A week among the beaches of Crete

Departure from Verona airport towards Heraklion, the Cretan capital, with the airline Phone&Go, extremely available and very helpful throughout the whole holiday, truly an excellent service. We stayed at the Hotel Lyda Beach in a small village called Kato Gouves, about a quarter of an hour from the capital. In one week we visited the most beautiful beaches of the island, as well as of all Europe. We got around by car, which was at our disposal for four days and with which we travelled to see the places I will now list. Day 1: Morning at Knossos to see the remains of the palace and the famous labyrinth of the Minotaur. The afternoon was instead spent heading east of the capital, towards the large city of Agios Nikolaos, famous for its big harbour.

A little further south there is a small and very beautiful little beach, Golden Beach at Istro, with soft and smooth sand with many tall rocks all along the beach and clear blue water. Day 2: We headed for Vay Bay, again in the east of the island, taking more than 3 hours just for the outward journey starting from the capital. The trip is not boring however because the roads are never straight and you can enjoy fantastic typical Greek landscapes, with arid vegetation, many olive trees and lots of little goats grazing on the roadside. Vay Bay is famous for the largest palm grove in Europe. There are about a thousand palms right next to the beach. Here too the water is clean and clear. Day 3: Afternoon spent at Matala, a beach in the south about almost 2 hours from the capital.

This beach does not have particularly beautiful water like the others, but it is characterised by a rocky wall with real holes dug by the Flower Children in the '60s. You can easily climb the rocky wall and enter these holes, whose interior is a real little flat carved into the rock, complete with beds. Even today some Flower Children go in there at night. Day 4: The most beautiful day as well as the most tiring. Departure at dawn, this time heading west. After 4 hours by car we arrived at the most beautiful beach in Crete: Elafonissi. Also called the pink beach for the very visible pink sand found on the shore. The sand is white and soft and the water is wonderful. Blue, clear, transparent, full of various species of fish visible with a simple mask and snorkel. It is an unmissable place for anyone going to Crete. A true earthly paradise.

Towards late afternoon we headed a little further north towards the bay of Balos. Very difficult to reach. You have to travel for almost half an hour along a dirt road uphill, park and walk another stretch on foot. You arrive at a beautiful viewpoint from which you admire the whole bay. You can also go down and reach the beach. Here too the water is blue and very clear. You can also admire the sunset that falls right on the sea. Day 5: A coach, after about 2 hours of travel, arrived at Ierapetra, a city in the south of Crete. From here a ferry leaves that takes you to the island of Chrissi, the southernmost point of all Europe. The ferry trip lasts about 45 minutes. Chrissi is an uninhabited island, about 5km wide. Once docked you walk for 10 minutes towards the southern part of the island, the one facing the sea that then leads to Africa.

After Elafonissi it is in my opinion the most wonderful landscape of Crete. Here too the water has various shades of light and deep blue, it is clear and transparent, with various species of fish and Caribbean white sand. For sea lovers, Crete is perhaps the most suitable place in Europe to see dream beaches and waters. I hope my little guide has been useful for your next holiday.