Kissamos, also known as Kastelli Kissamou, offers a refreshing alternative to the busier resorts that dominate much of Crete’s coastline. This working port town on the island’s far western edge serves as the main departure point for boat excursions to the legendary Balos lagoon and the Venetian fortress on Gramvousa islet. The town itself retains … Read more
Falassarna beach sits on the far west coast of Crete, a long ribbon of pale sand in the Chania region near Kissamos. It faces the open sea, so the water runs turquoise in the shallows and the horizon stays clear for evening light. Sunbathers spread out across the wide strand, swimmers wade into calm shallows, … 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
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