For lovers of wild Mykonos summers, the travelers who come to the island in early autumn resemble movie-goers entering a theater just as the end credits are starting to roll. But this is the time when the island begins to follow a different script: the super yachts depart, the nightly parties come to an end, the beach bars are boarded up and the Athenian DJs and singers return to the capital. The beaches gradually empty. The groups of tourists wandering the alleys of the Chora become more sparse, giving space for the authentic Mykonos to breathe once again.

The sounds of “Despacito” can no longer be heard echoing from every corner and it appears that even the weather relaxes. “It shows kindness,” the locals say of the easing of the strong meltemi winds that September customarily brings. Roughly until the end of October they live their own ‘small summer’.

It is not by chance that the foreign painters who have made the island their home are particularly fond of the season. “I arrived on Mykonos one night in October following the first autumn rain after having traveled for 12 hours on deck. In the morning the sun dried the whitewashed houses and the atmosphere was brilliantly clear – so much blue everywhere, high and all around, it made my gaze come alive. Without knowing what summer on Mykonos meant, I decided to stay.” So I am told by the Canadian artist Brian Piccini one afternoon at his house, close to the lighthouse.

The fall was also when Mexican painter Luis Orozco (“Luisakos” to the locals) bid farewell to his friends at the end of their holidays on the island in 1960. “What kept me in Mykonos was the light,” he tells me one day in the wonderful garden of Cine Manto in Chora. A few weeks remain before the island begins experiencing the cold of winter, which is no different from that in the rest of the Aegean. But before the north winds turn chilly, these are the reasons you should visit before the final curtain falls on the season:

5. Exploring Chora’s museums without the crowds

The Aegean Maritime Museum is housed in a 19th century Cycladic kapetanospito (the grand homes that once belonged to the island’s merchant captains) in the island’s Chora. Among the artifacts on display are everything from antique naval instruments to a parasol that once belonged to Manto Mavrogenous, a local heroine in Greece’s war for independence.

The most impressive exhibit is the 127 year-old mechanism of the legendary lighthouse ‘Armenistis’ that was retired in 1983 and today lights up the rear garden of the museum. The museum’s treasures also include the antique sailing vessel Evangelistria, which was recently moored in Mykonos and can be visited free of charge.

Right next door to the Maritime Museum you will find Lena’s House, a recreation of a traditional 19th century Mykonian residence. Stepping over the threshold, you will feel that you are a guest in an elderly woman’s home rather than a visitor to a museum.

On the dressing table next to the painted Venetian bed, the lamp is lit and the prayer book open. On the walls of the living room hang antique mirrors and Mykonian embroideries. It is as if the owner of the home has only stepped out for a bit and will soon be returning home. In truth the last owner of the home, Lena Skrivanou, died in 1968 after which her descendants gifted the home to the Folk Museum of Mykonos of which it is now an annex.

Visiting the local hangout, Bakoyia cafe

Every sunday after church, locals gather at the traditional cafe of Bakoyia (tel. +30 22890.23552) for a cup of coffee and a good gossip. At this ‘hole in the wall’ which has opened at 7am every day since it first opened in 1978, the Mykonians, “argue and resolve their differences about politics and sports.”

In the little kitchen about 200 eggs are fried every day on the small gas stove. “In the winter we drop to about 90,” they say. Until about three years ago the frying pan was invariably manned by Vasiliki, although today the cafe has been taken over by her daughter Asimina and granddaughter, Vaso who will fry, poach or scramble your eggs, serving them with mezes such as louza (the local cured meat) small fishes and ‘mostra’ the traditional Mykonian salad with tomato, kopanisti cheese, capers and rusk.

Swim like its 1969

Mykonos has a total of 25 beaches of which 15 are organized. From the end of September and gradually until the end of October, the sunbeds are removed from many, most of the beach bars are shuttered and gradually the beaches are returned to their original, virgin beauty.

Experience an ancient ritual

A somewhat savage custom with Dionysian roots is relived every October in Mykonian homes. It begins rather… bloodily with the slaughter and butchering of a pig and then turns in to a familial celebration with louza, siglino (cured and smoked pork respectively) and other choice charcuterie. It’s very likely that you will be invited to join even by a total stranger.

Cruise on Zanni’s traditional caique

In the harbor, seek out the boat called Phoebus, a wooden caique built in 1948 that belongs to the Mykonian sculptor and sailor Zannis Koukas (tel. +30 22890.24970 / +30 694.473.8018). He purchased it in 1998, restored it and decorated it with his sculptures and today offers daylong cruises around Mykonos, Delos or other neighboring islands.

Enjoy Little Venice

At this time of year you won’t have to wait long to get a table at the much-photographed seaside part of the Chora. Enjoy a sunset cocktail sans-crowds and the constant jostling that comes with high season at Vicolo, Scarpa and Galleraki.

Cheer on local athletes

The event of this season is not some celebrity-packed party with champagne flowing like water, but the 29th Aegean Island Athletics Meet (Aigaiopelagitikoi Agones Stivou) which will be hosted this year for the first time on Mykonos at the Municipal stadium on the 7th and 8th of October. In total 600 athletes will take part from 18 Aegean islands.