Tell people you are taking children to Mykonos and someone will raise an eyebrow. Ignore them. Outside the club strips, this is a small Greek island with shallow bays, patient tavernas and a ferry-boat harbour that doubles as free entertainment.

Beaches that work

Ornos and Platis Gialos are the family beaches: shallow, sheltered and lined with tavernas that produce chips and grilled chicken without drama. Agios Ioannis adds a sunset and a view of Delos. Skip Paradise and Super Paradise entirely — after four o’clock they are exactly what their reputation says.

The winning day

The single most successful family outing on our list is a calm-morning boat trip: a slow ride along the coast, a swim stop in a sandy cove and lunch on board. Children treat the ladder off the back of the boat as a theme park. Book the earliest departure; the sea is calmest and the naps happen on the way home.

The hotel keeps cots, high chairs and early-dinner reservations in its back pocket, and the desk knows which taverna owners genuinely like children and which merely tolerate them. Ask us — it is a shorter list than you would hope, and worth having.