Crete, Greece’s largest and most diverse island, holds a special place in my heart. It’s a wonderful place to visit. Nestled in the crystal-clear waters of the Mediterranean, Crete is a land of captivating landscapes, ancient wonders, and vibrant traditions.  

CRETE’S HISTORY

Crete’s history stretches back thousands of years, making it a treasure trove of archaeological wonders. The Minoan civilisation, one of the oldest in Europe, flourished on this island over 4,000 years ago. The Palace of Knossos, an iconic archaeological site, offers a glimpse into the sophisticated Minoan culture. As visitors wander through its labyrinthine corridors and marvel at the vibrant frescoes, they are transported to an ancient world of myth and legend.

Beyond Knossos, Phaistos, Gortyna, and Malia are just a few examples where visitors can witness the remnants of ancient civilisations. These archaeological sites provide invaluable insights into the island’s past, shedding light on the foundations of Western civilisation.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CRETE IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY

In Greek Mythology, Crete was the birthplace of the mighty god Zeus. According to the legend, Zeus was the son of the Titan Cronus and his wife, Rhea. Cronus was the ruler of the Titans. He feared a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, just as he had overthrown his father, Uranus. To ensure the prophecy did not come to pass, Cronus swallowed each of his children as soon as they were born.

Disheartened by losing her children, Rhea developed a plan to save her next child. She hid in the Diktaean cave in Crete to give birth to Zeus. Determined to deceive Cronus, Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and presented it as his newborn baby to him. Cronus, unaware of the deception, swallowed the stone. 

Zeus grew up hidden from his father and cared for by the nymphs. As he reached adulthood, Zeus sought to fulfil the prophecy and overthrow Cronus. He rescued his siblings and the gods suppressed by Cronus and led a revolt against the Titans. This conflict, known as the Titanomachy, lasted for ten years and resulted in the victory of the Olympian gods, led by Zeus. With the Titans defeated, Zeus became the supreme ruler of the gods and the universe and reigned on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.  Zeus became known as the king of the gods, the god of thunder and lightning, and the protector of law and order. His birth and the events that followed were considered pivotal in shaping the Greek pantheon and establishing the hierarchy of the gods.

Another well-known figure from Greek mythology was King Minos. He was a mighty king of Crete and a great warrior, the son of the Greek god Zeus and the mortal woman Europa. He had a wife, Pasiphae, and three children: Androgeus, Ariadne and Phaedra. His magnificent labyrinthine palace at Knossos, built by the skilful architect and craftsman Daedalus, was a place of wonder. The legend tells that Minos had Daedalus built a labyrinth in the palace to contain the Minotaura monster, slayed by King Theseus of Athens. You can see the monster, a bull-headed man, in the frescos in Knossos Palace.

Was King Minos a real person? There is no clear evidence that Minos was a real person. Some believe that he existed, while others support a theory that Minos was a title, like the title Caesar, rather than the name of a king.

WHY VISIT CRETE?

There are so many great reasons to visit the island and find your piece of paradise here. From breathtaking beaches to majestic mountains and fertile valleys with olive groves and vineyards, the island is a testament to nature’s artistry. 

The palm-fringed shores of Balos and Vai, the pink sands of Elafonisi, and the secluded coves of Preveli are only a few of Crete’s coastal treasures. There are many more beautiful places on the island to enjoy.

Along with its beautiful scenery, Crete offers centuries-old cultural heritage rooted deeply in the traditions, music, and cuisine of the island. The island’s vibrant festivals, such as the lively Carnival of Rethymno and the religious processions during Holy Week, showcase the Cretans’ zest for life and the deep connection to their heritage.

CRETAN CUISINE

The island’s cuisine is a culinary journey in itself, renowned for using locally sourced ingredients, including olive oil, wild herbs, and fresh seafood. Visitors can savour authentic Cretan cheeses and traditional dishes like dakos or the succulent lamb slow-cooked in a clay pot known as “ofto.” Cretan food is a celebration of flavours, shared with genuine Cretan hospitality.

EXPLORE THE ISLAND

If you love travelling and exploring new places, I promise you to have a blast in Crete. There is so much to see. I found two weeks were not enough to visit all sites. But don’t worry! Take it slow and enjoy. You can always come back and see the places that you have missed on your first visit.

WHAT IS THE BEST ITINERARY FOR EXPLORING CRETE?

1. Chania (haa·nee·uh)

When visiting a new country, it’s helpful to be able to pronounce the names of the places correctly. The Greek language is difficult and some names of places and towns can be hard to pronounce correctly or memorize, as it’s with the name of Chania.

Chania is the second largest city in Crete and a good place to begin your trip. There are plenty of car rental places at the airport to choose from. Although, it’s best to book in advance. Websites like Travelsupermarket offer price comparisons for car rentals and you can find a suitable vehicle to hire at a decent price.

We had a bit of a disappointment with our rental car. Considering the mountainous terrain on the island, I thought it would be best to hire a 4×4 and booked a Nissan Juke. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Car hire place, they did not have the booked car and gave us a large Ford sedan. In a very short time of driving on the island, we regretted not hiring a smaller vehicle. They are better on fuel and easier to manoeuvre.

You won’t need a 4×4 vehicle in Crete. The roads are accessible in a small car and generally in good condition even if you drive across the country. Fuel prices vary slightly but are pretty high. Ensure any damages to your rental car are covered by your insurance, especially if you are driving in busy towns where the streets are narrow and the drivers are impatiant.

You will need at least 2-3 days to enjoy Chania town. If you have the choice, stay in the old town. It’s worth spending an extra buck for the experience. You will find a great selection of small quirky apartments on Airbnb. Parking can be an issue because the old part of Chania is a pedestrian zone. You can park free in Talos Square or the streets outside the Venetian wall enclosing the old town.

The old part of Chania is delightful. It has a labyrinth of charming narrow pedestrian streets, plenty of curiosity shops and good restaurants, and a few museums worth a visit, like the Archaeological and the National Greek Football museums. The oldest Ottoman building in Crete, the Kucjik Hasan Mosque dating back to 1645, is located in the old town and a great place to visit an exhibition. Even though there is a small Muslim population in Crete, none of the mosques on the island are practising. They are now art or concert venues.

Chania is a great starting point to explore the beautiful Cretan beaches to the West and the South West. If I have to pick, the prettiest beaches in this part of Crete are Balos, Kedrodasos and Elafonissi. Although, the number of people visiting the pink sands of Elafonissi is just mindblowing. Several dozens of tour buses take tourists from different parts of the island daily to visit the beach, plus all the parking lots in the area are stuffed with cars. Be prepared to walk. Even the nearest parking is about 15-20 minutes away from the beach on an easily accessible trek. The best way to visit Elafonissi Beach is to book accommodation in the area for a couple of nights and enjoy the tranquillity of the beach and its still crystal-clear sea in the mornings, before the rush of tourists.

2. RETHYMNO

I really enjoyed the third-largest town in Crete, Rethymno, which is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Greece.

It has a romantic feel, with many historical buildings and narrow pedestrian streets. The Venetian Citadel, the Fortezza, dominates the city. Built between 1573-1580, it was the largest fortress in Crete at the time. Rethymno’s old town has a mixture of Venation and Ottoman architecture. As you probably know, Crete was under Venetian rule for more than four centuries, followed by 253 years of Ottoman rule.

I have never seen that many restaurants clustered in a confined area as in Rethymno’s old town, not even in Dubrovnik. And, surprisingly, they were all very busy!

I cannot recommend visiting the Rethymno Archaeological Museum as it’s as big as a matchbox. If you enjoy music, you can attend a concert at Ibrahim Han Mosque near the museum. The building has striking architecture and fantastic acoustics inside.

Every Saturday morning, there is a farmers market near the Municipal stadium, on the outskirts of the old town where you can buy fresh local vegetables and fruits and delicious Cretan cheeses. Near the stadium, there is a large free parking area that you can use.

3. HERAKION (HERAKLO OR IRAKLO)

Heraklion is the largest city in Crete and its major urban centre. Like any other large city, it’s extremely busy, traffic is horrendous, and parking is a nightmare. It’s worth visiting for its archaeological museum that holds an exquisite collection of exhibits from the Neolithic period (7000 BC) to Roman times (3rd cent. AD).

The famous Minoan palace of Knossos is also located in Heraklion. With its 20000 square meters, 1300 rooms and 5 floors, it is the biggest Minoan building ever built and an interesting site to see.

The town centre of Heraklion offers a large number of fine-dining restaurants, taverns, cafes and modern shops. However, I found more interesting the little kafenions and tavernas on the outskirts of the centre. There, you can submerge into the authentic Cretan atmosphere, meet locals and enjoy delicious Cretan food, like Rabbit Stifado, Snails, Fried Meatballs and Greek Zucchini Fritters. These small restaurants are much better priced than the ones in the busy centre.

Amazingly, most Cretans speak some English. You will always find your way by asking locals for instructions and will manage to order food and drinks anywhere. More than sixty per cent of the population in Crete work in the tourist industry. the rest are farmers, service providers and shopkeepers who, although not directly, help local tourism to flourish. Cretans are generally kind, generous and caring people and look after the tourists well, which makes visiting Crete even a more pleasant experience.

4. CRETAN MOUNTAINS

The mountains of Crete offer striking landscapes, sleepy small villages that take you back in time, lovely little tavernas with excellent food, many historical spots and, for the hikers, good walks.

If you appreciate wine, you can book with a local winery online and go for a wine tasting. It’s a pleasant experience to visit the vineyards and taste different wines. Although, in my opinion, their wines are not always that remarkable. Crete is considered to be the cradle of wine history, but some of the tourist-orientated wineries are pretty new in the wine business and lack experience. I can honestly say I much preferred the local house wines served in small tavernas at a very reasonable price than the expensive ones we tasted at our wine tasting in a winery. The local house white wines were always good. Sometimes they had good reds, too, but not that commonly. Most Cretan homemade red wines taste either too young or are fortified wines. But that is how they make them traditionally.

To experience the authentic Crete, I full-heartedly recommend having lunch on a farm. As someone once said: farm-to-table isn’t a fad, it’s the Cretan way of life. Agrotourism is becoming rather popular in Crete, with a good choice of small farm restaurants where you can taste homemade wine, raki, cheeses, olive oil and delicious hearty Cretan food made on the farm. You can even see where and how these products are made.

Another interesting place to visit in the Cretan mountains is Arkadi Monastery. Located on Mount Ida, it’s only 30 minutes drive from Rethymno. The monastery has a striking church and a lot of history. It played an active role in the Cretan resistance against the Ottomans.

If you are staying in Heraklion or Malia, you may enjoy a drive to the Cave of Zeus. I wrote about this cave earlier. According to Greek mythology, it’s the birthplace of the Greek god Zeus.

I recommend stopping for a break in the charming Cretan village of Krasi, at the foot of Mount Selena. This area is famous for the highest population of evergreen oak trees on Crete and an early Minoa tomb discovered nearby in 1929. The village itself is small but charming, with traditional stone houses and picturesque narrow streets. There are several good tavernas where you can have lunch.

Next, on your drive to the cave, you will see the stone windmill water pumps on Lassithi Plateau used to irrigate the land in the past. Many of them were left to fall into ruins, but some are still standing.

Your last stop will be the cave. Be prepared for a steep hike to the cave or pay to be transported to the top on a donkey’s back. That ‘s an experience on its own. Accessing the cave is challenging because of the steep steps.

5. EASTERN CRETE

Eastern Crete is less developed than the West, but it has an incredible charm and history.

A fascinating historical site you may want to visit in the Northeast is the islet of Spinalonga. Spinalonga has a long history. From its earliest years, the island was fortified by the Venetians to protect the entranceway of the Ancient Olus, an early Cretan city that later sunk underwater. Today, the only visible remains of the sunken city of Olus are scattered parts of the city walls. You can see them when swimming in Elounda Bay.

The islet of Sinalonga remained under Venetian rule for a while even after the rest of Crete was conquered by the Ottomans. In 1715, following a siege, the island was eventually surrendered to the Ottomans and the inhabitants were removed. Sinalonga was then inhabited entirely by Muslims, became a commercial centre and flourished until the liberation of the Crete.

In 1904, Spinalonga was chosen as the site for a leper hospital and, over time, became an organised leper colony. During World War II, the island remained unaffected by the German occupation. The lepers continued to receive food and necessities and lived their lives undisturbed. When the leper hospital was closed in 1957, the island was deserted. In 1976, Sinalonga was designated an archaeological site.

To enter the fortress, you will pass through a tunnel known as Dante’s Gate. The name depicts the state of mind of the lepers arriving in the colony for the first time and their lost hopes and fears as they were locked away on the island. However, Spinalonga provided security for the lepers as they were receiving government grants, medical attention and food.

I read an interesting book about this island, written by Victoria Hislop, which made me curious about this place. The novel is called The Island. When researching Spinalonga, after I’d read the book, I was surprised to find out that along with the fiction, there is a lot of truth in the book. One of the characters, Remoundakis, who was the person pushing for improvements of the living conditions in the colony in Hislop’s novel, was a real person. He formed the Brotherhood of the Sick of Spinalonga and started a community. The lepers were allowed to get married, have children, and somehow had a regular life, despite their disease.

Only 16 km east of Plaka (the closest village to Spinalonga on the mainland) is Agios Nicolaos, a busy touristy town in Eastern Crete. You can stop to look around or have lunch here. There is plenty of parking in the marina and many good restaurants and shops in the town cntre.

The best part of our Eastern Crete tour for me was visiting small fisherman villages, enjoying local food and wine and mixing with the locals. We stayed in Michlos, a small romantic village, with pretty white houses with blue shutters and several good tavernas. It’s a great place to rewind.

There are stunning beaches in the East, too. I recommend visiting Vai Beach, with its turquoise water and golden sands, edging into a tall palm forest, is a truly special place. The area is known for its largest palm forest in Crete.

On both sides of Vai Beach, you will find romantic smaller beaches where you can enjoy the sea from the shade of the Tamarisk trees scattered along the edge of the sand. Being less crowded, they are the perfect place to enjoy a day out, hidden from the hot Cretan sun.

6. SOUTHERN CRETE

Driving down from Agios Nikolaos to the south across-country does not have much to offer to tourists. It’s the industrial and agricultural part of the island.

The landscape in the south of Crete is mountainy and rocky. You can find some interesting spots to visit and more picturesque beaches. The highlight of our visit to the south of Crete was visiting the beautiful Preveli palm forest, stretching behind Preveli Beach.

The beach itself is nothing special. However, the palm forest is a lovely place that transports you to an exotic tropical destination. A story tells that pirates stopping on the beach threw away pips from dates they were eating. The seeds fell in the soil near the Grand Potamos River, coming down from the Kourtaliotiko gorge into the sea at Preveli Beach, and germinated. Over time, they formed todays 40 acres of palm tree forest of Preveli. Scientists contradict this story and believe the palms are indigenous to this part of Crete.

Thirteen years ago, a great fire destroyed nearly 70 per cent of the palm tree forest. Scientists predicted that it will take at least 30 years for the palm forest to regenerate, however, the palm trees recovered much quicker than expected. On our visit, the forest was already in good health. The only signs of fire were the black marks on the palm tree trunks.

In Preveli, we stayed in Dyonisios Taverna, a very convenient place to explore Preveli Beach and the palm forest. Driving down the mountain on a narrow road to the taverna was a bit nervebreaking. The road was very narrow, with an abyss on the side. There is a large free parking near the taverna for daily visitors to the beach. To reach the beach from this side of the bay, you must take a steep hike over a cliff. This path is not suitable for people with mobility problems.

You can find organised tours in 4×4 vehicles to the area with lunch in Dionysios Tavern and a visit to Preveli Beach and the monastery on Tripadvisor.

Preveli Monastery is an old-world charm sanctuary, very peaceful and with a lovely view over the Libyan Sea. This monastery played a crucial part in the resistance against the Ottomans and, later on, against the Nazzies. One of the greatest escape stories from the Battle of Crete is associated with this monastery. In the summer of 1941, a few weeks after the Germans invaded the island, Preveli Monastery gave refuge to hundreds of British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers, allies of Greece. The monks helped the soldiers to evacuate the island safely on a British submarine.

Preveli Beach can be accessed from the side of the monastery, but the path is more challenging than the one we used. Although, I was told, the view over the palm forest on that path were magical .

A visit to Preveli Beach and the monastery is easily achievable in a one-day trip from Rethymno which is only an hour away (37 km).

I hope you enjoy Crete as much as I did! For me, Crete felt like home. Born and bred in the Southern Balkans, I felt the Cretan people, the food and the local traditions very close to my heart. Even though separated from the mainland, Crete had a truly Balkan feel for me.