Forget the all-inclusive resorts; Southern Crete is an unspoiled gem for the slightly more adventurous holiday maker.
Coastline near Agios Pavlos
Getting There
Crete is Greece's largest island and hosts around 25% of Greece's annual visitors. It's approximately 50 minutes flying time from Athens with two main airports on the northern side - Chania and Heraklion - Chania being the better of the two. The southern coast of Crete is around 90 minutes drive from Heraklion or ~2 hours from Chania depending on where you are staying. In general, the roads are good but can be narrow and winding as you head across the mountainous interior and along the coast.
Southern Crete
The most popular parts of Crete tend to be focused around the northern side where your resort is an easy transfer from one of the airports. That's no bad thing but what makes the south special is the lack of mass tourism, the friendly local vibes and stunning waters of the Libyan Sea. It's a place to come if you don't mind making a bit of effort to get there, you prefer a goat wandering past to a waiter and the local Taverna on the beach is your idea of food heaven.
Taverna Apanemia at Triopetra Beach
Driving
A car is definitely needed to visit this part of Crete. Despite the narrow roads through the mountains and along the coast, there seems to have been quite a bit of investment in resurfacing and improving the roads so overall they are easy enough to navigate. Off the main roads you have to be vigilant for oncoming traffic cutting corners but fortunately speeds are kept down by the gradients and bends. Along the coast, look out for small rockfalls and the occasional wandering sheep or goats. Where we stayed, a busy day was seeing more than four cars in the 20 minute drive to the nearest town.
It's possible that the coastal road is one of the best kept secrets for stunning clip top drives in the world. The drive from Agios Pavlos to Agia Galini for example is one of the most stunning I've ever driven. If car sickness and/or a nervousness about heights is a concern then this may not be your favourite day out, but otherwise this is one for the books. Given the terrain I was a bit surprised not to see any cyclists, but with the heat, elevations and limited margin for error this is not novice country.
Tip: When booking a rental car take a pass on Green Motion. The superannuated Audi they supplied was about 13 years older than what they sold it as.
Road near Agios Georgios
Where to Stay
There are a lot of beautiful properties to rent in this part of Crete along with various flavours of hotels and rustic rooms. It's a fairly sparsely populated part of the world and if I wanted to go off the grid for a while this would be on the list. One of the big wins with the AirBnB we stayed in was the steps carved down the cliff to the rocks and a launchpad to some of a clearest water you'll find anywhere. If you are on a budget there are plenty of basic rooms in terrific locations for about the cost of a round of drinks at home.
Food & Drinks
If you are staying in rental property versus a hotel, chances are that you'll need to do some cooking especially if you are not close to a town where there are restaurant options or you don't fancy navigating the cliff-top roads in the dark. The larger towns have small supermarkets and generally you can get what you need for holiday catering. If you happen to be driving from Heraklion, Mires is a good place to stop as it has a Lidl and a couple of good sized supermarkets along the main road. Given the Greeks basically invented it, good wine can be a bit harder to come by but nothing a handful of ice cubes couldn't fix.
Beaches
One of the best reasons to visit this part of Crete is the beaches and clear blue seas. It's not necessarily the white sand beaches of Chania at every turn but the variety of sand, stone and rocky beaches keeps it interesting. There are few crowds and more often than not, a great Taverna on the beach. There are so few places left in the world where you can find a nearly empty beach, this quality of water and the perfect weather that you will be booking next year's holiday on the flight home.
Close to our house, Triopetra Beach was one of our favourites with its sandy beach, free chairs and umbrellas plus two great places to eat right on the beach. Relatively speaking it's popular but almost exclusively local. Taverna Apanemia right on the beach is a must-visit for great value local food and friendly staff. The beaches around Agia Galini and Agios Pavlos are also great but with long car trips to beaches further afield low on the holiday agenda, we left knowing there is a lot more to explore in this part of Crete.
Triopetra Beach
Will I Come Back?
Tomorrow, if I could. Southern Crete is one of our favourite finds so far in Europe of sun, food, beaches, views and people (or lack thereof). It has a wonderfully relaxed pace to it and we felt welcome everywhere we went. It requires a little effort so if you prefer a resort style experience this might not be your best option but otherwise the return on investment more than paid for itself.
The clear waters of the Libyan Sea. Paximadia Islands in the distance. (Keep an eye out for Lion Fish).
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