Yannis Divramis 
Vrondisi Monastery rests on the southern slopes of Psiloritis, the highest mountain range in Crete, above the village of Zaros on the road toward Kamares. Founded around the fourteenth century, this Byzantine monastery became an important centre of learning and art during Venetian rule. A celebrated Venetian fountain carved with figures of Adam and Eve … Read more
Perama stands as the practical heart of the Mylopotamos region, a working market town set inland from Crete’s north coast on the main road linking Rethymno and Heraklion. This unpretentious hub serves the surrounding farming villages with banks, schools, shops and a weekly market rather than catering to holiday crowds. The town maintains its authentic … Read more
The Patsos gorge, tucked into the western slopes of Psiloritis in Crete’s Amari region, offers a shaded escape into a green ravine where history and nature intertwine. Known also as the Agios Antonios gorge, this short walk leads through plane trees and past a cave-church carved into the cliff, a site sacred since antiquity. Wooden … Read more
Kandanos stands as the main town of the Selino district in south-west Crete, a mountain village surrounded by olive groves and frescoed Byzantine churches along the road from Chania to Paleochora. The village carries a powerful history: German forces destroyed it completely during the Battle of Crete in reprisal for fierce local resistance, leaving a … Read more
Azogires is a tiny green mountain village tucked into the hills of the Selino district in south-west Crete, just inland from the coastal town of Paleochora. Plane trees, springs and running streams shade the village, creating a rare pocket of lush greenery on the otherwise dry south coast. The village is best known for the … Read more
Anydri spreads across a green hillside in the Selino district of south-west Crete, a short distance east of Paleochora on the Libyan Sea coast. Stone houses nestle among olive and citrus groves, and the frescoed church of Saint George anchors village life with its fourteenth-century walls. The Anydri gorge cuts down from the village to … Read more
Polyrrinia stands as one of western Crete’s most evocative archaeological sites, where a living mountain village merges seamlessly with the ruins of an ancient powerhouse. Perched above Kissamos in the Chania region, this settlement rewards curious travelers with stone-built lanes winding through Hellenistic walls, Roman inscriptions embedded in village houses, and an acropolis commanding sweeping … Read more
Tsoutsouros sits at the end of a winding mountain road on the remote south coast of Crete, far from the crowds and resorts that line the northern shore. This quiet fishing village rests below the Asterousia mountains at the mouth of a gorge, where a long curve of pebble and grey sand beach meets clear … Read more
Kalamaki sits on the southern shore of Crete in the Heraklion region, a low-rise beach village stretched along the Gulf of Messara. Grey sand and shallow dunes frame the coastline, part of a protected zone where loggerhead sea turtles come ashore to nest. Tavernas, small hotels and family-run guesthouses line the waterfront rather than towering … Read more
Sweet Water beach, known locally as Glyka Nera, hides beneath towering grey cliffs on Crete’s remote southern shore between Loutro and Chora Sfakion. Cold freshwater springs bubble up through the pebbles at the shoreline, creating small pools where swimmers cool off after the cliff-path hike or boat ride that brings them here. The beach has … Read more
Kali Limenes sits on the far southern coast of Crete, in the Heraklion region. It lies below the barren Asterousia mountains and faces the open Libyan Sea. The name translates as Fair Havens, and the settlement earns it. A string of pebbly coves, very clear water and a sheltered harbour define the shore. A long, … Read more
The Kotsifou gorge is a short limestone canyon in the Rethymno region of southern Crete, threaded by a narrow paved road that runs between the village of Sellia and the coast at Plakias. Sheer rock walls rise high above the road, and a stream bed cuts along the canyon floor below. A whitewashed chapel of … Read more