Boston to Mykonos: Athens Nonstops, Mykonos Airport and Seasonal Flights

On the whiteboard of a Boston kitchen, someone has sketched the Aegean: a blue scribble, a dot for Mykonos, an arrow starting at Logan. The question that comes next is always the same, which airport do you land at and how do you reach the island from there. The short answer is that the journey is built in legs, with a long flight across the Atlantic to Athens or another European gateway and a seasonal flight onto the island’s small airport.

How do you get from Boston to Mykonos?

Think of the trip as a long flight to a European gateway, then a shorter flight to a runway on the island.

Athens is the gateway that American carriers fly to directly. From there, the flights that leave Mykonos give you a map of how the island is tied to the rest of Europe, and that map is seasonal, so the connections change with the calendar.

The Atlantic leg: nonstops into Athens

American Airlines and United both operate seasonal nonstop flights between Athens International Airport and several U.S. cities. Air Canada and Air Transat operate seasonal nonstops between Athens and Montréal and Toronto. Boston does not appear in that list of nonstop cities, which means a Boston traveler plans a connection somewhere along the way, either at one of those U.S. hubs or in a European city.

Because these routes are seasonal, the same airline that flies a given city in one part of the year may not fly it in another. That is worth keeping in mind when you pick travel dates, since the choice of connecting city depends on what is flying then.

The last leg: flying out of Mykonos

Seasonal flights leave Mykonos for a good list of European cities. EasyJet flies to Geneva, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Naples and Nice. Ryanair serves Bologna, Budapest, Naples, Paphos and Vienna. Transavia goes to Amsterdam, Lyon and Paris-Orly, and Neos flies to Bologna, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino and Verona.

Notice what the lists say about the island. The destinations show seasonal links to Italy, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Cyprus. Aegean Airlines has no nonstop flights from Mykonos to the U.S. or Canada, so the island’s connections are purely European.

Where do you land?

You land at Mykonos Airport if you fly onto the island, and at Athens International Airport if your transatlantic flight comes in at the Greek capital first. Those are the two runways that matter for this trip, and they are very different places.

Mykonos Airport

Mykonos Airport has a single asphalt runway, 6,244 feet long. Fraport Greece has operated it since 11 April 2017. You step off the plane into a small island airport with a single runway.

The airport sits close to Mykonos town, which visitors simply call Chora. The transfer between the town and the airport takes about 10 minutes. In practice, that means you can be among the lanes of Chora, with its white houses, blue shutters, bougainvillea and the windmills above the waterfront, soon after you collect your bags.

Athens International Airport

Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos is the official name of the airport serving Athens. It is located in Spata, in Attica, and began operation on 28 March 2001. It is about 12 miles east of central Athens, but 19 miles by road because of the hills in between.

If you land here after the Atlantic crossing, you are still a flight away from Mykonos, so the arrival is the middle of your trip rather than its end. Travelers let the Athens stop become a short stay in the city, with a plate of souvlaki or a long taverna dinner before moving on to the island.

What do you need for the trip?

You need three things in order: a transatlantic flight to a gateway, an onward flight that lands on Mykonos, and a way to cover the last stretch from the runway to the town. Everything else is a matter of what kind of stay you want on the island.

A connection that fits the season

Since the nonstops into Athens and the flights out of Mykonos are all seasonal, the first thing to settle is the time of year. Look at which carrier flies the leg you need on your dates, and choose the connecting airport accordingly. A Boston departure will need a stop either in one of the U.S. cities named above or in a European city before the final leg.

The European cities on the Mykonos list are also useful as a mental map. If you plan to see another country first, a city such as Rome, Paris or Amsterdam is among the places with seasonal flights to and from the island, which lets you combine Mykonos with a stay in Europe.

A plan for the island itself

With the runway so close to Chora, the town is the natural base for a first night. Its lanes turn in on themselves, with small churches, jewelry and sandal shops, and the waterfront district of Little Venice where the houses stand over the sea.

The windmills stand on the ridge above the town. Dinner is a matter of grilled fish, kopanisti (a sharp, peppery cheese), louza (cured pork) and sweets made with almonds, all of which belong to the island’s table.

Beyond Chora, the island offers beach clubs and quieter villages, and the choice between them is a question of mood. Decide before you book the onward flight whether you want nights in town or days by the water, since that shapes where you sleep more than how you arrive.

Good to know before you go

The U.S. State Department rates Greece Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.

Treat the schedule of each carrier as something to confirm for your own dates, and keep the island’s food and its lanes as the reward at the end of the chain.