Stavros is a round, shallow lagoon at the tip of Akrotiri, closed in by a rocky headland, with a bare mountain rising straight behind the sand. That is the mountain from the final dance of Zorba the Greek (1964). The…
Tersanas is a small cove on the west side of Akrotiri, 20 minutes from Chania, that most tourists drive past on their way to Stavros. The name comes from the old word for boatyard, and a small pier still divides…
Marathi is where Chania families go when the north wind is blowing. Two small sandy coves on either side of a fishing pier, inside Souda Bay, facing south towards the White Mountains. Because of where it sits, the water stays…
The Maritime Museum of Crete, Chania is one of the few places in the old town where you actually learn something you did not already know. It sits inside the Firkas Fortress at the western end of the Venetian harbour,…
Kedrodasos is just 1–2 km east of Elafonisi, yet most people who go to Elafonisi never see it. A white-sand beach with turquoise water and, behind it, a forest of twisted juniper trees growing right down onto the dunes. (The…
Chrissoskalitissa Monastery Chania sits on the far southwestern edge of Crete, perched on a rock face 35 metres above the Libyan Sea. Most visitors only notice it because it sits on the road to Elafonisi beach. That is a shame,…