even in August. Our Mykonos villa is in one of those quieter pockets — close enough to the harbour for a long evening out, far enough to wake to silence.
Getting there: direct flights from most European capitals to Mykonos airport in summer, plus ferries from Athens (Piraeus or Rafina), 2.5–5 hours.
Where to stay — our hand-picked villas
Six villas across the three islands, each chosen for a particular kind of stay.
Serifos
AURORA residence — a contemporary stone-and-white-cube residence with sea-view terraces, on the coast not far from the chora. The Serifos villa for couples and small families.
The ASPES cluster — five separate villas (Prassini, Ammos, Thalassi, Lefki) sharing a hillside above a quiet bay, also rentable as one private estate sleeping 16–24. The Cyclades’ answer to a multi-generational gathering or a small group reunion.
AZZURO residence — a sea-front Serifos villa with the kind of unobstructed Aegean view that decides holidays before you’ve checked the bedroom count.
Kea
Villa Olivis — a stone house among olive groves with the calm, lived-in feel of a private home rather than a rental. Quiet location, easy beach access.
Villa Yalita — sea-view terraces and a pool, a short drive to Vourkari, Kea’s small fishing-port village with the island’s best tavernas.
Mykonos
Villa Mykonis Prana — in a quiet pocket of Mykonos, with the privacy and pool you’d expect at this end of the island, and the harbour fifteen minutes away when you want it.
If you’d like a hand matching dates, group size, and the kind of holiday you have in mind to the right villa, send us your dates and we’ll come back with two or three options that fit.
Practical: Cyclades, need to know
| Nearest airports | Athens International (ATH) for ferries; Mykonos (JMK) for direct |
| Ferry to Serifos | 2.5–4.5 hr from Piraeus (Athens) |
| Ferry to Kea | 1 hr from Lavrion (1 hr drive from Athens) |
| Ferry to Mykonos | 2.5–5 hr from Piraeus or Rafina; or fly direct in summer |
| Best months | May–June, September–October (peak July–August) |
| Car needed | Yes on all three islands — distances are short but ferries don’t go everywhere |
| Currency | Euro (€) |
| Language | Greek; English widely spoken in tourism |
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2 / UTC+3 in summer) |
FAQ
When is the best time to visit the Cyclades?
Late May to mid-June and the whole of September are the islands’ best weeks: warm sea, mild temperatures, light wind, and the choras have re-emptied of the August crowds. July and August are warmest and busiest; April and October are quieter still but with a higher chance of rain or wind.
Which Cycladic island is best for first-timers?
For an easy, quintessentially Cycladic week without the Mykonos circus, Serifos is the answer — close-enough ferry, beaches everywhere, a beautiful chora, and the kind of food that makes returning easy. If you have only three or four days, Kea is the better pick because the ferry from Athens is short.
How do I get to Serifos and Kea from Athens?
Serifos: ferry from Piraeus, 2.5–4.5 hours depending on the boat (high-speed catamarans are quicker, slow ferries are smoother). Kea: drive 1 hour to the port of Lavrion, then take the 1-hour ferry to Korissia. Both islands are private-car friendly once you arrive.
Are Cycladic villas family-friendly?
Yes. The ASPES cluster on Serifos is purpose-built for multi-generational stays (rentable as a private estate for up to 24); Villa Olivis and Villa Yalita on Kea both work well for families wanting a quiet, easy island base. We can advise on cot, high-chair and child-friendly equipment per villa — just ask.
Looking at another region of Greece? Read our guide to the Peloponnese & Spetses, or browse all hand-picked villas across Greece. Region guides for Pelion and Attica, Evia & Chalkida are coming soon.
