Date of trip: September 13-17, 2021
After three trips to mainland Greece, I finally made it to my first Greek island — Crete! I loved the history and charm of Athens and the natural beauty of the mainland, so my friend Daphne suggested I start my island adventures with Crete. You may recall Daphne from my other Greece blogs. I met her in Tsagarada and she’s been so helpful for all things Greece. Her family is from Greece, she’s an amazing photographer and has led Greek tours for women all around Greece. Check out her Instagram, link below:
https://www.instagram.com/daphne.designs?igsh=MW12dW02cHp2aXkxdw==
Daphne sent me a detailed four page email with so many practical tips to make the most out of our short trip. With all this information, Steve and I focused our time on the western side of Crete, near Chania. We had only a few days, so we made the most of it, but I’d recommend giving yourself at least a week here if you can.
Day 1: Because we had been to Athens a few times, we decided to arrange our international flights in and out of Rome since Steve had never been. I’d recommend Athens for convenience (and also because Athens is my favorite international city). So we flew from Rome to Athens to Crete and it was a whole lot of travel.
We arrived just in time for sunset, grabbed our rental car, and headed to Chania. We stayed in the Old Town, where cars aren’t allowed, so we parked in a lot the hotel recommended and walked a short distance to our place. We stayed at a cute boutique hotel called Casa Leone (link below). The place was super charming, and the staff was really friendly. It ended up being a great home base for our day trips.
That said, if I could go back and plan it again, I’d probably try to stay in a different spot each night around the island to cut down on all the back-and-forth driving.
We explored the old town harbor and had a traditional seafood dinner overlooking the bay.
Day 2: We started with a leisurely breakfast and our host was excited to help us arrange our plans for the day.
Our first destination was Balos Beach which was a 1 hr 17 min drive from Chania. Just a warning the last stretch of road is unpaved and hugs the mountain pretty tightly, but we were fine in our 2 wheel drive coupe (with Steve’s excellent driving).
Check out these guys just hanging out on the side of the cliff!
I basically had my phone out of the window the whole drive.
We arrived at Balos beach and while I had promised Steve a relaxing day, we did have to hike down (and back up) to the beach. I’ve linked the AllTrails of course. It was a 1.7 mile out and back with 518 feet elevation gain. We were able to rent chairs and umbrellas though so we didn’t have to carry much gear.
Once down to the beach, there was also a trail you could walk for different vantage points.
Balos Beach on AllTrails
From Balos, we drove to 45 minutes to Falassarna Beach for sunset. We were gifted the most beautiful sunset and had champagne right on the beach. This would have been a great area to spend the night if we had planned better. The restaurant where we ate dinner was Liokalyvo and I noted the Panoramic Hotel right above it overlooking the beach.
(Also it seems I took a picture of the receipt from the restaurant because I was shocked it was only 39.50 euro– at a tourist location- on the beach!)
We stayed and enjoyed the atmosphere then drove the 1 hour back to Chania for the evening.
Day 3: We started this morning walking around Chania and buying some souvenirs for the kids.
We got a pretty late start but decided to head toward Milia Mountain Retreat for lunch and a hike (1 hour drive time). This was recommended by our hotel host as an off-the-beaten path stop.
We stopped at a roadside vendor near Topolia Gorge and bought olive tapenade and honey to take home as gifts.
Parking was easy when we arrived and we started with a delicious lunch. I’ve linked the website for Milia Mountain Retreat so you can read about the amenities including the award winning restaurant.
Views from our outdoor patio seating ⬆️
After lunch we followed some of the paths around the property for views. We definitely would have liked to stay the night here and have more time to hike around the gorge.
After wandering for a bit, we set off on the 53-minute drive to catch the sunset at the famous Elafonisi Beach. Our late start to the beach worked out perfectly- as we arrived, the crowds were leaving, and we had this iconic spot almost entirely to ourselves.
This is the pink sand beach you’ve probably heard about, and it’s super popular. By the time we arrived, most of the snack vendors and chair rentals were closing up, but we lucked out. One of the vendors let us buy a bottle of champagne and even gave us free chairs.
We walked all along the dunes and climbed over the rocks for stunning views.
Standing in the sea with our champagne, watching the sun set was an incredible way to end the day (and celebrate our 1st anniversary)!
Day 4: Today was our Samaria Gorge hike, an unforgettable all-day adventure. While it’s possible to do the hike without joining an official “tour” (which is essentially just transportation), we were glad we opted for it, as there were plenty of logistical steps that seemed easy to mess up. The journey begins with a pre-sunrise bus ride to the top of the gorge, followed by a challenging descent to the bottom. From there, you catch a ferry, transfer to a van, and eventually board another bus back to Chania. Because it’s a point-to-point trail, driving directly to and from the gorge isn’t an option.
The hike is classified as “hard” on AllTrails, and I’d have to agree. My GPS tracked the hike a bit differently than AllTrails, showing that it took us roughly 6 hours to cover 10.78 miles, with an elevation gain of 1,754 feet and a steep descent of 5,746 feet. But the views were worth it! I’ve linked the tour company below, the AllTrails and Greek Guide for Samaria Gorge below.
Our personal stats ⬆️
Samaria Gorge on AllTrails
At the end of the hike we had time to enjoy Agia Roumeli, a beautiful black sand beach. We rented an umbrella and chairs and had a very well deserved lunch (and cocktails).
The guide then led us to the correct ferry — we couldn’t help but notice a bunch of tourists scrambling to figure out which one was theirs, so we were pretty relieved we had booked the tour in advance!
Day 5: On our last day, we spent the morning exploring Chania, strolling through the charming shops and wandering the beautiful little streets.
We headed to our final stay, Leptos Panorama Hotel, since our boutique guesthouse was fully booked for the last night.
Turned out that the resort was an all-inclusive so after all the driving, I let Steve take it easy. We spent the day unwinding, soaking in the views, and enjoying a little bit of luxury — the perfect way to wrap up the trip.
Leptos Panorama Hotel | Luxury Five Star Resort in Chania, Crete
And that’s our trip to Crete! I definitely plan to return to the Greek islands. We’re already planning a sailing trip with my sister along the Ionian Islands! Looking forward to showing my family all my favorite parts of Greece!
If you have any questions or need tips for planning your own Crete adventure, feel free to reach out — I’m happy to help!
I’ve included more from Daphne’s recommendation lists below:
Heraklion: If you venture to this side of the island
-Dinner at Merastri
-Archaeological Museum in Heraklion
-Knossos Palace
-wine country up about 20-30 min into the mountains from Heraklion
Elsewhere in Crete:
-Margarites village for pottery (on the way to Chania). Giorgos’s big stone built workshop, he does a lot of beautiful pottery in the Minoan and ancient Greek style), and -Arkadi monastery, beautiful historical spot
— George Hadziparshos’ bakery famous for their handmade filo dough.
–Cooking class at Vamos Village traditional food in an outdoor kitchen. All made from scratch home cooking and plenty of food and wine.
-Stelios, drakona- Dounias Taverna– Amazing traditional food on wood fire stoves. Only open for lunch. It is a challenging long drive through the gorges.
-St. Anthony or Patsos Gorge
-Akrotiri
-Milia village
-Kalypso beach
-Anogia village
-Lake Zaros
-Preveli beach & Monastery
-Geropotamos beach on the way to Panormos
-Lake Kournia
-Matala, seaside town, famous for caves/holes it had in the rock that used to house hippies in the 70s
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