Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)
-   Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)
-   -   Scenic Beauty in Greek Island ? Crete or other island ? (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/scenic-beauty-in-greek-island-crete-or-other-island-1043894/)

SmitaSurya Apr 28th, 2015 03:34 AM

Scenic Beauty in Greek Island ? Crete or other island ?
 
Friends , I have a simple query.

If someone is not much interested in History and archaeological sites then the person should visit Crete (Chania and places around )or plan for other islands (other than Santorini)?

The interest areas are - scenic beautiful places.Beautiful Mountain, Beautiful Beach ,small beautiful villages. Basically some Picturesque places.

WWK Apr 28th, 2015 04:57 AM

Chania is beautiful, but for what you seek, either Paros, Naxos or both is probably a better fit. Both Paros and Naxos are on the same ferry line as Santorini.

clausar Apr 28th, 2015 05:26 AM

I would vote for Western Crete/Chania...
There is everything you mentioned,nice villages, beaches, mountains !!
Chania is one of the nicests cities of Greece, and a good base for excursions.
As for beaches, a must in my opinion is Balos :

https://gr.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=balos%20crete

SmitaSurya Apr 28th, 2015 05:46 AM

thank you friends... Even I am thinking for Crete.May be something different as compared to Cyclade island .

What do you guys think ??

stanbr Apr 28th, 2015 07:07 AM

What happened to you plan for Milos and or Naxos?

They both give you what you are seeking.

Western Crete will also give you something similar but on a much larger scale. Chania is delightful and the Balos Gramovossa boat excursion is a good one with two good beaches and a pirate fortress.
South Crete on the Libyan sea is a two hour bus ride away and there are lovely little village along the coast some of which are only accessible by ferry.
Chania http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632117917828/
Western Crete http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632115757899/
Crete Libyan Sea https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...7645487373222/

You won't go wrong with any of the islands you have been considering.

PetrosB3 Apr 28th, 2015 09:19 AM

First of all Crete is an amazing place, it has everything. Picturesque towns, traditional villages, fantastic beaches, great food, natural wonders and many historic sites and museums. You will never get bored in Crete that's for sure. It's also really big so I will concentrate in Western Crete. The towns you can't miss are Chania and Rethymnon. Both have beautiful old towns with Venetian and Ottoman elements and multiple nice bars and restaurants. Now for nature-lovers you have the Samaria Gorge. It's a candidate UNESCO site as it is one of the largest gorges in the world, and the largest in the Europe. It's also home to the "kri-kri", a goat-like animal that exists only in Crete. The beaches of the island are some of the best in the world. "Balos", with its exotic waters, soft white sand and a huge island with a Venetian castle on top, "Elafonissi", with its pink soft sand and clear-blue waters is like heaven on earth, and "Preveli" with its Palm forest which is extremely rare in Europe (Crete is just across Egypt) and river flowing into the sea is like a miniature of the Nile. The Cretan cuisine is renowned all over the Greek world. The Cretan oil is also considered the best olive oil you can find. I did not write you any historic sites (seriously you miss so many amazing places, monasteries palaces and ancient cities) since you did not want any, but I wish my info seems helpful.

SmitaSurya Apr 29th, 2015 09:39 PM

Thanks a lot stanbr & PetrosB3 ... You are superb...very detailed information provided.

PetrosB3, We would be interested in few Historical places as well but yes not more than 2 or 3 History related places.


So thats final..Athens-->Crete (Chania as our base and excursions from Chania)--> Harklain (just one night stay to take the ferry) --> Santorini-->Athens.

This looks fine I guess... We will try to cover as many places as we can while staying in Chania...

Thanks Guys...


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 10:00 AM.