9 Nights in Crete, Need Itinerary Help
May 16th, 2007, 05:38 AM
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9 Nights in Crete, Need Itinerary Help
I'm having a really hard time setting up my itinerary for the Crete part of my trip to Greece.We're flying into Iraklio on Sept.4 laving on the 13th. I'm concentrating on the east/south eastside.
I think we'll try to spend our first night in Rethymnon then head on to Plakias for 2 or 3 nights, Sitia for 2 or 3 nights, Agios Nickolas for 2 nights and the last night in Iraklio. I had originally thought I also wanted to go to Myrtos or Irapetra but not sure if we can fit it in. I was also wondering if anyone had been to the Boutari winery near Skalani or the wineries in Peza. I'm open to all sugestions. Thanks
I think we'll try to spend our first night in Rethymnon then head on to Plakias for 2 or 3 nights, Sitia for 2 or 3 nights, Agios Nickolas for 2 nights and the last night in Iraklio. I had originally thought I also wanted to go to Myrtos or Irapetra but not sure if we can fit it in. I was also wondering if anyone had been to the Boutari winery near Skalani or the wineries in Peza. I'm open to all sugestions. Thanks
May 16th, 2007, 06:47 AM
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I'm sure you must have reasons for concentrating on the eastern side, but we found the western part of Crete to be the more "pure" Cretan experience. Ag. Nick was very touristy. I hope you will get a chance to go to Chania, which is a lovely little port town with a decidedly Venetian flavor.
May 16th, 2007, 06:50 AM
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I'd second grandmere's suggestion to explore the Western part of Crete. We loved Chania and the surrounding area. With 9 nights u could see some of the Western portion as well as some of the east/south eastside.
May 16th, 2007, 08:10 AM
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On the wild assumption you actually WANT to go to the east
, then I'd add a couple of pieces of advice.
The following is our trip report from the area:-
Sitia's not worth staying in. It's small, not very pretty and wee bit industrial. Move outside somewhere. Boutari is industrial too. I#, trying to think of somewhere a wee bit more artisan-y.
If I said that Western Crete was undeveloped, it is not a patch on Eastern Crete for unspoilt. This area is very unoccupied. We had choices on beaches on which we were the only people; and whilst the towns and villages may not be in quite the same league as those set up to look after tourists in the Agios Nikolaos area (or even in Paleohora), they’re not going to leave you without a bite for supper either.
We stayed in Palekastro, about 18 kilometres from Sitia, which is the capital of the province. Palekastro has a few tavernas, lots of Germans and lots of Swiss, no huge shops but good local shopping,(I recommend Finias’s supermarket. This young man looked after my wallet, which had fallen out of my bag, and should get lots of custom for his honesty and helpfulness), a couple of tourist shops and 3 or 4 tavernas. There is a long sandy beach nearby, which has the European Blue Flag, and lots and lots of little beaches all up and down the coast. We stayed near Chiona beach which has 3 tavernas of its own and was very pretty and almost unoccupied. There are no sunbeds in this area ( at least not in October).
The town has a couple of night club places, a lot of “Rooms Rent” available, and a couple of hotels. We didn’t see a campsite.A couple of miles north there’s a small beach with a taverna called Makridati, and the guy obviously takes tents in his olive grove.
We stayed in the Hotel Marina Village, which, whilst it was running down for the end of the season, was in a pretty rural location, had a nice (freezing!) pool, and runs a pretty good book exchange. Usual comments about Greek showers apply.
We ate at Chiona Taverna 3 times- food was good but the location was superb, sunset views over a dappling bay. Mythos in Palekastro was excellent. Hellas Hotel was good if you weren’t veggy. The gigantes beans, picked off the “without meat” section of the menu were somewhat sausagey and the service made out it was my fault.
The area is full of Minoan ruins, some of which were spectacular. Our trips included
• one on the doorstep to Palekastro; which is a Minoan town, spread over a large area. Lots of the finds are in various museums. Lovely location, just next to the beach.
• Gournia- about 2 hours’ drive west of Palekastro, this huge Minoan town is spread over a hillside, just east of Ag Nik. It’s mindblowing to see the sort of cultured culture they had 3-4,000 years ago. (Panorama restaurant, just up the hill great place to recharge batteries and discharge bladders and have coffess miles above the stunning blue Gulf of Mirabello)
• Moni Toplou right out at the North east of the island is a fortified monastery, where they clearly took their responsibilities to defend Christendom literally. It also has the most amazing icon; with 61 biblical scenes on it.
• the beach at Bai, in a date palm forest. My advice is, unless you like not having room to turn round on a beach, don’t do it! God knows what it’s like in the summer.
• Zakros- This is a stunning Minoan Palace right on the coast. You can drive down, but it was much more fun to walk through the gorge from its big brother Ano Zakros, 8 kms uphill, and get the bus back to the car. The palace is, like Festos, much more user friendly than Knossos, being of a more believable size, and not having Arthur Evans made up reconstructions. It also has some terrific terrapins in a cistern in the middle. Nice, if somewhat pebbly beach, and three or four great tavernas along the beach front.
• Sitia- pleasant town. Has what you would want, but doesn’t oversell itself. Good museum which has a lot of the finds from round about, including the Palekastro Kouros, a beautiful graceful figurine of a boy, found at Palekastro, carved in setions in ivory, with pins to hold it together.
• Xerokambos- 40 minutes down a dirt track; supposed to be a nice beach but it was firecely windy when we were there, so all we know is it had a nice taverna (Libyan View- for the uninitiated, the Greeks call the sea south of Crete, the Libyan Sea)
• Makriyialos on the south east coast. Very disappointing but we did a spectacular drive up to Stavrohori, some 15 miles into the mountains, then over the hill to Orino, on a wee track. Remind me again how fantastic the Cretan mountains are?
• Lasithi plateau, where the windmills are. Windmills disappointing because so many are out of use; but we walked up the hill to the cave where Zeus was born and climbed right down into it- 165 metres- brilliant.
• Kritsa- up the hill from Ag Nik. A lovely little hill town entirely devoted to taking the tourist dollar; but in return for (mostly) good quality crafts and products. Definitely worth a visit.
Flew out with Air 2000, who did a great job, on a full plane in contrast to their fellows on the outgoing flight.
We used The Rough Guide to Crete, which is a very good general guide; the Blue Guide to Crete, which will tell you more about Minoan ruins than you ever wanted to know; and Sunflower’s “Landscapes of Eastern Crete”- which gives great advice on both motoring and walking tours. I used Stephanie Coughlan’s “A birdwatcher’s guide to Crete”. I also improved my Greek whilst sitting at the swimming pool.
, then I'd add a couple of pieces of advice.The following is our trip report from the area:-
Sitia's not worth staying in. It's small, not very pretty and wee bit industrial. Move outside somewhere. Boutari is industrial too. I#, trying to think of somewhere a wee bit more artisan-y.
If I said that Western Crete was undeveloped, it is not a patch on Eastern Crete for unspoilt. This area is very unoccupied. We had choices on beaches on which we were the only people; and whilst the towns and villages may not be in quite the same league as those set up to look after tourists in the Agios Nikolaos area (or even in Paleohora), they’re not going to leave you without a bite for supper either.
We stayed in Palekastro, about 18 kilometres from Sitia, which is the capital of the province. Palekastro has a few tavernas, lots of Germans and lots of Swiss, no huge shops but good local shopping,(I recommend Finias’s supermarket. This young man looked after my wallet, which had fallen out of my bag, and should get lots of custom for his honesty and helpfulness), a couple of tourist shops and 3 or 4 tavernas. There is a long sandy beach nearby, which has the European Blue Flag, and lots and lots of little beaches all up and down the coast. We stayed near Chiona beach which has 3 tavernas of its own and was very pretty and almost unoccupied. There are no sunbeds in this area ( at least not in October).
The town has a couple of night club places, a lot of “Rooms Rent” available, and a couple of hotels. We didn’t see a campsite.A couple of miles north there’s a small beach with a taverna called Makridati, and the guy obviously takes tents in his olive grove.
We stayed in the Hotel Marina Village, which, whilst it was running down for the end of the season, was in a pretty rural location, had a nice (freezing!) pool, and runs a pretty good book exchange. Usual comments about Greek showers apply.
We ate at Chiona Taverna 3 times- food was good but the location was superb, sunset views over a dappling bay. Mythos in Palekastro was excellent. Hellas Hotel was good if you weren’t veggy. The gigantes beans, picked off the “without meat” section of the menu were somewhat sausagey and the service made out it was my fault.
The area is full of Minoan ruins, some of which were spectacular. Our trips included
• one on the doorstep to Palekastro; which is a Minoan town, spread over a large area. Lots of the finds are in various museums. Lovely location, just next to the beach.
• Gournia- about 2 hours’ drive west of Palekastro, this huge Minoan town is spread over a hillside, just east of Ag Nik. It’s mindblowing to see the sort of cultured culture they had 3-4,000 years ago. (Panorama restaurant, just up the hill great place to recharge batteries and discharge bladders and have coffess miles above the stunning blue Gulf of Mirabello)
• Moni Toplou right out at the North east of the island is a fortified monastery, where they clearly took their responsibilities to defend Christendom literally. It also has the most amazing icon; with 61 biblical scenes on it.
• the beach at Bai, in a date palm forest. My advice is, unless you like not having room to turn round on a beach, don’t do it! God knows what it’s like in the summer.
• Zakros- This is a stunning Minoan Palace right on the coast. You can drive down, but it was much more fun to walk through the gorge from its big brother Ano Zakros, 8 kms uphill, and get the bus back to the car. The palace is, like Festos, much more user friendly than Knossos, being of a more believable size, and not having Arthur Evans made up reconstructions. It also has some terrific terrapins in a cistern in the middle. Nice, if somewhat pebbly beach, and three or four great tavernas along the beach front.
• Sitia- pleasant town. Has what you would want, but doesn’t oversell itself. Good museum which has a lot of the finds from round about, including the Palekastro Kouros, a beautiful graceful figurine of a boy, found at Palekastro, carved in setions in ivory, with pins to hold it together.
• Xerokambos- 40 minutes down a dirt track; supposed to be a nice beach but it was firecely windy when we were there, so all we know is it had a nice taverna (Libyan View- for the uninitiated, the Greeks call the sea south of Crete, the Libyan Sea)
• Makriyialos on the south east coast. Very disappointing but we did a spectacular drive up to Stavrohori, some 15 miles into the mountains, then over the hill to Orino, on a wee track. Remind me again how fantastic the Cretan mountains are?
• Lasithi plateau, where the windmills are. Windmills disappointing because so many are out of use; but we walked up the hill to the cave where Zeus was born and climbed right down into it- 165 metres- brilliant.
• Kritsa- up the hill from Ag Nik. A lovely little hill town entirely devoted to taking the tourist dollar; but in return for (mostly) good quality crafts and products. Definitely worth a visit.
Flew out with Air 2000, who did a great job, on a full plane in contrast to their fellows on the outgoing flight.
We used The Rough Guide to Crete, which is a very good general guide; the Blue Guide to Crete, which will tell you more about Minoan ruins than you ever wanted to know; and Sunflower’s “Landscapes of Eastern Crete”- which gives great advice on both motoring and walking tours. I used Stephanie Coughlan’s “A birdwatcher’s guide to Crete”. I also improved my Greek whilst sitting at the swimming pool.
May 16th, 2007, 12:47 PM
#6
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Thanks for all the advice. We have family that we need to see that live in a village between Agios Nickolas and Ierapetra so we will be spending a night or two in the area but I doubt we'll stay at their farm. I was assuming that the east/south east area would be less developed but I guess I'm wrong. We like to be near the sea but definatley not near large resorts. I like being in real working villages and towns and we are prepared to move every 2 or 3 days. I originally planned to go to Chania instead of Rethymnon and only changed my mind when I decided to concentrate on the other end of the island. So if I need to go to Chania and need to go to Agios Nickolas to see family where else do you all suggest we go for a great Cretan experiance. Thanks again
May 16th, 2007, 01:26 PM
#7
Check out Milia Cretan Settlement
http://www.milia.gr/english.html Its up in the mountains about 2 hours from Chania--beautiful place and a breathtaking drive to get there.
http://www.milia.gr/english.html Its up in the mountains about 2 hours from Chania--beautiful place and a breathtaking drive to get there.
