Vamos is a traditional inland village and the historic capital of the Apokoronas district in north-west Crete, in the Chania region. It sits among olive groves and low hills between Chania and the Souda Bay coast. Stone houses and old mansions line its quiet lanes. The village became a pioneer of Cretan agrotourism after a … Read more
Kalyves is a large seaside village and low-key resort on the Apokoronas coast of north-west Crete, set where two small rivers meet the sea on the western edge of Souda Bay. The village belongs to the Chania region and keeps a lived-in, working feel rather than a purely tourist one. A long sandy beach, a … Read more
Almyrida is a small seaside resort on the Apokoronas coast of north-west Crete, in the Chania region. It sits east of the village of Kalyves, on the Souda Bay side of the Drapano peninsula, facing calm, shallow water. A sheltered sandy beach, a shallow reef reaching offshore, a row of tavernas and cafes, and a … Read more
CretAquarium, known also as Thalassocosmos, is the largest aquarium in Greece and sits on the north coast of Crete at Gournes in the Heraklion region. The complex occupies the site of a former American air-base between Heraklion and the resort of Hersonissos. Around sixty tanks hold roughly two thousand marine creatures, from sharks and groupers … Read more
Gouves is a coastal resort area on the north coast of Crete, in the Heraklion region between Heraklion city and Hersonissos. The area splits into two distinct halves. Pano Gouves is the old inland village in the hills, while Kato Gouves is the beach resort on the shore, lined with sandy and pebbly beaches, hotels, … Read more
The Fortezza is the Venetian citadel that crowns the low hill of Palaiokastro above the old town of Rethymno, on the north coast of Crete. Its low, star-shaped ramparts and angled bastions were built to absorb cannon fire, and inside stand a domed former mosque, a gunpowder store, cisterns and the rector’s residence. The walls … Read more
Akrotiri is a broad, rocky peninsula reaching north-east from Chania in western Crete. The peninsula holds the city’s airport, the deep natural harbour of Souda Bay, and a scatter of beaches and historic monasteries across its bare hills. Clifftop religious sites, the sandy cove of Stavros, and the hilltop graves of the statesman Eleftherios Venizelos … Read more
The Koules fortress is a squat stone sea fort guarding the entrance to the old Venetian harbour of Heraklion, the capital of Crete. The Venetians knew it as Rocca a Mare and Greeks call it Koules. It stands beside the old Venetian arsenali shipyards, a low block of thick walls that has become the emblem … Read more
Xerokambos is a remote scatter of beaches and a tiny settlement at the far south-eastern corner of Crete, in the Lasithi region beyond Zakros and the mountain village of Ziros. Long stretches of soft pale sand and clear, shallow turquoise water back onto low dunes, tamarisk and old salt pans, and the coast stays undeveloped … Read more
Myrtos is a small whitewashed seaside village on the south coast of Crete, set in the Lasithi region west of Ierapetra. A long grey-sand and pebble beach fronts the village, and narrow flower-filled lanes climb the slope behind the shore. Low-key tavernas, cafes and rooms line the seafront, and the village keeps a relaxed, alternative … Read more