A week’s trip to Crete

In early May 2018, we took a week’s holiday and escaped the city of London for the idyllic Crete. To a little village called Sissi, to be precise. If you’re yet to explore this wonderful island, we would most definitely recommend staying in a smaller, more traditional village (like Sissi). We stayed in Maritimo Beach Hotel- which was well located, had good facilities and overall a great atmosphere. There were many fun nights spent relaxing on the terrace, listening to both local and European live music, with many other guests also joining in. The food was also good- and there was plenty of choice of other restaurants within walking distance for those wishing to explore/have a bit more choice. Given that we actually managed to do quite a lot, we’ve broken the trip down into several posts. This is the main post, giving an outline of what we did and our itinerary, as well as our favourite food and drink places. For some of the days, such as the day trip to Knossos and Lasithi Plateau, we have put together more detailed posts- scroll down to see more!

Day 2- Malia Palace

On the next day, after managing to make it to breakfast, we did an hour’s walk from Sissi to the Malia Palace Archaeological Site. This route took us past many traditional stone houses, covered in flowers- was simply stunning!

The Malia Palace is located just outside the town of Malia, and is rather big- at 7,500 square meters it is the third largest Minoan palace. There was a fair bit to walk around and see- from amphoras to the remains of the palace- both the original  (believed to be built around 1900 BC) and the newer palace (believed to be built around 1650 BC). Further details around the Malia Palace are available on the Minoan Crete website.

After walking around the Palace, we walked around Malia and down to the harbour- where we came across a little restaurant called Thalassa. The location was incredible- right on the waterfront (see photo below)- but the food was only average we found.

Overall, the impression we got from Malia was that it’s very much a party town (we were not really aware of this earlier!). We ended up walking past many clubs, bars, even Subway and McDonalds- so if you’re looking for a more authentic Cretan experience we would perhaps suggest avoiding Malia.

On the way back, we decided to hire a buggy for the next few days- as we were planning a few day trips and it would be easier to get around on a buggy than by public transport (and cheaper than doing organised tours we thought). I have to admit, in hindsight it might have made more sense hiring a car- especially if taking the Express Roadway (aka the European Route E75) where some cars do drive rather fast. Apparently some of the old roads were some of the most dangerous in Europe- but the Express Roadway is fine. It has quite a few lanes so as long as you drive on the far right hand side if in a buggy you should be fine- just make sure you wear the helmets provided. But next time we visit we’re hiring a car!

Day 4- Milatos Cave, Plaka Beach

This was the day of our road trip via the Milatos cave to Elounda. The town of Milatos is located a short drive from Sissi, and the Milatos cave is located only a few kilometres eastwards- up a rather windy road.

The cave is well signposted from the road- we followed the signs, found somewhere to park, then had to follow the footpath uphill to the cave entrance itself. This walk was around 15 minutes or so- and offers incredible views as you are quite high up. The cave itself is quite dark- we ended up using the torches on our mobile phones, so if you really want to explore and darker points we’d suggest bringing an actual torch with you.

Whilst impressive, the cave has a rather depressing history- in early 1823 the local residents used the cave as refuge from the Turks. After finding out about their hiding place, the Turks managed to surround the cave entrance- and besieged the Greeks. the Turks made a number of attempts to force the Greeks out- bombing the hills, setting fires near the entrance. The smoke from these fires was what eventually forced the Greeks to come out. The rest of the story is horrific- with the majority of the captives killed or sold as slaves.

As you first enter the cave, you are greeted with a chapel for Apostle Thomas. You can see that the cave has many different sections- at different levels and of different sizes. We didn’t go too deep in- a torch would have been helpful to properly explore but nevertheless some daylight does come into the cave and you can see some parts of the cave (even without a torch).

After getting back on the buggy, we continued our road trip to Elounda– but instead of  taking the main road we took a rather windy path through little villages and the countryside. Whilst this took a considerable amount longer, the scenery was stunning and well worth it. Especially the view when we reached Plaka – there were amazing views of Spinalonga (Spinalonga is a tiny island, a former leper colony, now uninhabited). You can get a tourist boat there to explore the island, have a BBQ lunch and spend some time at the beach. We however stayed in Plaka rather than taking a boat across the water, and enjoyed the beach there (the water was incredible!). 

We then continued our journey down to Elounda, before heading back to Sissi on the main road- which took around half an hour or so. Later that evening, we came across a lovely little place for dinner- Remezzo restaurant– see the food and drink section for more details- but definitely a place not to miss if you are in the area!

Day 6- Agios Nikolaos

On the next day, we did another road trip- this time further west, to Agios Nikolaos. We decided to take the main road this time around- instead of taking the more scenic route- just in the interest of time. We did a slight detour en route, and first stopped off at the Cretan Olive Oil Farm– located on the outskirts of the city- and a must visit! There are self guided and fully guided tours- we went for a self guided tour- which included a video presentation explaining the olive oil making process and a demonstration. The Farm also offers cooking lessons, pottery making lessons and other activities- unfortunately we weren’t able to make any of these so we just spent our visit walking around the “Hippocrates Garden”- i.e.- the herb garden and also making friends with a resident donkey! It is worth mentioning the gift shop also- it had a stunning selection of olive oil, pates, honey and other items. Overall, perfect for a souvenir or two!

After our visit to the Cretan Olive Oil Farm, we carried on with our drive to the city center, and found a place to park near the Archaeological Museum. Unfortunately, the museum was mostly closed- and only a temporary exhibition was open about the history of the city. Although this was still interesting, we would have preferred to see the whole museum- but clearly didn’t plan well enough! The opening times and further details of the museum are available here – so you can plan your trip here better than we did!

Afterwards, we walked around the city. We found the Limni Voulismeni (Lake Voulismeni), to be absolutely stunning and surrounded by many tavernas, bars and restaurants (and great places for people watching!)- we’d definitely recommend a visit. We then kept walking through the city to Ammos Beach– but when we got there we decided we were quite hungry so decided to go for lunch first. We found a cute little place called Pittes Gourmandes– located just a few minutes away from the beach- food was great here- read more in the food and drink section below!

The beach itself was amazing- the water was crystal clear, you could see the fish swimming between your legs, and overall it wasn’t too busy. After a few hours sunbathing and swimming- we walked back to the city center via the harbour- past the marina and numerous sculptures on the coast. Overall, we found Agios Nikolaos to be a lovely town, with many different places and beaches to explore. If you have the time and you’re not staying too far away in Crete- it is certainly worth visiting.