Crete itinerary help
 

We will be travelling from Chania to Heraklion next May. I should have a couple of days to sepnd in this area (first part will be in the south western area of Crete). Can anyone recommend any spots between Chania and Heraklion. It doesn't have to be a direct route as we will have a rental car. Any must see's... Matala seems quite interesting. By the way we are happy with areas that are quaint and out of the way. We don't need nightlife!
Thanks so much

The Apokoronas peninsula on the east side of Souda Bay from Chania has many small, charming towns-Vamos, Douliana, Gavalohori. You can drive south of there to Chora Skafion and take a ferry to Loutro to swim in the warm waters there.

We enjoyed hiking the Imbros gorge and visiting Vamos. Never made it to Rethimnon...

If you can circle around a bit and don't mind overshooting your actual destination, Agios Nikolaus is a charming fishing village with some nice shops and restaurants.

I'd have said the Apokoronas and Rethymnon, but frankly,not for 2 days.

Where are you in the South West?

Wow, Dreamer2, I didn't find Ag Nic to be fishing village at all; I thought it was very touristy, with loud rock and roll coming out of every bar.

Actually, I would stay in Chania and do day trips to the areas between Chania and Heraklion. You could also spend time in Rethymnon however we preferred Chania.

My Guess is that you will have arrived in Chania and have to get to Heraklion for your ferry or flight out. Of course the shore road (Highway 1) is the fastest, but you're asking for scenic byways?

You can drive the inner highway... and if you feel like doing a "gorge walk" that not the all-day killer like Samaria, you can turn at Vrisses, drive to village of Imbros & walk down Imbros Gorge. Only takes 3-4 hours tops. Get a taxi back to your car. We did Imbros one May and only saw 10-12 people throughout...it was great!! & just as scenice as Sam.

Other options: (1) Stop outside Rethymnon (not going into busy touristy center) just to climb up into the impressive Fortezza & see the view & leave.

(2)Look at your map & go inland to Argyropoulis (spelling varies). Waterfalls in themiddle of town, and above the town, a 1stC ad town ruin, Lappa. Very unvisited... you may love it, and stay a night.

(3) Beautiful haunting, sad -- the Cave of Melidoni, a few miles off Highway #1. Gorgeous stalactites, stalagmites... and a monument to the 400 women/children who died there when turks blocked the opening and set a fire in the 1800s.

(4) Just 10 mi short of (ugly)Heraklion is resort town of Ag. Pelagia--vry pricey in season, bargain in May. Main beach v. narrow, but seek out little coves just to the west of it ..GORGEOUS. Plenty of rooms available..just stop & bargain. You can stay here instead of in Heraklion before getting ferry/plane.

Bookmarking for later reference. Great info!

Thanks for the great info
Sheila
We are staying in paleochroa for two nights and will do some day trips to Elfonissi and I'd like to see Loutro. We'll have roughly 5 days in this area. so we will check out a few other locations Falasarna, etc. Thanks to your earlier suggestions!
TravelerJan
That is exactly right. We will be landing in Chania and then ferrying on to Santorini from Heraklion 9 days later. You gave some great suggestions. I wondered about travelling the south coast to matala and there was a neat place call Anna's Villas near Plakias (beach looks touristy in Plakias is that right?) But there is also the Palm River....can't remember the name) Is it worthwhile to go to this area? I will definitely look into your suggestions!
We are tryng to decide what places to check out on our drive from Chania to Hearklion and I figure we will have about 4 days or so. If anyone has any good accomodation suggestions as well please let me know of any hidden gems you may have seen or experienced!
Also should we travel from Chania east or can we do this from the south coast?
Thanks again.

Bobbit, despite your handle you can't just "bob it" south/north/south/north while going west to east. One trip south... look at a map please. Where you see no roads it is because there are mountains in the way.

You cannot drive to Loutro period. You Cannot drive from Paleochora to Hora Sfakion to get the boat to Loutro. You have to go BACK to the North coast, then drive all the way south again from VRisses (which is below Georgiopoli).

And you cannot drive from Hora.S. east to Matala.. you can get maybe as far as Plakias, but then it is a HELLISH road northeast to get up to Spili and a half-decent road to North Coast. I've done it with an excellent driver and hope NEVER to do it again!!

Most people wanting to go to Matala drive south from Rethimnos via SPili, or from Heraklion thru Mires.

All of Jan's post is true and it is a PAIN- although beautiful- to keep going north south, south north.

However you can visit a long way along the south coast on the little ferries without ever taking your car out of the parking bay. I'd have to check, but I think NOT to Chora Sfakion and thus Loutro.

A good thing to do between Chania and Iraklion is the Akrotiri- 2 good monasteries and another good walk donw to the sea.

Thanks Jan and Sheila

I do have a map but never having been to Crete (or Greece at all) I am still unfamiliar with possible routes. Of course my map shows roads but it is becomming very apparent that these may not be easily travelled!! This is why this board is so helpful.
I do know that Loutro is accesible only by boat however it is helpful knowing that ferrying from Paleochora to some of the southern locations might be our best option if we want to see any in particular. And I can see why people say you need far more than a week to really see much of Crete!!! I think I may need to scale back and pick a few places at the top of my list. I am thinking I might like to go to Mirthios near Plakias instead of Matala but I am going by my limited research (can anyone commnet on these two locations. I was also thinking of doing the Imbros Gorge instead of the Samira Gorge but it sounds like travelling to the Plakias area from Hora Sfakion (travelling south)would be difficult. If we wanted to go to the Plakias area we would be better to travel back up towards Chania travel east and then head south from the Rethimnon area (am I correct here). From the Plakia area we would travel back north and head east to Heraklion. I am guessing this is feasible if we can fit it into our total 9 days on Crete. I don't want to overload and the south western section tops our list, however since we have to travel to heraklion and have a car, I'd like to check out a few things along the way!

Oh and Sheila...thanks for the Akrotiri suggestion!

I don't reely know the middle bottom at all well. I haven't made it to Matala, but looked down on it when we went to Phaistos.

Can you sketch in one post how you see your 9 days and I'll try to comment.

I agree with Sheila... you need to show us day by day how in heck you manage to do this. From piecemeal comments it looks as if your plan is:

land in Chania.Drive South to Paelochora --drive North, to Georgiopouli area - drive South AGAIN to Hora Sfakion + boat to Loutro - drive East along South coast (iffy roads) to Murthios/Plakias.

Then either take HELLISH road North thru mts. to Spili & then to coast, or else retrace BACK to Hora Sfakion, up to Georgiopouli. Your alternative is -- after Loutro retrace rout to Georgiop. then drive South (Again!) through Spili to Matala. Then drive North (yet Again) to finally reach Heraklion.

What is this, a most-mileage contest?? I think you're trying too hard to rack up So. coast beaches. Be content with Paleo. and Loutro's Sweetwater Beach. Then go to North coast for Panormos and or ag. Pelagia. Please -- this yo-yo planning is making us old Crete hands dizzy not to say queasy. Sigh.

Do not miss the Arkadi Monastery which is an important site in Crete's history. Also, the town of Magretes is famous for its pottery. They are both located slightly inland, between Heraklion and Chania

Thanks everyone. I appreicate your willingness to help. However I had not planned to create such excitement!

I had certainly never planned on hitting all the locations mentioned. I am really just trying to see what can fit in around my plan to visit Paleochora. Loutro sounded interesting but I realize I would not be able to do that plus visit southern locations to the east. I think I have learned quite a bit about travel in Crete which helps me in my planning. thanks everyone for your input....much appreicated.

You might find this link to be useful

http://www.sfakia-crete.com/sfakia-crete/ferries.html

I can't remember if I suggested you looked at www.explorecrete.com?

I also can't remember if you've emailed me for trip reports. Do. I have 3 that might be of some use.

We spent 12 nights on the southern coast of Crete September, 2001, heading from Hiraklion--3 nights Kalamaki, 3 nights Plakias, 3 nights Hora Sfakion, 3 nights Paleochora and then to Chania.

We had thought to stay in Matala, but seeing 15 tour buses and wall to wall beach dwellers, we moved on to Kalamaki. On the way to Plakias, we stopped at Phaistos, which we liked more than Knossis, then on to Spili, a Creten version of a French village perche, a delightful town. Enroute to Plakias, we went through the spectacular Kurtaliotiko gorge. We did not find this drive difficult but certainly gorgeous.

On the way to Sfakia, we stopped at Koraka beach (chair rentals) for an hour or so, and then on to Frankokostelli for lunch and a look at the fort. Sfakia gets a lot of action for the ferries, afterwards very peaceful. Here we stayed at Ilingas Pension, very basic, but a little bit of heaven.

Loutro is just around the bend, and it looked devine from the ferry. Our ticket had 10:30, departure time, and 4:45, which we assumed was arrival time in Paleo. Wrong guess. Arriving at Agia Roumelli, the gorge stop, we were told to drive off the boat and continue on to Paleo at 4:45. After lunch at a taverna, we rented chairs on the empty beach. Needless to say that by 4:00, hundreds of hikers arrived. So coming from Paleo, you would be stuck on the beach at Agia for some hours before you could proceed to Loutro, which of course is best reached from Sfakia, but it is doable.

From Paleo, my husband took a local bus to the gorge entance, and did "the death march", (his words). In retrospect, he said he should have done "the easy walk", to the Gates when we had stopped in Agia.

Reverse this trip and see if it fits into your time frame. We were in rather posh digs at Elounda for a week prior to this and we actually enjoyed the South Coast more even with more basic offerings.

Wherever you go, google Captain Barefoot for a list of every beach, cove, spit of sand extant and with excellent directions. We found some fabulous beaches. Although it's a nudist site, all beaches are listed.