The question usually comes up over a laptop, with a map of the Cyclades open in one tab and an O’Hare departure board in the other. Mykonos is a name that sticks, with its windmills, its harbor of fishing boats and its lanes of Chora that turn every few steps. The short answer is that the flights from Chicago land in Athens, and the island is the second leg of the journey.
How do you get from Chicago to Mykonos?
You get from Chicago to Mykonos in two legs, because the airlines that fly from O’Hare to Greece fly to Athens, while Mykonos Airport is served mostly by European carriers on seasonal routes. Aegean Airlines, the Greek flag carrier, serves no nonstop destinations in the U.S. or Canada from Mykonos, so a single plane from Chicago to the island is not part of the picture.
The first leg is the long one, across the Atlantic to Athens, on a seasonal nonstop from O’Hare with American Airlines or United Airlines. The second leg is the hop from the capital to the island, and that is where you choose how you want your arrival to feel.
The Chicago to Athens leg
American Airlines and United Airlines both fly seasonal nonstop service between Athens International Airport and Chicago-O’Hare. Both also link Athens with other American cities, so travelers who start elsewhere and change planes in Chicago, or who fly from O’Hare directly, end up in the same terminal in Attica.
Because the service is seasonal, the first thing to do is look at the months you want and see whether the nonstop runs then. A trip in the shoulder months can look different on the schedule from one in midsummer, and that is a good reason to settle your dates before anything else.
| Airline | Nonstop from Athens to the United States |
|---|---|
| American Airlines | Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York-JFK, Philadelphia |
| United Airlines | Chicago-O’Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles |
Reaching Mykonos from Europe
A second way to build the trip is to cross the Atlantic to a European city and continue to the island from there. Mykonos has seasonal flights to a long list of European cities, run by EasyJet, Ryanair, Neos and Transavia. Travelers who like to break a long journey with a night in a city they have never seen often look at this kind of routing.
| Airline | Seasonal flights from Mykonos to |
|---|---|
| EasyJet | Geneva, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Nice |
| Neos | Bologna, Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino, Verona |
| Ryanair | Bologna, Budapest, Naples, Paphos, Vienna |
| Transavia | Amsterdam, Lyon, Paris-Orly |
The list reads like a map of European summer vacation: Italian cities, a Swiss lake city, Riviera Nice, Amsterdam and Paris. It also tells you who is on the island with you in season, since many of these routes carry Europeans on week-long stays.
Putting the two legs together
Whichever way you go, think of the arrival day as its own piece of the plan. After a flight across the Atlantic, you land in Greece with the clock several hours ahead of Chicago, and the island is the reward at the end rather than an item to rush toward.
Many travelers like to give Athens a night or two before going on, which turns a tiring transfer into the start of the vacation. The Acropolis, the cafés of the old neighborhoods and a first plate of souvlaki or a Greek salad with a block of feta on top are all there before Mykonos begins.
Where do you land?
From Chicago you land at Athens International Airport, officially Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos, in Spata, Attica, and you reach Mykonos Airport only on the second leg. Knowing both airports helps you picture where each part of the trip begins and ends.
Athens International Airport
The airport opened on 28 March 2001 and sits in Spata, about 12 miles east of central Athens as the crow flies. By road the distance is 19 miles, because hills lie between the airport and the city. That is worth knowing when you look at a map and think the city is right next door.
This is the airport where the American Airlines and United Airlines nonstops to O’Hare depart. It is also where flights from Canada land: Air Canada and Air Transat both operate seasonal nonstops to Montréal-Trudeau and Toronto-Pearson. If you are traveling with friends coming from another city, you may all meet here and continue together.
Mykonos Airport
Mykonos Airport has operated under Fraport Greece since 11 April 2017. It has a single asphalt runway, 6,244 feet long, which gives you a sense of its scale: a small island airport, not a hub. Its flights, as the tables above show, are mostly seasonal and mostly European.
The transfer between Chora and the airport takes about 10 minutes. That is brief enough that your hotel in town is within reach almost as soon as you have your bags, and you can be on a Chora lane or at a harbor table soon after landing.
What the arrival feels like
Landing on the island is a very different moment from landing in Athens. The terminal is small, the bags come out quickly in the spirit of an island, and the first thing you notice outside is the light on the dry hills and the white of the buildings in the distance.
Chora is where most visitors head first. Its maze of lanes was laid out to confuse pirates, according to local lore, and it still confuses first-time walkers. Little Venice, with its balconies over the water, and the windmills on the ridge are the sights most travelers look for on the first evening.
What do you need for the trip?
For this trip you need a flight plan with two parts, a base for your first night, and a sense of what you want the island to be: beach days, long dinners, or both. Everything else follows from those three decisions.
A flight plan in two parts
Start with the transatlantic ticket to Athens, where American Airlines and United Airlines both fly from O’Hare on a seasonal basis. Then add the connection to Mykonos, whether that is a flight from the capital or a different routing through one of the European cities served from the island.
Keeping the two parts in view together avoids the common mistake of buying one without thinking of the other. A late arrival in Athens, for instance, is a good reason to plan a night there instead of trying to reach the island the same day.
A base on the island
With the airport only about 10 minutes from Chora, staying in or near town puts you close to the harbor, the shops and the restaurants. From there you can plan beach days and evenings out without crossing the island each time.
Chora itself rewards wandering. The lanes are lined with boutiques, small chapels and bougainvillea, and the waterfront has tables where you can order grilled octopus, fried zucchini, tzatziki and a cold glass of ouzo or local wine while the boats come and go.
What to pack for the island
Pack as you would for a beach and town vacation: swimwear, sandals that handle stone lanes, sun protection and a layer for the evenings. Comfortable shoes matter in Chora, where the paving is uneven and the lanes climb and turn.
Before you go, check the season of your chosen flights, since the routes from Athens to Chicago and from Mykonos to Europe are seasonal. That one check shapes the dates of the whole trip.
Good to know before you go
The U.S. State Department rates Greece Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions.
Greece uses the euro, and the island restaurants and shops in Chora take payment in that currency. A day in Mykonos tends to follow the pace of the table: a late breakfast of yogurt with honey, a swim, a long lunch, then an evening walk through the lanes toward the windmills. Plan your arrival and departure around that rhythm, leaving a little room on the last day so the trip back to O’Hare, through Athens, does not feel rushed.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Mykonos Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mykonos-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Greece travel advisory (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/greece-travel-advisory.html)
- Wikipedia, Athens International Airport, airlines and destinations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/athens-destinations#Airlines_and_destinations), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Mykonos Island National Airport (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mykonos_Island_National_Airport), checked October 12, 2026