Mykonos....OHHHH Mykonos

[funic]

My experience was pretty much the same, even though I visited it only once so I have no memories of what it used to be. I can only say that the biggest and busiest hangout of my 2 weeks visit was the cruising area down the cliff by the church. The fabulous clubs, bars and beaches were...meh. Everything felt gentrified, expensive and overrun by mass tourism. And man did the cruise ships destroy the atmosphere whenever they were in town. Hordes of people walking the same path, taking the same pictures and maybe not even spending a dime, maybe a "traditional" trinket or gelato was the highlight of their visit. Same kind of locust tourism that plagues Venice. At least if those were gay ships the cruising area would have had more dick!

It's definitely still worth a visit but I honestly couldn't find a reason to come back when there are places like Berlin in Europe, and it's the same story I heard from the fellow gay tourists I talked to. 

[davet]

I've never been much for gay resorts, gay cruises, or gay circuit parties. Maybe it's internalized homophobia ("Too many homos!") but gay tourism often captures the worst in mass market tourism. Pretty much no place can survive the onslaught of cruise ships - even Venice. If the ”you get what you pay for” concerns guaranteed good weather, then just look at any nearby island that has the exact same weather. (Not to mention the islands off Croatia, Sicily, and Spain.) Other than the gay nightlife and jet set glitter, it's never been clear to me what advantage Mykonos has over other Aegean destinations. Santorini, at least as touristy, is nevertheless more beautiful than the pictures I've seen of Mykonos, with a mind-blowing history, and Crete has history, archaeology, art, food, wine, scenery, mountains, gorges, mythology ... all in addition to sun and sea.

Maybe find your companionship in Barcelona or Zurich and spring for the ticket to fly him to some other, far more wholesome and "authentic" island. (My childhood fantasy was being with Peter Gallagher in Summer Lovers, which was set on Santorini, but still ... Peter Gallagher!)