CRETE

Five days in Crete.

An ode to wild beaches, grilled feta and the minotaur.

The Greek island of Crete is the cradle of the Minoan Civilisation and it’s a wonderful and unique cauldron of Mediterranean culture.

It has been ruled and influenced by so many great civilisations of the past, such as Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Venetians and Ottomans, before becoming part of Greece in 1913. They all left a trace of their presence in the architecture of the cities and in its traditional food.

Crete is the perfect destination for a balanced holiday, as it has great beaches for all types of tourists, nice villages and archaeological sites to explore.

RECAP & ITINERARY

When? Mid-June. How long? 5 days. Temperature? Perfect, 25-28°C during the day, never lower than 20°C at night. Sea? Quite warm, perfect for swimming in all the north-coast shores. Budget? 500-600€ per person all inclusive. Planning needed? Moderate. Accommodation? AirBnb near Kalathas. Car Rental? Budget at Heraklion airport, returning it in Chania.

***

• Day 1 // Land at Heraklion // Rent a car // Visit Knossos // Drive to Airbnb in Chania

• Day 2 // Seitan Limania beach // Bar Koukouvaya

• Day 3 // Explore Chania's old city

• Day 4 // Balos beach

• Day 5 // Return the car at Chania's airport // Evening flight to London

CONTENT

SEITAN LIMANIA: BEST BEACH IN CRETE

KOUKOUVAYA: A BAR WITH A VIEW

KNOSSOS: THE MINOTAUR’S LABYRINTH

BALOS: THE BLUE LAGOON

CHANIA: EXPLORE THE OLD TOWN

OUR HIGHLIGHTS

SEITAN LIMANIA: BEST BEACH IN CRETE

Drive east in the Akrotiri peninsula, until its very end.

Drive past the tiny village of Akropoli, 30 minutes from Chania, and follow the road until you see a small white church on your left.

Step down from the car.

There's a sheep herd roaming around, curiously staring at you. Everything is so damn bright that your eyes hurt.

Reminiscence of the “Two Pines chapel”, pictured in Kill Bill by Tarantino - same nostalgic feeling and dusty loneliness. Open the saloon-like doors leading in the church courtyard and look downhill from the openings in the fence walls.

Seitan Limania, is what you're looking at.

A hidden cove, a gorgeous beach nestled at the end of a small canyon, where you can appreciate the “blue palette” at its best. From turquoise near the shore to the vivid, intense blue where the inlet becomes open sea and the water gets deeper.

After the white church of Agion Spiridion, there's a short zigzag dirt road to the parking lot.

From there, two paths to get to the beach - the best option is following the right, it's not easy but in 20 minutes of unpaved mountain hike downhill you’ll be there.

Shoes are required, sandals and flip-flops are a big no-no, there are too many stones and a proper shrubland paradise.

Seitan Limania means "Devil's port" in Greek, as the waters to enter the inlet are apparently difficult to tame.

It was mainly known by locals, but in recent years it started to appear on the tourist maps making it a bit more crowded than before but still beautiful.

There are no facilities at the beach, so remember to buy water and food beforehand!

You can easily spend down there the entire day - swimming, diving from the cliffs or just enjoying the bright sun and little shade under the rocks.

It’s a bit wild, but really unforgettable.

KOUKOUVAYA: A BAR WITH A VIEW

The Bar Koukouvaya (here) is a little gem nested in the hills of the Akrotiri Peninsula, right next to the grave of Eleftherios Venizelos*.

The owners of this bar apparently inherited this old house and named it as per its last tenant before their arrival, an “owl” (koukouvaya means in fact “owl” in Greek). During WWII this place was used by the Germans as a anti-aircraft battery.

http://www.koukouvaya.gr/index.en.htmlThe Bar Koukouvaya features great salads and superbe dessert (the zoumero, a chocolate sponge cake, made our tasting buds sing out loud), but what’s really unforgettable is the killer panoramic view of the Venetians harbour of Chania, the windy bay and the White Mountains (“Lefka Ori”, more inland).

The terrace of Koukouvaya could easily be the single best panoramic spot in Crete – just be sure to check the exact sunset time. It’s romantic enough to make a great surprise to your partner (free tip, you’ll thank me later) but also perfect for chilling in the shade after a day at the beach.

Ah! And the portions are huge and the staff is very friendly.

It took us only a short 15-minute drive from Chania to get there. There’s a good parking lot in front of the building, but it’s packed at sunset time so you might have to drive around for a while to find one. 

*History fun fact: Venizelos was a famous Greek statesman - born in Crete and active between the two wars - who wanted to realize the Megali Idea, the “Great Idea”, of reuniting all historically ethnic Greek-inhabited areas in one single nation, from the Southern Balkans to part of Anatolia and Cyprus.

KNOSSOS: THE MINOTAUR’S LABYRINTH

Looking for some thrilling Greek myth to make your day?

Look no further!

Knossos is basically the Hall of Fame of Greek Legends, the Dream Team. We’re talking about the mighty king Minos and Ikarus, Daedalus and the Labyrinth, the Minotaur and Theseus. 

This world-renowned archaeological site is the perfect place to visit to balance a lay-at-the-beach and chilled holiday in Crete. You have to check out some capitels, you’re in Greece after all!

The ruins are a 20-minute drive from the centre of Heraklion and are surely worth the detour. You can also reach the complex via bus #2 from Heraklion. There are a huge car park and souvenirs stalls in front of the site.

The entrance ticket is 15€ pp and you should allow at least 2 hours to enjoy the most of the site.

There are plenty of licensed tour guides at the entrance (average price is around 20€ pp), but we opted to walk in on our own as the informative book at the kiosk was good enough.

We went there in the morning to avoid big crowds and the burning midday sun – there’s basically no shade at all in these ruins!

Also, if you are a history whiz you might want to combine the visit of Knossos with a trip to the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion.

Knossos was the epicentre of the Minoan Civilisation and the capital of Ancient Crete, dominating this area of the Mediterranean Sea until 3000 years ago. Here you can really appreciate the quintessence of their power in the giant pottery and the beautiful sleek columns.

The royal Minoan palace is the main attraction here – with its Throne Room and the marvellous bull-leaping frescoes – but the entire complex is really interesting to explore and offers many great locations for photography lovers.

BALOS: THE BLUE LAGOON

Balos is a wonderful and exotic beach in the northwest of Crete, around one and a half hours’ drive from Chania. 

Turquoise, calm water and a killer view from the top of the mountain make it one of the most visited beaches in the island and - alas - one of the most crowded in summer.

We spent a full day there, the water is warm and shallow and the lagoon has a very exotic look. Further from the lagoon, the water gets deeper and it's nice for snorkeling.

A tiny inconvenient: there's not much space on the shore due to the crowd, so if you like isolated places this is not for you. There's a small kiosk selling water and renting umbrellas and sunbeds, but not much else.

Royal trivia: Lady Diana and Prince Charles used to visit this beach with their yacht.

The best way to get there is by car.

We drove straight to the village of Kaliviani and from there we took the dirt road along Cape Gramvousa, until the parking lot on top of the beach.

The unpaved road is in really terrible conditions, we did it with a regular car and it took us almost 30 minutes at the lowest speed ever - not more than 10 kmph! - because there are pot holes the size of a lunar crater. The access to this road costs around 2€ cash per car and the money goes to the (somehow lacklustre) maintenance of the road itself.

From the car park you have to hike down the mountain to reach the beach - it's mostly downhill and it takes around 30 minutes. Get some real shoes, sandals and flip-flops will struggle there!

On the way back, the hike is quite hard as the road is really steep. For the lazy ones you can ride a donkey for 20€.

For whoever wants to take a challenge and climb, bring a lot of water and avoid to hike back when the sun is high, otherwise get ready to sweat…

CHANIA: EXPLORING THE OLD TOWN

Chania is a lively city in the westside of Crete, second biggest city of the island and we think, the nicest.

We strolled around the narrow streets of the old town and we loved its vibe and the long busy promenade.

Chania carries the marks of both its ancient rulers, the omnipresent Venetians and the Ottomans.

You can appreciate at the same time the old Venetians walls surrounding the city and the only preserved mosque of Chania - the Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque. When we visited, the mosque was used as an exhibition venue.

Chania is nice and welcoming, you can definitely use it as a base to travel around Crete, or just spend a day there.

There are plenty of traditional restaurants and bars, a few museums and a lively central food market where we bought giant olives and cheese - it's worth a visit but it’s not open every day.

Tip for lunch or dinner, Portes. It's a traditional Greek restaurant on the harbour of Chania - and if you go at sunset time you will enjoy a superb view of the bay with its little anchored boats.

The staff is very welcoming and the menu is solid: we had fantastic roasted lamb with Greek yogurt and a deliciously grilled local feta with red peppers - I didn't even know you could grill feta!

In our daily breakfast hunt for my favourite Greek pastry we hit the bakery Kormoranos.

This nice kafeneia in the heart of the old town can deliver. The pastries are all nice, but the one that rules them all is the bougatsa - a glorious breakfast delight with a custard cream heart rolled in a crunchy layer phyllo pastry. We also tried cappuccinos and Greek coffees, and they all passed the test with top grades.

TRAVEL TIPS

We flew Thomas Cook from London to Heraklion, rented a car with Budget and immediately visited Knossos and then moved our way west, towards Chania and the Akrotiri peninsula for the rest of the holiday. We left from Chania, leaving the car at the airport by paying a small fee (totally worth it!).

We stayed at a very nice AirBnb flat near Kalathas, in the hearth of the Akrotiri peninsula. It’s just a 20-minute drive from Chania city centre (but a galaxy away from the noise of the city) and a short drive from many great beaches.