Must see villages in Crete, Greece
 

We have three full days in Crete and have booked our hotel in Chania and our flight out of Chania's airport on the fourth day. We will have a car and would like to drive around explore as much as possible but have to come back to Chania to sleep at night. The only thing we don't want to do is hiking. I appreciate all suggestions especially with names of MUST SEE villages.Thank you.

i have never been to crete but i found that matt barret´s greek travel guides were very helpful when i was planning a short visit to athens and hydra.

http://www.greecetravel.com/

Paleochora would be a good choice.

JQ

Be sure to stop in Spili, not far from Chania. There is an unusual fountain in the center of the village -- more of a wall, actually.

I agree about Paleochora, with some quaint casual restaurants along the water.

We spent a week drivng much of the island, but with only three days, I think you could happily stay in the western end which we found the "prettiest". And Chania remained our favorite town.

One of the main draws on the island is Knossos near Heraklion. After over a month of other ruins, we found their concrete reproductions rather unimpressive.

We stayed in Chania about five years ago- you will love it! We only had two days and I wish it had been longer- Chania itself was wonderful. We rented a car there for just a day and drove to Knossos. Our reaction to it was akin to the other poster's, but as devoted Greek mythology and history buffs it was of course a must. Seeing the oldest throne in Europe within the palace was a highlight. We spent a great afternoon just sampling the beaches between there and Chania on the way back. Although hiking the Gorge was one of our reasons to go, the drive through the mountains was spectacular (passing any number of villages) and there is a place (I can't remember) with pink sand on the other side of the island I was longing to see. I used the Lonely Planet book a lot for Crete. I agree that the Western end of the island is prettier.

From my incomplete Greece report:

We then walked to a totally different part of town. Basically, if you look at a map of Chania there is the "Old Venetian Harbour" (the touristy bit) and then there is a waterfront area east of that on Akti Miaouli. This area was FILLED with waterfront cafes & restaurants that were cool, trendy & full of locals. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone who goes to Chania to wander over there, it was fantastic.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions.

If you get to the south coast below Heraklion, be sure to go to Matala and Agia Galini.

Village of vamos between Hania and Rethymnon is a sort of a "heritage village". They renovate old buildings, and cherish Cretan cooking (note: Cretan, not Greek). They also arrange cooking courses where villagers teach tourists, plus arrange field trips where people learn about wild herbs of the region.

Really good food there, and the price is a fraction of Hanian prices.

Spend a day on the Akrotiri, a day going down to the South west and a day going to Knossos and the museum in Iraklion. But don't forget to spend time in Chania itself.

ttt

The Iraklion Museum is now closed for repairs.

There are small mountian villages about 20k east of Chania and Souda Bay-including Douliana, Vamos, and Gavalohori. South of Chania are Panagia,Plativola, and Gerolakes..
Also drive to the south coast through the mountains.

Kritsa.