"A Land Called Crete......" a Crete Island Travel Page by nickandchris

My introduction to Crete was way, way back in 1978 when I and a friend decided to drop everything and see a little of Europe.
We arrived in Iraklion from Pireaus early one October morning. Some Kiwi's we had met earlier, on Corfu, told us to head for Matala, on Crete's southern coast, as it was an excellent place to free-camp. They were right and after an interesting bus journey or two, we spent a great few days wild camping and not doing a lot else before we headed back to Athens and ultimately England. In those days Matala was full of young people, no packages then. A great, friendly atmosphere and a superb introduction to Crete, even if we didn't see much else of the island.

Next trip to Crete was Nick and I, again independently, in 1984, when we hired a motorbike and toured the island. We thought we had hired a 75cc. bike but it turned out to be only a 50cc. No wonder it struggled occasionally, two up and our luggage!! We had some hairy moments like when we decided to drive up to the Lassithi Plateau in the evening in our shorts. Ended up in the pitch black, freezing to death and had a heck of a job finding anywhere open to stay. We actually had visions of emptying the rucksack (it was quite large) and cramming ourselves into it for some shelter!!!! Eventually we did find a hotel where we took a long time to thaw out.. Never have I been so glad of a room for the night!!!!

1992 saw us again heading off to Crete, this time with our first born, Michael, who was 6 at the time. We opted for a package deal this time and booked Nostos Studios, in Kalyves, for three weeks. This turned out to be excellent accommodation although there was quite a bit of traffic noise, the studios being on the main road into Kalyves.
We loved Kalyves, a very Greek, bustling seaside town on the north east of Chania. We hired a car for most of the time and again did a lot of touring. (Michael has only just owned up, at the age of 19, that he hated all the travelling we did. We thought he was just an amenable child!!!)
Crete being such a large island, it is difficult visiting many places basing yourselves in one place only. You do find that distances are great to get to any specific place and then you have to come all the way back. Really, we saw a lot more of Crete when we toured on the bike in 1984, staying in a diferent place every few days. Still, being based for the whole holiday in Kalyves made for a more relaxing and stress-free holiday.

Our final trip to Crete was a last minute booking for the last week in October in 2001, to Almirida with Manos Holidays. (under Prefecture Of Chania page) Wonderful accommodation and a great little village with excellent beaches and eateries, but again, we found distances great and to find the better weather in the south of Crete was a long journey for a short time. If we ever return to Crete, we would possibly base ourselves in the south (although we have "done" a lot of it already) or I would really like to explore the far east, beyond and south of Sitia. It would have to be independently and preferably with at least 2 weeks to do it in.

And finally, a little about Greece's largest and most southerly island.
Crete is aprox. 260 km. by 50 km.,varying from 12 km. to 60 km. from north to south and has over 1040 km. of coastline!!
Cretans are fiercely independent and often the island seems like a seperate country, having their own customs and local dress and being large enough to support it's own population.
Iraklion is the capital, with half of the island's 550,000 population resident in and around here. Rethymnon and Chania districts have a smaller population.
Three mountain ranges run from east to west, Dikti, Idi and Lefka Ori, with unexpected highly farmed plains opening out to create splendid vistas.
Over a quarter of tourists who visit Greece opt for Crete as their holiday destination, with the bulk of resorts being based on the north coast. Some of these once quiet and empty beaches bear no resemblance to what they once were, simple fishing villages or just wide open spaces. Now, horrendous ribbon development spreads like a disease and covers every inch of coastline around these places.
The south has the better weather and the sea here remains warm long into November. Package tourist destinations are sprouting up on the south coast but thankfully, most remain relatively small, owing to the nature of the terrain and building regulations.
Distances are great, don't expect to get anywhere in a hurry if you are heading from north to south. Mountains have to be traversed, notorious hair-pin bends negotiated and obviously views to be admired.
A once largely agricultural island, with tobbacco being a main crop, tourism is now probably more important with the majority of visitors being German, Scandinavian and British.

Crete has a great deal to offer the holiday maker, you just have to find the right places to visit for the right person. Careful planning is essential to enable you to make the most of your holiday, which will probably only be a couple of weeks.