GREEK ISLANDS
Crete
Delos
Mykonos
Naxos
Paros
Santorini
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Crete, Greece |
Crete is the Greek Island with something for everyone!
Forget Iraklion, Ag Nikalao, Malia, and the major tourist beaches which have been taken over by British package tours. Take the boat to Chania, the bus to Omalos and walk down the Samaria Gorge. Most people stay in tiny Agia Roumeli long enough for a beer and to catch the next boat to Chora Sfakia, but there are rooms to rent and nearby villages to discover by boat.
The cities of Rethymnon and Chania have nice harbors lined with restaurants and cafes. Iraklion is a city, noisy and crowded. The South coast is busy with tourists, but the beaches are nice and if you don't mind doing a little walking you can get away. The hippie villages of Matala, Paliohora, Agia Galina, Sfakia and Loutra are now pretty much full-blown resort towns in the summer.
Try the east or western tips of Crete. Palekastro has several nice beaches that are fairly uninhabited and the most amazing wind I have ever experienced. The beach at Vai is the only palmtree forest in all of Europe and as you might imagine full of tour buses during the day. Kato Zakro is a small village on the coast at the bottom of a deep ravine cut into the rocks.
The western part of Crete in the area known as Kastelli, there are small villages and beautiful beaches. The whole island is full of Minoan ruins, medieval fortresses and active monasteries and a guidebook is essential (unless you don't care about that kind of stuff).
Save this island for the off-season. It is big and really a country in itself. Follow small roads to tiny villages and unknown beaches. If you don't have a car and are spending your days laying in the sun and your nights in the bars and discos of the over-touristed towns of Agia Nikolaos, Malia and Cheronissos, you may as well be anywhere.
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Crete Travel Tales and Photo Journals |
Mike is your tour guide for
A Greece Odyssey
My friend Mike went to Greece the year before us. When Mike showed me his gorgeous Greece pictures and told me all about his trip, that was it - I was hooked. Take a look with Mike's Greece Odyssey Photo Journal .
Mike's trip takes in Athens, Cape Sounion, Delphi, Meteora, Paros, Santorini, and Crete.
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Pam and Armie's
Honeymoon in Greece
Pam and Armie visited Greece on their honeymoon in 1993. Pam and Army will show you Santorini, Crete, Athens, and a one day Greek Island cruise to Poros, Aegina & Hydra.
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Crete Travel Planning |
Click on any of the links below for more about Crete, and for travel planning help.
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