Crete Botanical Gardens
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Crete Botanical Gardens near Chania
and finds a wonderland of colourful plants, trees, and flowers filling a lovely
valley.
The View from the Crete Botanical Gardens
Visiting the Crete Botanical Gardens - or the Botanical Park
and Gardens of Crete to give it its full title - was one of the best things we
did on our last visit to Crete. We didn't expect such a colourful and
fascinating display of plants, flowers and trees from around the world. We
should have known better, as our fantastic guide Isi of Go-Crete never steered
us wrong.
Passiflora Quadrangularis in the Crete Botanical Gardens
Live Music at the
Crete Botanical Gardens
The gardens actually started because of a disaster, as we
found when we spoke to one of the owners, Nikos, after our tour. There's so
much to see that it was getting dark by the time we finished, and we had to
race to get out before the gardens closed. We decided to stay and eat there,
and we're so glad we did as it turned out to be one of their live music nights.
I video'd some of it for our YouTube channel:
The Roots of the
Crete Botanical Gardens
Nikos told us that the gardens only exist because of an
awful fire which devastated his family's olive trees in 2003. They lost over
45,000 trees to the fire, which was obviously a major blow both personally and financially.
The land had been in the family since at least the 1930s.
Nikos worked the land with his three brothers, and it was
one of the brothers who suggested that instead of replanting the olive trees
maybe they could create a botanical park on the land. The brothers and their
father agreed, and the park was opened in 2009. Their father died three years
later at the age of 85, but lived to see the botanical park become a success.
Map of the Crete Botanical Gardens
Where Are the Crete
Botanical Gardens?
The gardens are about a half-hour drive south-west of
Chania, beyond the village of Fournes, after a very zig-zag uphill road.
Rose of Sharon in the Crete Botanical Gardens
Visiting the Crete
Botanical Gardens
As you enter the gardens you have no idea what wonders lie
beyond. It's like entering Paradise. From the entrance the path zig-zags down
one side of the valley, with the view regularly opening up to show olive groves
on the opposite slope. Lizards rustle in the dry leaves on the ground,
occasionally appearing to add to all the colour, and birds sing constantly
from the trees. To the creatures who live here it probably is Paradise!.
Lime Tree in the Crete Botanical Gardens
Organic Cultivation
What's impressive is that everything is cultivated
organically. It clearly works well as you don't just come across individual
examples of plants or trees but often whole terraces of them.
If I listed everything I wrote down it would go on forever, so I'll make do with a few highlights, and some of the hundreds of photos we took.
Palm Trees in the Crete Botanical Gardens
There was a Peruvian cherry tree, and I was dying to try the
ice-cream bean from Central America, but thought I'd better not. The fruit of
the Barbados cherry tree contains 30 times more Vitamin C than an orange (yes,
there's plenty of information about the plants). I was definitely starting to
get hungry, having seen the strawberry guava plant opposite the tropical
apricot.
There was a pineapple guava, a Malabar plum, a Japanese
raisin tree, wild garlic plants, passion fruit, avocados, and walnut trees. The
Mediterranean herb garden section had lovely scents of coriander, cumin, thyme,
fennel, rosemary, and oregano. ‘Nature is the largest pharmacy in the world’
says a sign.
There's a Surprise Around Every Corner in the Crete Botanical Gardens
We see dozens of beehives across the valley and wonder what
their honey must taste like with this feast just a short flight away for them.
There's quince, honeysuckle, eucalyptus, mastic, pistachio, pomegranates, white
mulberry, aloe, and a huge prickly pear cactus at least 3 meters (10 ft) tall.
A Prickly Pear Cactus in the Crete Botanical Gardens
The main path is about 1 km (0.6 miles) long and they say it
takes about an hour to go round. We took two hours because we were all three
constantly stopping to take photos. At the end of this path there an optional
extension to add another kilometer, but by the time we got to the divide it was
starting to get dark, so we looped around back up to the entrance.
Palm Trees in the Crete Botanical Gardens
Dining at the Crete
Botanical Gardens
Our dinner in the restaurant after our tour was
exceptionally good. It was served buffet-style, with tzatziki, fava, Greek
salad, bread, zucchini pie, and vegetable stew. The main course was chicken
cooked in orange and lemongrass. It was incredibly zesty and tasty. On top of
this was all the red or white wine you could drink. Highly recommended!
The View from the Restaurant in the Crete Botanical Gardens
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
Some other Crete pages
Matala Beach on Crete is a guest blog for Greece Travel Secrets from the We Love Crete website, inviting you to Awaken Your Inner Hippy in Matala, Crete.
This drive along the west coast of Crete and inland from there will take a whole day and starts and ends in Kastélli Kissámou, west of Chania.
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than quantity.
Rethymnon is the third-largest city in Crete and has a Venetian fortress, Archaeological Museum, Old Town area and Venetian harbour,
Driving on Crete is the best way to see Greece’s biggest island and here is our driving advice and some information about Greek driving regulations.
Agios Nikolaos is a pretty and popular town on the north coast of Crete and this page on Greece Travel Secrets covers its history, museums and beaches.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Visual Arts Crete who offer accommodation and run art courses at their home and studio in the village of Kastellos near Rethymnon.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to eat in Western Crete with tavernas and restaurants in Chania, Rethymnon, and Paleochora.
For a Crete olive oil tour Greece Travel Secrets visits Biolea, one of the few olive oil factories on Crete that you can visit.
The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.
The travel tale Our Hire Car in Crete describes what it’s like when you go driving in Greece and get off the beaten track, resulting in kindnesses.
Margarites is known on Crete for its pottery, with ceramics shops and workshops lining the streets of this charming small town not far from Rethymnon.
Malia on the north coast of Crete is renowned for its nightlife and beaches but also has the Minoan Palace of Malia, one of Crete's many archaeological sites.
Greece Travel Secrets suggests where to stay in Eastern Crete with our favourite hotels in Zakros, Elounds, Sitia, Agios Nikolaos, Istron Bay, Myrtos, Neapolis.
This Rouvas Gorge walk starts and ends in Zaros in southern Crete and should take three to four hours with a distance of eight kilometres or five miles.
The most famous Cretan writers and artists include the painter El Greco and the author of Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis.
Western Crete in five days allows time to visit Chania and Rethymnon, enjoy the beaches, hike the Samaria Gorge and see the monasteries at Arkadi and Preveli.
Crete's capital and largest city is Irakleio, also called Iraklion or Heraklion, a large and busy place with good restaurants, museums and historical buildings.
This Amari Valley drive in southern Crete starts and ends in Ayia Galini, takes four to five hours and cover 100 kilometres or 62 miles.
These shopping tips for Crete include advice on buying souvenirs like ceramics, icons, jewellery, leather, weavings, wood carvings, and food and drink.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.
The Byzantine Church of Panagía Kerá near Kritsa and not far from Ayios Nikolaos is one of the most famous in Crete, and close by is the site of Ancient Lato.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to eat in Eastern Crete including restaurants and tavernas in Elounda, Agios Nikolaos, Sitia, and Kato Zakros.
Ancient Gournia is a Minoan archaeological site between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia in Eastern Crete where the visitor can see evidence of a maze of back streets.
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