Mykonos Airport to Ano Mera
About 8 km inland; buses run from the Old Port (North Station) rather than Fabrika, and a taxi is €20–28 with the surcharge.
The island's only inland village, built around a plane-shaded square and the fortified Panagia Tourliani monastery — a working place with ordinary tavernas and prices that startle anyone arriving from Chora.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Ano Mera, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €30). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €1.8) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €1.8 | €30 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €3.6 | €30 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €7.2 | €30 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €1.8, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Two stations, ten minutes apart on foot through the town. Get it wrong and you have waited at the wrong stop for a bus that was never coming — the single most common public transport mistake on Mykonos.
Where to catch it: This is the routing that catches people out: Ano Mera is served from the Old Port station, not Fabrika where the airport bus arrives. You cross Chora between the two.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
The village square has proper vehicle access, unlike Chora, so a taxi actually delivers you to the door. That is a small novelty on this island.
Where to catch it: Fifteen minutes inland on the cross-island road; surcharge applies as everywhere here.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
Send the location pin when you book. Finding a villa above Ano Mera after dark without one is a genuine problem, and the local mobile signal is patchy in the valleys.
Where to catch it: Villas in the hills around Ano Mera are a large part of the island's upmarket rental stock and sit on unnamed tracks.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Ano Mera is the one part of Mykonos where a car makes obvious sense — you are inland, the eastern beaches at Elia and Kalafatis are ten minutes away, and the bus service uses the station on the far side of Chora.
Where to catch it: Fifteen minutes; parking around the square is free and usually available.
Best for travellers who want to exploreBuying tickets in Mykonos
Mykonos runs buses from two separate stations in Chora and confusing them is the classic mistake. Fabrika (South Station) serves the airport, the New Port at Tourlos and the southern beaches — Ornos, Platis Gialos, Paradise. Old Port (North Station) serves Ano Mera inland and the eastern beaches at Elia, Kalafatis and Agios Stefanos. They are ten minutes apart on foot. The airport service runs roughly hourly in summer (about 09:15–22:15) for around €3; other singles are €1.80–2.80. Cash to the driver — card acceptance is inconsistent. The beach routes run notably late in peak season: Platis Gialos until roughly 03:00 and the last bus back from Paradise around 02:30. Note that no vehicle enters Chora; the old town is entirely pedestrian.
Taxi scams & safety in Mykonos
The defining issue on Mykonos is not price but supply. The island's taxi fleet is capped at a few dozen vehicles for somewhere handling well over a million passengers a year, so when several flights land together the rank empties in minutes and does not refill quickly. Pre-booking is the norm here rather than a precaution. Fares themselves are regulated: roughly €17–25 to Chora plus a €2.85 airport surcharge payable in cash, with a higher meter between midnight and 05:00. That surcharge is legitimate, not an invention. Two further points: hire cars, quads and scooters cost well above other Greek islands and the coast roads have a poor accident record with enforced drink-driving checks; and most rental agreements prohibit taking the vehicle to another island by ferry.
Getting from JMK to Ano Mera
Ano Mera is the only inland village on Mykonos, eight kilometres from the airport in the middle of the island — a square shaded by plane trees, the fortified Panagia Tourliani monastery on one side, and tavernas whose prices startle anyone who has just eaten in Chora. Fifteen minutes by road, and served by the wrong bus station.
The two-station trap, in its purest form
Ano Mera is served from the Old Port station, not from Fabrika where the airport bus arrives. The two are ten minutes apart on foot across Chora. Arriving at Fabrika and waiting there for an Ano Mera bus is the single most common public transport mistake on this island, and it costs an hour before anyone works out what has happened. If you are heading inland, you cross the town first.
Twenty to thirty euros, and the car reaches the door
A taxi takes fifteen minutes on the cross-island road, with the €2.85 surcharge as everywhere here. What is different about Ano Mera is that the village square has proper vehicle access — unlike Chora, where everything stops at the perimeter, a car actually delivers you to where you are staying. That is a small novelty on Mykonos and it matters with luggage.
The monastery, and why the village exists
Panagia Tourliani was founded in the sixteenth century and rebuilt in the eighteenth, with a marble bell tower, a carved wooden iconostasis and a small museum of vestments and icons. It is the reason there is a settlement here at all, and it is still working. Entry is free, modest dress expected, and it closes for a few hours in the middle of the day.
Prices that belong to a different island
The tavernas on the square serve ordinary Greek food at ordinary Greek prices, which on Mykonos is genuinely surprising. This is where islanders eat. A meal here costs a fraction of the equivalent in Little Venice, and the difference is not quality — it is what the location will bear. For anyone spending a week on this island, knowing that Ano Mera exists is worth real money.
Villas in the hills, and the location pin
The countryside around Ano Mera holds a large share of the island's upmarket villa rentals, on tracks that are unnamed and unlit. Transfers run €30 to €48 and the practical advice is to send the exact location when you book — finding a villa above Ano Mera after dark without one is a real problem, and the mobile signal in the valleys is patchy enough that you cannot rely on sorting it out on arrival.
Where a car makes obvious sense
This is the one part of Mykonos where hiring is straightforwardly right, at €35 to €90 a day. You are inland, the eastern beaches at Elia and Kalafatis are ten minutes away, Chora is fifteen, and the bus service uses a station on the far side of town from where the airport service arrives. Parking around the square is free and usually available — also unusual here.
A different Mykonos, if you want one
Staying inland changes the trip. You are away from the beach clubs and the harbour crowds, the evenings are quiet, and the island's agricultural past — the field walls, the dovecotes, the working farms — is visible in a way it is not from the south coast. Some people find that the point of coming here; others find themselves driving to the beach twice a day and wondering why they did not stay on it.
The market on Saturday
The square holds a small produce market on Saturday mornings, with vegetables, cheese and honey from the farms around the village. It is aimed at residents rather than visitors and it is the clearest reminder that Mykonos had an agricultural economy long before it had a nightlife one. Combined with the taverna prices, it is why people renting villas inland do their shopping here rather than in Chora.
To summarise: €20–30 plus surcharge in a taxi with the car reaching the door, or €30–48 booked with a pin if you are in a villa. And if you take the bus, remember it leaves from the Old Port station, not Fabrika.