Crete

[justginger]

Has anyone been? I'd LOVE to hear all about it, if you have - where you stayed, activities, restaurants, etc. I STILL haven't finalized our holiday plans for this year (June) and am starting to get a bit antsy about it. We've got a non-negotiable 10 days in Ireland, 4 in Paris...and then we have 3 weeks before our flight home leaves from Istanbul. I'm thinking 10 days on Crete, 2-3 days on Rhodes, and 8-9 days in Turkey. Like I said, no final plans though.

PLEASE feel free to post photos. I really enjoy photography and often choose destinations based on photographs.

 

[Amys Bling]

Sadler I've never been- but I would LOVE to go!

 

[MsP]

I've been! Spent a semester in Heraklion and traveled all around on the weekends. It's beautiful, friendly, great climate, good history, AMAZING food, a variety of things to see.

If you have specific questions I will try to answer... but I give a big thumbs up. Great area of the world.

 

[atp223]

I've been a few times...one of my good friends from college lives in chania so I visit periodically when I'm in Greece. Her family owns a winery there which is def worth visiting. The old port area of chania is really cute. Last summer I went to Rethymno too for a wedding and it was adorable there also.

I will say that Crete is a big island, so the issues affecting Athens sometimes affect Crete. For example, the taxi strike last summer was in Athens and Crete (and made getting around SUCH a pain), but it did not happen on the smaller islands. The Greeks right now are NOT happy (and they love their Molotov cocktails), so I would keep an eye on that situation before heading over there this summer...

ETA: it's not that you would be in danger or anything, and the protesting is confined to a small ish area usually, but when they strike it just gets really annoying and inconvenient.

That being said, Crete is gorgeous (as are a lot of the other islands), and I will post pictures today or tomorrow after work!

 

[atp223]

**edited by moderator. please upload photos to forum to comply with our policies**

 

[mayerling]

I've been. It's quite pretty! Having said that, it's one of the biggest islands in the Med so I wouldn't exactly think of it as an island that would give you the "island experience". I'd go to one of the smaller islands for that.

 

[yssie]

Wow, ginger, what a trip!! I've never been to Ireland or Turkey - both are on the to-do list! We went to the Greek islands for our honeymoon in September 2010 and it was fabulous

Rhodes does have a "smaller island" feel, even though its economy is obviously buoyed by tourism. We stayed in the old town castle - part of it is a family-owned inn. Cute and comfortable aside from the manic drivers! DH is not a foodie so we just carried our own, or asked for recs wherever we were and he picked the most familiar thing on the menu and I picked the most exotic. Worked out fine and everyone stayed healthy... I'd definitely recommend hiring a car and taking a day or two to drive around the island (you can do it in a few hours like we did but I spent the whole time wishing we had more time to go back!) The south/west sides were mostly empty except for gorgeous empty beaches (not sure if you're allowed to actually stop though - or if anyone cares if you do?), a scattering of tiny towns/castles/other historic sites, and a handful of other drivers and a ton of real estate for sale. We walked up to the Lindos castle on the second day I think - it's a Must Do, but also definitely The Thing To Do in Rhodes so it was pretty busy.

We were leaving and were hesitant about following the car rental agency's instructions to leave the car outside the Old Town wall unlocked with the key under the driver's seat. We asked the inn-keeper who replied that "it's fine - it's an island, where is a thief going to go?"


We had the travel agency find us somewhere to stay in Crete. They chose a place called Vilelmine, it's in the middle of the market overlooking the old harbour - I thought it was sweet, DH thought it was trying too hard. I do remember that there wasn't an elevator or anything, just the stairs, and we were at the top (fourth floor?) and I felt so badly when they refused to help us drag our stuff up! We did guided tours in Knossos and Heraklion - I tend to like good private guides as they always have stories and details that just bring it to life for me, but I know some people don't like to be led around. I loathe group tours though...

We also walked through the Gorge and spent a couple of days in Agia Roumeli on the other side. It isn't at all strenuous as long as you have comfy shoes - takes about 5 hours IIRC. If you do decide to stay in Agia Roumeli have some stuff shipped out, you don't actually need to carry anything through!


I'd love to go back sometime! I should say though that we went as tourists and we were quite happy to be tourists - we weren't expecting to immerse ourselves in some exotic local culture. I'm saving that one for Tibet/Bhutan one day

A couple of our pics - Minoan palace at Knossos, a random road in Crete, and the bottom of the Samaria Gorge




The view from the Old Town fortress wall in Rhodes, Lindos, and an empty castle on the west coast

 

[yssie]

atp newbie question - I can't get to your album! It just says "content not available at this time". Do I need a facebook account to see them?

 

[calibali]

If anyone can answer, I have a couple questions. I'm going to Crete and Santorini at the end of April, but we only have 3 days on each island. Any recommendations for things we MUST do in such a short period of time?

Also, do we need a rental car on either island?

Thanks!!!

 

[atp223]

Hey Yssie! I have no idea...I just copied the link in my browser. But I logged out of fb and tried these links and they worked, so hopefully this solves whatever issue fb was having with me sharing pics:

**edited by moderator. please upload photos to forum to comply with our policies**

 

[justginger]

Excellent - thanks for all of the replies! I'll be back from my laptop tonight with more questions (phone typing gets old!). One quickie though...atp you mention Santorini. I've been very torn about that island. I did Greece alone for 2 weeks in 2007 - Athens and 10 days on Milos. I chose that island because I am a crowd avoider - especially those from cruise ships. And it had stunning geography, perfect for photography. I am so torn in deciding if Santorini's beauty and photogenic nature outweigh both the crowds and inherent financial costs that come with visiting one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world...

 

[atp223]

I'm also heading out and can type a longer response later, but I absolutely hate crowds and tourists, and I hate BEING a tourist in those spots too...but santorini is my most favorite place on earth ever. I think I've been like 4 times, and have no plans to stop. If you go, you HAVE to stay in oia at a place with sunset views. We always stay at golden sunset villas - the price is reasonable and the fam that owns it is super nice. And they finally built a pool! But really, anywhere with a sunset view on the cliffs in oia.

Staying in oia is kind of a pain bc it's far from the beaches and the clubs (2 buses to get to the black beach or red beach)...but it's seriously worth all the trouble.

It IS crowded and it is touristy, but it's seriously the most beautiful place I've ever been.

Let me know if you have any more specific questions!

- Alexa

 

[calibali]

Alexa - If you have any insight on the questions I asked above, I would really appreciate it!

 

[justginger]

Cali, from the research I've done, a rental car on Crete is very handy. It's a fairly large island, especially in comparison to the other Greek ones. If/when we go, we'll probably hire 4 wheelers.

 

[atp223]

If anyone can answer, I have a couple questions. I'm going to Crete and Santorini at the end of April, but we only have 3 days on each island. Any recommendations for things we MUST do in such a short period of time?

Also, do we need a rental car on either island?

Thanks!!!

Hi Cali! For Santorini, you don't need a car. I would highly recommend staying in Oia - it's so beautiful there. It is kind of inconvenient to get to other places from there, so you have to weigh the costs and the benefits...but to me it's worth it. If you were going to be there longer, maybe you would want a car or want to be in Fira, but if you only have 3 days I would do the black beach (perivolos), the red beach (akrotiri), and walk around Oia and Fira. There are also mud hot spring things by the caldera that I have heard are fun. To get to the beaches from Oia, you take a bus to the bus station in Fira, and from there can either stay in Fira or take another bus to whichever beach you want to go to. You can also take a taxi. For only 3 days, I think renting a car is more trouble than its worth...I struggle driving stick up huge inclines (and Oia is like at the top of a cliff), and I think figuring out directions would be confusing. But that's up to you.

Crete is a different story. Crete is a huge and flatter island, so if you want to see cool non touristy beaches or explore the whole island you will need a car. If you're just planning to stay in one town (3 days isn't that long - I think you could find plenty to do in one town), like chania, Rethymno, iraklio, etc, then you can just do the bus/taxi combo again. Regarding specific suggestions, I usually only go to visit my friend in Chania, so I haven't explored the full island yet. I will ask my friend who lives there what she would recommend for a 3 day trip and post it in this thread.

Back to santorini - If you do stay in Oia, you should stay at golden sunset villas - you have a balcony overlooking the famous sunsets, and they have a pool, and it's not super expensive. I can't remember if I already wrote that or not, but that is where I always stay and I love it! But anywhere in Oia on the cliffs would have good views!

Yssie - I hope you saw the links before they were removed! I can't upload all those pics here, the resolution is too high and that would take forever to fix. But if not find me through DB and I can email them to you - that goes for anyone who wants to see them! I'm apapadimos on DB...

Cali - I will be back with more on Crete!

 

[calibali]

Thank you so much Alexa! We are staying in Imerovigli in Santorini and Elounda in Crete. I know Elounda is a bit out of the way, but I just couldn't resist the beautiful resort over there (I'm a beach bum). We definitely won't make it to Chania on this trip, so any other recommendations (we will get a car)?

 

[pwendyp]

oh happy memories of Greece!

Crete - stunningly barren mostly - with some equally stunning beaches. Elounda is quaint, and I remember so well, sitting on the quayside watching the boats bob in and out, as my son and I ate something Greek and sipped in ice cold cokes!

We stayed between Elounda and Agios Nikolaos, the latter being a large town that simply bustles at night - totally lit up and restaurants galore. The driving all along that stretch of coastline is amazing, and there are many slightly inland villages to find and explore. A 'must go to' beach is this one - named I think 'Istron Beach' and part of the Mirabello Bay to the east of Agios Nikolaos. If you look on google earth for Mirabello Bay - you'll see three fingers of land jutting out, this beach is between the first left and the middle. To say it was stunning puts it mildly. It was a drive to get get for us, but we went back three days running - it was that pretty! I have a lot of photos of this beach, but alas nothing to scan on them on right now, but this truly is how the beach looks in real life...






Close to this beach are Kalo Chorio and Kritsa - both pretty little villages worth a trip to, among many other places along the coastline - worth driving along just for the coastal views alone. I didn't get to the far west of the island, but friends have said it is quainter, more olde worlde - and I wish now I had got to see that end of the island.

Rhodes I didn't like as much, but there are some delights. If you go to Rhodes Town, skip the main town...it's just too cosmo in my opinion - but Rhodes old town is lovely, if a little touristy. Further down the island is Lindos, with its maze of little lanes running through it, and so worth the cobbled climb up the steep hill to the ruins. Wear deck shoes, you will need them! In amongst the ice cream sellers on the way up, we saw little old ladies making lace panels and shawls - such beautiful intricate pieces - and one came home home with me.

A friend went to Santorini, and in a word, she said it was 'stunning'! I never got to that island, but the pictures you see of it are pretty much how it is I think.

I think a jeep is absolutely needed on both Crete and Rhodes, they are both sizeable islands, more so Crete. You'll really be able to see so much with wheels to do it with. I've heard and read good things about both Rethymnon and Chania in the west, but the places I mentioned above are a total delight too. I am sure you'll enjoy though, wherever you choose - Greece has a special way of taking you under its spell, almost the moment you step off the plane - and if not then, certainly with the first Greek salad and cold beer watching the sun sparkle on the water, when all you can hear is the babble of Greek or cicados in the background...

 

[justginger]

Thanks everyone for the photos and tips, especially you, Alexa. I only had a chance to glance through the FB photos, so had to put on my detective hat - thankfully your DB screen name filled in a very important blank when I was trying to find you on FB. Now I've been able to look through them at my leisure.

Accordingly, our plans have changed. I am keen to see Santorini, and am certain I've fought off bigger crowds in other tourist locations before (DisneyWorld during school holidays, with my ankles being rammed by strollers, comes to mind). We have also decided to allocate more time to Turkey as well. So now the plan is to fly directly from Paris to Herk, have a week in Crete (probably staying in Chania), take the ferry to Santorini, stay there for 4 days, get to Turkey somehow (the ferry schedules aren't up, but they should be running Santorini - Kos - Bodrum at least 3-4 times/week in June), and then 9ish days in Turkey. Very much looking forward to it all and feels excellent to get some planning done! I finally made our Paris reservations last night, so it's coming together well.

Thanks again, all. I love seeing the photos - think we should start threads on various worldwide destinations on ATW and be able to add all of our favorite shots. I could spend all day looking at travel photos.

 

[atp223]

Thank you so much Alexa! We are staying in Imerovigli in Santorini and Elounda in Crete. I know Elounda is a bit out of the way, but I just couldn't resist the beautiful resort over there (I'm a beach bum). We definitely won't make it to Chania on this trip, so any other recommendations (we will get a car)?

Hi Cali! I have never been to Imerovigli or Elounda, but I've heard great things about Elounda! Make sure to visit Oia while you are in Santorini, even if you aren't staying there! I will ask my friend from Chania if she has any recommendations about Elounda or things around there.

 

[atp223]

Thanks everyone for the photos and tips, especially you, Alexa. I only had a chance to glance through the FB photos, so had to put on my detective hat - thankfully your DB screen name filled in a very important blank when I was trying to find you on FB. Now I've been able to look through them at my leisure.

Accordingly, our plans have changed. I am keen to see Santorini, and am certain I've fought off bigger crowds in other tourist locations before (DisneyWorld during school holidays, with my ankles being rammed by strollers, comes to mind). We have also decided to allocate more time to Turkey as well. So now the plan is to fly directly from Paris to Herk, have a week in Crete (probably staying in Chania), take the ferry to Santorini, stay there for 4 days, get to Turkey somehow (the ferry schedules aren't up, but they should be running Santorini - Kos - Bodrum at least 3-4 times/week in June), and then 9ish days in Turkey. Very much looking forward to it all and feels excellent to get some planning done! I finally made our Paris reservations last night, so it's coming together well.

Thanks again, all. I love seeing the photos - think we should start threads on various worldwide destinations on ATW and be able to add all of our favorite shots. I could spend all day looking at travel photos.

justginger - SUPER excited for you! and good detective work . That vacation sounds amazing. Please let me know if you have any questions - you can just message me on fb if you want! I've never been to Turkey...I'm jealous! If you stay in Chania, I'm sure my friend Alex would love to give you a tour of her family's winery. When I was asking her about what she would suggest people do in Crete, she was like "tell them to come to the winery for a tour!" So let me know if you want to set that up.

I hope you post some pictures when you get back! Have so much fun!