This page contains affiliate and referral links. If you charter, book, or buy through them we earn a referral fee, paid by the broker or platform, at no cost to you. We have not adjusted our rankings for the referral rate. Full breakdown on our how-we-make-money page.
The Cyclades week from Athens is sold by every Med broker as a 7-day, 6-island loop that ends in Mykonos. The version below runs 380 nautical miles, holds in a 5 to 6 Beaufort meltemi, and answers a question the brochures avoid: where, specifically, does the yacht sleep on each of those seven nights. Rates are weekly peak-season as of May 2026, applicable to 45m to 55m motor yachts pulling 12 to 14 knots cruise.
The version you should not buy is the one that puts Santorini on night three and Mykonos on night seven. Santorini's caldera anchorage does not hold reliably below 18m of chain, and the buoy field at Ammoudi is small and over-booked. If the meltemi is up and you arrive with a 50m yacht in late July, you are looking at a tender ride from a Vlychada offshore anchorage, not a caldera arrival. We explain where Santorini sits in the realistic route below, which is not on night three.
The base case: Flisvos to Mykonos in seven nights
Most charter clients fly into Athens, board on a Saturday afternoon, and want to be on Mykonos for the Friday night dinner. The 380nm route below answers that.
Day 1 (Saturday): Flisvos Marina, Athens to Kea (Tzia) Departure after 16:00 boarding. 38nm east-southeast to the bay of Vourkari on Kea. This is a soft first night. Anchor in 6 to 9m, sand. Holding is good. The yacht stabilizers stay on. A tender ride into Vourkari for dinner at Aristos or Strofi tou Mimi. The reason brokers underuse Kea is that it is unfashionable. The reason we put it on night one is that it cuts 38nm off Sunday and lets your guests sleep through the meltemi crossing.
Day 2 (Sunday): Kea to Kythnos to Serifos 55nm in two legs. Morning swim stop at Kolona on Kythnos, the double-sided sandbar anchorage on the west coast. Tender swim from 10:00 to 13:00. Then 28nm south to Serifos and the bay of Livadi for the night. Anchor outside the buoy field in 7 to 12m, sand. Holding is good. The town of Hora sits 4km uphill from Livadi. The tender takes guests to Livadi quay for a taxi up at 19:30, dinner at Aloni or Petros, and a 23:30 return.
Day 3 (Monday): Serifos to Sifnos to Folegandros 62nm. Morning leg 22nm to Sifnos, anchor at Vathi on the south coast for lunch. The Vathi anchorage is the best lunch stop in the western Cyclades. Tender into Tselementes or Manolis for grilled octopus and a swim. Afternoon leg 40nm south-southeast to Folegandros. Anchor at Karavostasi or Agali. Agali is prettier and the tender ride to the village dock is shorter. Holding is good in 8 to 12m, sand and weed. The yacht sleeps here. Dinner ashore at Agali beach taverna or, for guests willing to ride a taxi up to Chora, at Pounta or Eva's Garden.
Day 4 (Tuesday): Folegandros to Santorini 40nm southeast. The Santorini caldera is the legitimate reason your guests booked the week. It is also the anchorage that breaks most charter itineraries. The realistic call: stop at Vlychada or Akrotiri on the south coast for a swim and lunch, then take the yacht around to the caldera at 16:00. If the meltemi is at 4 or below, the captain can anchor or pick up a buoy near Ammoudi. If the meltemi is at 5 or above, the yacht stays at the Vlychada offshore anchorage and tenders guests to Athinios for a taxi up to Oia. Dinner at Lauda or 1800 Floga, then a tender pickup at 22:30 from Ammoudi. The yacht moves to the south coast for the night. This is the night the captain will tell you about at the welcome briefing on Saturday, not the brochure version.
Day 5 (Wednesday): Santorini to Ios to Paros 65nm. Long leg, ideally underway by 09:00. Morning at Manganari Bay on Ios for a 3-hour swim and lunch stop. Manganari is the south-coast sandy anchorage that holds well in the meltemi. Afternoon push 35nm north to Paros. Two choices for the night. Naoussa on the north coast is more refined, with the buoys filling fast in August. Antiparos Cape, the south anchorage on the channel between Paros and Antiparos, is calmer but a longer tender to dinner. We prefer Antiparos Cape on a meltemi night, Naoussa otherwise.
Day 6 (Thursday): Paros to Delos to Mykonos 38nm. Morning leg 22nm northeast to Delos. Delos is a Unesco site and an anchorage that requires a permit if you want to land ashore. The captain books the permit. Most charter yachts anchor outside the protected zone, on the west side, and shore boats run guests in for the morning archaeological visit. Then 16nm to Mykonos for the night. The standard Mykonos anchorage in summer is Ornos or Platis Gialos, depending on wind direction. The Mykonos south coast is the meltemi-shielded coast, so plan for Ornos or further west at Agios Ioannis. Dinner ashore at Spilia, Hippie Fish, or, if the booking holds, Nammos. The yacht returns guests to the tender dock at 02:30.
Day 7 (Friday): Mykonos The yacht does not move much. Morning swim and breakfast at Super Spot on a buoy. Lunch at Nammos beach club or Scorpios depending on the booking. Afternoon back on board. Final dinner ashore at Kalua or a private chef brought aboard. The yacht sleeps at Mykonos overnight, disembarking Saturday morning at Tourlos Marina.
This is the realistic 7-day route. It books the same six islands the brochure version does. The difference is the order, the anchorages, and the contingency for the night the meltemi makes Santorini ugly.
What the broker brochure version gets wrong
The standard brochure itinerary you receive on a Tuesday from a London-based broker puts Mykonos on night three or four and Santorini on night five. The arithmetic does not work for two reasons.
First, putting Mykonos mid-week forces the yacht to backtrack 60nm at some point. The yacht is then doing 110nm days at 12 knots cruise, which means 09:00 departures and 18:00 arrivals. Your guests sit in salons and on sundecks. The week feels like a delivery.
Second, putting Santorini on night five means arriving from the north, the meltemi-exposed direction. The standard pattern is north of the caldera at sunset, then a long tender to Oia. If the meltemi is at 6 or above the captain refuses the caldera approach and takes the yacht to the south coast, which means the guests do not see Oia from the water. The post-trip review on TripAdvisor blames the broker.
The fix is to run the route counter-clockwise from Athens, hit Santorini on night four with a south-coast contingency, and arrive in Mykonos with the sun behind you on Thursday afternoon.
Yachts that work for this route
The Cyclades is a 45m to 60m destination. Anything smaller and the meltemi crossings get rough enough that two-thirds of guests are seasick by night three. Anything over 65m and the anchorages start to limit you, particularly at Kolona on Kythnos and at Manganari on Ios where deeper-draft yachts cannot tuck in close enough.
The yachts most often delivered on this route in 2026 are 50m to 55m Sanlorenzo SD126 and SD132 hulls, 47m Heesen FDHF hybrids, 55m to 60m Benetti Mediterraneo and Retreat hulls, and Amels 188 and 206 series. Charter rates run €280K to €450K per week peak season, plus 30 to 35% APA plus VAT. As of May 2026, the meltemi shoulder weeks of early June and mid-September are running 18 to 25% below peak.
A yacht we would pass on for this itinerary is anything above 70m without at-rest stabilizers. The Vathi lunch stop on Sifnos and the Folegandros night anchorage both have enough swell wrap that an unstabilized 70m yacht rolls 6 to 8 degrees in a 4-Beaufort meltemi. Guests notice this in the saloon at dinner.
What APA covers, what it does not
APA on this route runs 30 to 35% of charter fee. Fuel for 380nm at 12 knots cruise is the biggest line. Greek port fees are modest, except Mykonos Tourlos, where a 50m yacht pays €1,800 to €2,400 per night on the quay in peak season. The Delos permit is €150 to €250 depending on landing.
What APA does not cover is the Friday night Nammos beach club table at €4,500 to €15,000 minimum, depending on positioning. That is paid directly by the charter client. Same with Scorpios bottle service. The broker tells you APA covers everything aboard, which it does, plus dockage and fuel. The shore-side dinners and beach clubs are separate.
Passed on: routes and bases we do not recommend
We do not recommend starting this week from Mykonos. The Mykonos Tourlos berthing for 50m yachts is over-subscribed in July and August, and starting the week there forces a Saturday-morning fuel and provisioning run that eats the first day.
We do not recommend the Saronic Gulf detour (Hydra, Spetses) as a pre-Cyclades warm-up unless you have 10 days. The 7-day Cyclades from Athens does not afford it.
We do not recommend the Milos and Kimolos detour southwest of Sifnos. Milos is worth its own week. Trying to bolt it onto a 7-day Cyclades loop forces a 75nm day three.
Booking lead time and meltemi reality
The 45m to 55m motor yacht delivering this route in July and August books out 8 to 14 months ahead. The June and late-September shoulder weeks book inside 90 days. As of May 2026, mid-July weeks on the better 50m hulls are gone. Late August has limited availability. The September 5 to 26 window has the widest selection and the best weather for the meltemi anchorages.
If you are choosing between this week and a Turkey week in the same size class, the Cyclades wins on scenery and dinner, Turkey wins on quiet anchorages and rate per meter. The Cyclades does not win on quiet.
FAQ
Where should the yacht pick us up in Athens? Flisvos Marina in Palaio Faliro is the standard pickup for charter yachts above 40m LOA. Olympic Marine at Lavrio cuts 35nm off the first leg if your itinerary skips the Saronic.
How many nautical miles is a 7-day Cyclades loop? A realistic 7-day Cyclades route from Athens covers 350 to 420 nautical miles. The route described above runs about 380.
What is the meltemi and when does it disrupt the Cyclades? The meltemi is the northerly summer wind that blows 4 to 7 on the Beaufort scale, sometimes 8, across the Cyclades from late June into early September. It dictates leg direction and forces shelter on south or east coasts. It is the single biggest itinerary variable in this region.
Can we land at Delos? Yes, with a permit. The captain arranges it through the local port agent. The site is open mornings only and closed Mondays during shoulder season. Check Cyclades port-of-Mykonos schedule before assuming the visit.
Is one week enough for the Cyclades? For the central Cyclades (Paros, Naxos, Mykonos, Santorini, plus two waypoints): yes. For the central plus western (Milos, Kimolos, Sifnos) or central plus eastern (Amorgos, Donousa, Koufonisia): no. A 10-day charter does both. A 7-day does one.
Is Mykonos still worth a night? Yes, but choose the night carefully. Friday night Mykonos is what most guests want. Tuesday night Mykonos is what locals would tell you to book, because the beach clubs are quieter and the table prices are 30 to 40% lower.