Five reasons to visit Crete and more

Beautiful beaches, walks, culture and unforgetable sunrises!

Does this sound good to you? It could be the program of your Summer vacation.

Crete is a small country, so if you go there for at least 5 days you will have time to see many things.

I visited the island of Crete twice and selected a few of my favorites:

Heraklion port  and Venetian fortress:

I loved the day we spent in the capital of Heraklion in the middle of the island. We spent time walking along the port, looking at the large and smaller boats. We visited the Venetian fortress built in the 16th century. It is well worth it as it offers wonderful views of the Cretan Sea.

Knossos Palace near Heraklion:

You can see what is left of a Minoan palace. The ruins are very interesting and has beautiful  paintings like the dolphins in the queen’s bathroom. It was built around 1900 B.C. and abandoned in the 14 th century B.C.  It suffered volcano, wars and earthquakes damages.  It is Sir Arthur Evans who spent much of his life excavating the palace and reconstructed part of it.

For people wih strollers it is not easy, but doable. As it gets hot quickly in the summer, try to go early. It has a nice bookstore/museum.

Coast and beaches:

During my two visits I spent some time at the beaches of Agios Nikolaos, Nana Beach near Chersonissos, Malia and Vai. I enjoyed the sandy beaches.

Also try the Star Beach Water Park in Chersonissos. It is large and has everything to satisfy all ages.

Aquarium in Gouves near Chersonissos:

I am sure you or your children will appreciate this new aquarium in Crete. It is located between Chersonissos and Heraklion. Count 1-2 hours go through the 1,600 m2 and 32 tanks.

 

Sunrises:

I had some fun time getting up early to capture memories of the sunrises.

Start getting ready at 5h30 a.m. to make sure to have the perfect spot when the sun arrives.

There are other places which are worth doing while visiting Crete:

• Lassithi Plateau  (used to have many donkeys and windmills, last time I visited it was quite lonely, villages were abandonned, but it is nice to see the country side and people sitting outside at the cafés and selling their broderies.
• Monastery of Kera (you can take a small stop on the way to the Lassithi Plateau.
• Small village and port of Sitia on the way to Vai beach
• Agios Nikolaos (you may go there if you decide to take a boat for the day to some Greek islands. We went to Santorini)
• a 11.2 miles (18 km) walk in the gorge of Samoria in the western part of Crete

Have a nice vacation on Crete if you decide to go.

• Agios Nikolaos
• capitals
• Chersonissos
• Crete
• Heraklion
• Kera
• Knossos
• Lassithi Plateau
• Minoan palace
• sea
• Venetian fortress