Places to visit for all tastes, reasons, and seasons
Bordered by over 1,000 km of coastline, with incredible sandy beaches, mountains that rise to 2,400 m crossed by dramatic gorges, boasting important archaeological sites, old monuments and churches and chic coastal towns with Venetian ports and fortresses, and featuring great food culture and folk traditions, Crete is a tourist attraction all year round, either for lazy or themed vacations.
When preparing a holiday in Crete, whether you opt for a reservation on your own or a travel package, you are certainly wondering which part of the island is more interesting, which area to choose, how to get there, which accommodation structure best meets your needs and tastes, where to eat ethnic food, how do beaches look like, how to move around, what things to see and do, in such a short time?
Briefly, regarding the area you are searching for, it is good to know that Crete is divided into four administrative regional units called “Prefectures”, each with its own attractions and beauties. From the West toward the East, these are Chania, Rethymnon, Heraklion, and Lassithi. Most tourist micro-destinations are geographically concentrated along the northern and southern coasts and in the mountainous interior of the island.
On the north coast are the centuries-old harbor towns and cities of Chania, Rethymnon, Heraklion, and Agios Nikolaos, the most popular tourist destinations and the capitals of the four provinces of the island. The presence of the modern E90 National Road that connects them, running parallel with the chain of resorts and tourist villages, makes the northern strip the most dynamic and crowded part of the island. The best places to visit Crete for shopping, nightlife, museums, and cultural attractions, and to spend lovely family beach holidays are all found along the north coast.
On the remote and wilder south coast, looking towards Africa across the Libyan Sea, are isolated villages with a patriarchal spirit where you can enjoy a tropical-style vacation and a leisurely pace of life, away from the main tourist scene. This is the best place for bohemian couples, naturists, and travelers looking for a quiet escape. Matala, Agia Galini, Plakias, Ierapetra, and Paleochora are southern Crete's most developed tourist towns.
The picturesque mountainous inland is home to charming rustic villages with whitewashed houses dressed up in flowers, narrow, labyrinthine streets, and middle squares with small old churches. In your drives through the mountains, you will find vineyards, olive tree groves, and livestock farms that are open to tourists, offering guided tours and organized activities. With the boosting of rural and eco-tourism, some old famous villages have been reborn and adapted to the requirements of the hospitality industry, becoming destination brands, preferred by those who want to stay away from the stressful cosmopolitan life and explore the Cretan pastoral traditional way of living.
If you'd like to find more about Crete destinations, check out the posts with our experiences and journeys around Crete island!
