Barham's tash
Well-known member
In Santorini make sure you try their local delicacy of fresh baby squid stuffed with feta, peppers, onions, tomatoes andherbs which is wood oven caked until charred and delicious. Drool
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Anyone been to Agia Pelagia in Crete or Oia, Santorini?
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Hove / Παρος
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Thank you kindly for all the advice. 
- Jul 10, 2003
- 25,887
Off to the south west in a few weeks. SShhhh ! Don't tell
Cheshire Cat
The most curious thing..
Santorini is way too mainstream - very pretty though, but the black sand can be roasting. The donkeys are evil tempered buggers but given they spend their time lugging fat tourists up a cliff, you can't really blame them.
Papa Lazarou
Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
Off to Crete in August - Sissi. Can't wait.
SeagullSongs
And it's all gone quiet..
Stayed in Maleme in Crete, it was very nice, quite a quiet town though. Quite close to Chania though which is where we went most evenings.
Papa Lazarou
Living in a De Zerbi wonderland
For our trip to Crete, which are the good 'trips / excursions' worth booking to do? As Crete is the alleged birth place of Zeus, I would expect a lot of mythological shenanigans...
Barham's tash
Well-known member
Papa; best advice really would be to hire a car or bikes and get out and explore the interior of the island.
Some spectacular mountain passes and valleys which in the summer smell of all the wild herbs that grow by the roadside.
As far as excursions Rhethymnon is worth a trip - medieval walled city with great wandering potential, and of course the Knossos towards Heraklion etc is worth a trip.
Some spectacular mountain passes and valleys which in the summer smell of all the wild herbs that grow by the roadside.
As far as excursions Rhethymnon is worth a trip - medieval walled city with great wandering potential, and of course the Knossos towards Heraklion etc is worth a trip.
Barham's tash
Well-known member
Oh and the Samaria Gorge too. A long hike if you drive and park at the Northern end or alternatively be lazy and take the boat there and meander at your leisure
dougdeep
New member
Easter is a great time to visit Crete, lots of celebrations go on and you still have snow on the mountains. On a hot summer the place can look a little parched.
Gilliver's Travels
Peripatetic
I lived in Crete for three years until 2011 (returning for the Amex). Being such a huge island, it's almost a country in itself, with enormous variations in scenery and climate. So best to avoid generalisations about what it is, and isn't, that are based solely on short summer trips. Sure, Crete has its barren mountain areas, but lush, verdant plains as well. Agia Pelagia is very attractive indeed, with its crescent shaped, sandy beach framed by rocky outcrops. But that pretty beach is very narrow and the whole place gets totally rammed in high-season.
As others have said, Chania's Old Town is lovely: a maze of ancient, winding alleyways, and architecture with both Venetian and Turkish influences. There are wild, unspoilt beaches - like Falasarna on the west coast, with the spectacular, pink-sand of Elafonisi and pretty Palaeochora and pebbly Sougia in the south. To the east, although Malia has a thoroughly deserved reputation as Blackpool-by-the-Med, Agia Nikolaos is a far better resort, with some style too.
If you're seeking nightlife and clubs, Platanias and Agia Marina (near Chania) are worth sampling. If you have transport, you'll enjoy a trip out east to Sitia - and beyond is Vai, with its unique date palm groves right on the beach. A few km north lies Itanos, one of the best natural and totally unspoilt beaches in the entire island.
Ah yes, Santorini? It's all been said. Go, if you want to see all those blue-dome picture postcards brought to life, and like wading through hordes of freshly-landed Japanese and American cruise-junkies all heading for the cable car queues and the sunset. Fira and Oia are indeed attractive. But take a driving tour beyond Santorini's chocolate box zone, and it's a rather nondescript, scrubby island, with a lot of unattractive, speculative development sprawling across an ugly, entirely treeless landscape.
After that, you might need the antidote of Paros. Beautiful mountain scenery, surprisingly green, with an atmospheric capital, Parikia, some lovely villages, like Lefkes and Piso Livadi, and an attractive and fashionable town in the north, Naousa. Stylish and fun.
As others have said, Chania's Old Town is lovely: a maze of ancient, winding alleyways, and architecture with both Venetian and Turkish influences. There are wild, unspoilt beaches - like Falasarna on the west coast, with the spectacular, pink-sand of Elafonisi and pretty Palaeochora and pebbly Sougia in the south. To the east, although Malia has a thoroughly deserved reputation as Blackpool-by-the-Med, Agia Nikolaos is a far better resort, with some style too.
If you're seeking nightlife and clubs, Platanias and Agia Marina (near Chania) are worth sampling. If you have transport, you'll enjoy a trip out east to Sitia - and beyond is Vai, with its unique date palm groves right on the beach. A few km north lies Itanos, one of the best natural and totally unspoilt beaches in the entire island.
Ah yes, Santorini? It's all been said. Go, if you want to see all those blue-dome picture postcards brought to life, and like wading through hordes of freshly-landed Japanese and American cruise-junkies all heading for the cable car queues and the sunset. Fira and Oia are indeed attractive. But take a driving tour beyond Santorini's chocolate box zone, and it's a rather nondescript, scrubby island, with a lot of unattractive, speculative development sprawling across an ugly, entirely treeless landscape.
After that, you might need the antidote of Paros. Beautiful mountain scenery, surprisingly green, with an atmospheric capital, Parikia, some lovely villages, like Lefkes and Piso Livadi, and an attractive and fashionable town in the north, Naousa. Stylish and fun.
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The whole island is a volcano.
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Pretty pink fairy
Banned
- Jan 30, 2008
- 31,981
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 70,314
If you're going to Thira on Santorini don't eat or drink anywhere in direct line of the stunning sea views without checking the price first. The cruise ships come in there, and you can get mightily stung. Drink one street back and you'll be fine, then go and admire the views for free!
Oia is much nicer than Fira IMO, have been to Santorini for last few years and it is stunning.
Publius Ovidius
Well-known member
Head to aghios nicolias(sp)and get the ferry to spinalonga. Absolutely fab place, former leper colony and they have kept it more or less as it was when it was abandoned....and the boat trip over is magnificent. 100% recommend
Yes rhea gave birth to zeus on Crete and in an effort to save him, as Kronos had this habit of swallowing his children, she gave him a rock which he mistook as Zeus and he swallowed that instead. If you get a chance go to the supposed palace of Minos, at Knossos where the bull in the labyrinth was tethered.
Crete is great!
Tom Hark Preston Park
Will Post For Cash
- Jul 6, 2003
- 70,314
Going to Crete back end of July, flying into the very quiet and civilised airport of Chania. Staying at Almyrida, whose main and just about only hotel offers Greek Evening buffet for 19 Euros or the same deal with unlimited wine for 22 Euros. Hmmm, tricky one... 
Gilliver's Travels
Peripatetic
Yes, but once you've tried the wine, you'll see why it was unlimited.Going to Crete back end of July, flying into the very quiet and civilised airport of Chania. Staying at Almyrida, whose main and just about only hotel offers Greek Evening buffet for 19 Euros or the same deal with unlimited wine for 22 Euros. Hmmm, tricky one...