The Lasithi Plateau is a wide farming plain that sits high in the mountains of eastern Crete, roughly 840 metres above the sea. The Dikti range wraps the whole plain in a rocky wall, holding a patchwork of green fields at its centre. For centuries thousands of white-sailed windmills pumped water up to those fields, … Read more
Spinalonga is a small rocky islet at the mouth of Elounda bay, in the Gulf of Mirabello on the eastern side of Crete. Its official name is Kalydon, though almost everyone uses the older name. A powerful Venetian sea fortress crowns the rock, and later a village, a church and a leper colony filled the … Read more
Vai Beach sits on the far north-eastern tip of Crete, in the Lasithi region, and it looks like nowhere else on the island. A dense wall of native date palms rises directly behind the golden sand, forming the largest natural palm grove in Europe. The water is clear and turquoise, sun-loungers line the shore, and … Read more
Crete sits at the southern edge of the Aegean. No bridge or road links it to the mainland, so every visitor arrives by air or by sea. Flights land at Heraklion or Chania in under an hour from Athens. Overnight ferries from the port of Piraeus turn the journey into a comfortable night crossing with … Read more
Crete is a big island, so the smartest question is not which hotel to book but which region to base yourself in. The west, the centre and the east each open onto different beaches, ruins and old towns. Driving from one end to the other eats a large chunk of any day. Pick a base … Read more
Crete is Greece’s southernmost large island, and its long, mild season gives you real choice about when to arrive. Each part of the calendar shapes the island differently. Spring paints the hills green. Summer heats the beaches and fills the resorts. Autumn keeps the sea warm as crowds fade, and winter turns quiet along the … Read more
Agios Nikolaos is a resort town on the Gulf of Mirabello, in the Lasithi region of eastern Crete. Its centrepiece is Lake Voulismeni, a small round lake ringed by cafes and tavernas and joined to the harbour by a short channel. The town works as a comfortable base for the eastern end of the island, … Read more
Heraklion, sometimes written Iraklion, is the capital and largest city of Crete, spread along the island’s north-central coast around a working harbour. It pairs a Venetian old town with a busy modern port, so a sea fort, a lion fountain, and pedestrian shopping streets sit within a short walk of ferries and cafes. The city … Read more
Balos Lagoon is one of the most photographed places in the whole of Crete, and the reality lives up to the pictures. This shallow turquoise pool spreads across the Gramvousa peninsula in the far north-west of the island, north of the port town of Kissamos. White-to-pink sand rings warm, waist-deep water, and the rocky islet … Read more
Elafonisi Beach sits at the far south-west tip of Crete, where a shallow turquoise lagoon separates a low sandy islet from the mainland. Crushed shells and foraminifera tint stretches of the sand a soft pink, and a sandbar lets you wade knee-deep across the warm water to the islet. The bay is a protected nature … Read more