Rethymno sits on the north coast of Crete, halfway between Chania and Heraklion. It holds the best-preserved Renaissance old town on the island, a tight grid of Venetian and Ottoman lanes running below the Fortezza fortress. The Rimondi Fountain still pours through its carved lion spouts, the Neratze mosque keeps its Ottoman minaret, and the … Read more
The Samaria Gorge is the headline hike of south-west Crete, cutting roughly 16 km through the White Mountains national park to the Libyan Sea. Walkers begin high on the Omalos plateau at Xyloskalo, around 1,200 metres, then drop down a steep wooden-stepped path into the riverbed below. The route runs one way and downhill, past … Read more
Chania sits on the north-west coast of Crete, the island’s second city and its most photographed harbour. Pastel Venetian buildings ring the waterfront, and a stone Venetian lighthouse marks the tip of the harbour mole. Behind the quay stretches an old town of narrow Venetian and Ottoman lanes, arched doorways, and shaded courtyards. The city … Read more
Crete is Greece’s largest island, stretching along the south Aegean and split into four regional units from west to east: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Lasithi. That size gives you Minoan ruins, Venetian harbours, a mountain gorge, palm-fringed beaches and a food culture built on olive oil and raki. You can spend a week here and … Read more