"The "shortcut" to Elafonisi" Top 5 Page for this destination Driving on Crete Tip by AcornMan

If you go to Elafonisi from Paleochora, you may pass through the little mountain village of Voutas depending on which route you take. Here, still a long way from Elafonisi, you'll see the tempting sign seen in this picture indicating a shortcut of just 17 km to the beach. Being the adventurer that I am, I decided to give it a try. One hour and fifteen minutes later, after driving over a horrible rocky road through steep mountains, I finally reached Elafonisi. That's right, it took one hour and fifteen minutes to drive 17 km. Actually it only took fifteen minutes to reach the mountain village of Sklavopoula, and then an entire hour for the last 11 km. We never saw a single living creature on that mountain road other than two dogs. No vehicles either. If our car had broken down it might have been days before anyone had found us. We were lucky and made it without any trouble, but take my advice and do NOT take this shortcut.