Eastern Crete in Five Days
How to see eastern Crete in five days, with its beaches, Minoan palaces, timeless villages, unique churches, and mountain and coastal scenery.
Malia Archaeological Site in Eastern Crete
Day One
Morning
Get an early start from somewhere like Malia or Neapoli and follow our recommended drive around the Lasithi Plateau, including a visit to the Diktean Cave. There are several places to choose for lunch in the village of Psychro near the Diktean Cave, and the village of Krasi is another lunch option, a 25-minute drive north of Psychro.
The Lasithi Plateau in Eastern Crete
Afternoon
From Psychro it’s a 40-minute drive north to the coast at Malia, where you can spend an hour or so visiting the Malia archaeological site and still have time for a swim.
Evening
Where you stay depends on what kind of place you like. Stay in Malia if you want rowdy nightlife, but our preference would be to make the 20-minute drive into the hills and spend the night in Neapoli at the excellent Neapolis Hotel. There are some great places to eat, too, better than in Malia, including the Finikas Raki Taverna.
Where to Stay in Malia
Where to Stay in Neapoli
Day Two
Morning
From Neapoli it’s a half-hour’s drive south to Kritsa to see the remarkable church of Panagia Kera, or if you’re in Malia allow 40-45 minutes. You can then make the easy 15-minute drive down to Agios Nikolaos to have lunch. We suggest La Casa, right by the lake.
Agios Nikolaos
Afternoon
After lunch, make the 20-minute drive north from Agios Nikolaos to Elounda, from where you can take a boat trip out to Spinalonga island, the one made famous in Victoria Hislop’s best-selling book, The Island.
Evening
There are numerous choices of places to stay in both Elounda and Agios Nikolaos, for all budgets, so choose whatever you fancy. In Elounda we recommend dinner at the Ferryman overlooking the water, or if you’re in Agios Nikolaos, one of our favourites is Pelagos, a seafood specialist.
Where to Stay in Elounda
Where to Stay in Agios Nikolaos
Day Three
Morning
Spend the morning looking around Agios Nikolaos, and don’t miss its Archaeological Museum. We like the Patriko Taverna at Minoos 11, which we think has some of the best traditional food in Agios Nikolaos.
Afternoon
After lunch make the 20-minute drive east to the archaeological site at Gournia. The superbly-preserved ruins here will keep you occupied for an hour or two, after which head to the south coast. It’s only 20 minutes from Gournia to the main south coast town of Ierapetra, and we recommend driving a further 20 minutes west to the fun little town of Myrtos, and checking-in at the central Hotel Myrtos.
Evening
We recommend having dinner at La Sera, just around the corner from the hotel, although the hotel’s own restaurant is also very good.
Day Four
Morning
From Myrtos retrace your route to Ierapetra and continue east along the south coast to a lovely little place called Makriyialos (or Makri Gialos), which is almost an hour’s drive from Myrtos. We once spent a delightful week here, so stop to stretch your legs and walk around. Beyond here the main road turns to the north to take you to the lovely town of Sitia. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Makriyialos and you can have lunch at one of the waterfront tavernas.
Afternoon
After a good lunch head for Sitia’s Archaeological Museum, a 5-minute walk back from the waterfront. We recommend spending the rest of the afternoon walking around the town and/or cooling off with a swim from one of the town’s several beaches right in the centre.
Evening
Spend the next two nights in Sitia, at either the Itanos Hotel or the Elysee Hotel. Both are on the waterfront and both are very pleasant and inexpensive. Enjoy dinner at The Balcony Restaurant, where the food is definitely a cut above the average.
Where to Stay in Sitia
Day Five
Morning
From Sitia it’s an hour’s drive east and then south to see the small but absolutely fascinating and atmospheric remains of Zakros Palace. Tiny Zakros is a place we love, and it’s great to chill out here and have an excellent lunch at the Kato Zakros Bay Restaurant, right by the sea and with lots of the produce coming from the owner’s farm.
Afternoon
From Zakros it’s just under an hour’s drive north to the remarkable and popular Vai Beach, where you’ll see Cretan date palms. Don’t linger too long if you also want to visit the monastery at Toplou, a 20-minute drive inland from the beach and where you can sample (and buy, of course) some of the monastery’s own wines.
Evening
It’s a 20-minute drive from the monastery back to Sitia where you can enjoy a final dinner at one of the waterfront tavernas like the excellent Limani, happy that you’ve seen the best of eastern Crete in five days!
Other Crete pages
Crete festivals and events include Carnival Easter, Whitsun, Christmas, many other religious feast days and public holidays.
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.
This Lasithi Plateau drive on Crete starts in Neapoli and ends in Malia, covering a distance of 80 km (50 miles) and taking two to three hours.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.
Crete (Kriti) is the largest Greek island and its main attractions include the Minoan Palace of Knossos, the Samarian Gorge, Chania and Rethymnon.
How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in Irakleio, the capital of Crete, including nearby beach resort hotels and accommodation in the city centre.
Cretan music is part of the island’s soul and visitors will hear live music wherever they go, with several distinctive Cretan musical instruments and songs.
The Stilianou Winery near Knossos on Crete uses only Cretan grape varieties, with every bottle numbered, and aims for quality rather than quantity.
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.
Greece Travel Secrets page on Phaistos or Faistos, the site of one of the finest Minoan palaces on Crete and is where the mysterious Phaistos Disc was found.
Icon painting is a centuries-old tradition in Crete and the rest of Greece, and Greece Travel Secrets meets a modern-day icon painter in Elounda on Crete.
Crete’s wildlife and landscape are two of the island’s attractions, including gorges for hiking, rare raptors like the lammergeier, wildcats and ancient trees.
Greece Travel Secrets eats at Vegera in Zaros and finds a cheap but wonderful feast of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes cooked daily with fresh local food.
Maleme near Chania is where the people who died during the battle of Crete are buried, in the German War Cemetery with the Commonwealth War Cemetery nearby.
The most famous Cretan writers and artists include the painter El Greco and the author of Zorba the Greek, Nikos Kazantzakis.
Ancient Gortina is an archaeological site in southern Crete famous for the church of Ayios Titos and for the Law Code inscribed here, the first in Europe.
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.
Hiking the Samaria Gorge on Crete, one of the best things to do on Crete, by Greece Travel Secrets.
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.
Keramos Studios in Zaros on Crete is an inexpensive two-star hotel/guesthouse with one of the best breakfasts on the island using food from the family’s farm.
The Goules Taverna in Goulediana, south of Rethymnon, has been called one of the best tavernas on Crete and Greece Travel Secrets recently visited them.
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.
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.
This Airbnb in the quiet village of Malaxa, a 30-minute drive into the hills above Chania, is a peaceful retreat with a delightful and thoughtful artist owner, with wonderful views and amenities.
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