Cretico blog presents Crete Highlights. Crete is the largest island of Greece and holiday destination for about three million tourists every year. Crete stays in the heart of thousands of visitors, who return at least once per year to enjoy its beauty, the hospitality of its inhabitants, the fine weather and the clean seas.
Crete is a big island, approximately 250 km in length. In the north lives the majority of the habitats of the island and it is where all the major cities are Heraklion with 200.000 inhabitants, Chania with 100.000, Rethymno with about 30.000 and the much smaller Agios Nikolaos and Sitia. In the South there are only smaller towns and villages, some of which are Ierapetra, Timbaki, Mires and Paleochora who host lots of visitors every year. The size of Crete and the variety of its landscapes often make the visitors lose the feeling of being in an island.
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Crete Highlights – Beaches and high mountains of Crete
Crete offers more than 100 beaches to enjoy the sun and the sea. Even if you’re looking for beautiful long beaches, small bays and beaches with shallow water suitable for small children or secluded beaches for naturists, you will find all of them in Crete. The island offers snow-capped mountain peaks of nearly 2.5 km in height, with beautiful plateaus among them, others inhabited and others not.
Crete is full of impressive mountainscapes and it’s a paradise to those who want to be close to nature through hiking, mountaineering and climbing.
The Cretan nature
Crete offers a huge variety of landscapes: forests of chestnut and oak trees, exotic palm groves next to beautiful beaches, fertile plains fragranced by the orange and lemon trees every spring or the golden ripe bunches of grapes every summer. The island shapes hills covered with thousands of olive trees and bare hills with sharp stones which offer shelter to dozens of small birds and animals. So if you are nature lover this is the place for you!
The Island’s History
With a rich historical and cultural background, Crete island is a wonderful place for vacations. Visit the Minoan palaces that were built three and a half thousand years ago, walk on Roman paved streets, admire Byzantine churches, and explore Venetian and Turkish fortresses. All of them create a unique mosaic with the history and culture of Crete, which is the island with the oldest European culture.
Places to visit in Crete
Crete is an island for every age, for every wallet, for all tastes and preferences. If you want to spend your vacation in a luxurious resort where every need of yours will be served and you will be offered unique comfort and services, then choose the luxury of Elounda in Lasithi. If you like the hustle and bustle of the city, but in the same time you want a romantic atmosphere and walks in picturesque narrow streets of a bygone era, Chania and Rethymno will certainly delight you.
If you are looking for an active nightlife, cheap drinks and loud music, then the dozens of bars in Hersonissos, Malia and Platanias will keep you awake every night of your holiday.
As for you who prefer quiet, relaxing holidays by the sea, Crete has many places that you can to find peace and tranquility, like Paleochora, Sougia, Bali, Sissi, Frangokastello, Plakias, Loutro, Agia Galini, Agios Pavlos, Myrtos, and the list goes on!
You can visit those places for a budget vacation, without tension and bustle, enjoying diving in the blue sea and romantic walks on the beach under the moonlight.
Activities in Crete
Traveling in Crete is always adventurous and different with all the routes you can follow, if you want to get to know the island. The countless and each one of them surprises you with scenery that constantly alternate in front of your eyes.
You can enjoy car rides along the coasts of Crete or through the beautiful small villages. Explore the E4 European Walking Path (320 km, beginning at Kasteli – Kissamos and ending at Kato Zakros), do extreme sports like bungee jumping from Aradena Bridge, and excursions in special places, like Samaria gorge or the Botanical Park. Swim in the beaches, do water sports, wear a mask and discover the magic of the seabed or enjoy the warmth of the sun lying on the sand. Visit museums and archaeological sites, spend an educational and enjoyable morning in Thalassokosmos, one of the largest aquariums in southeast Mediterranean or have fun in one of the five water parks in Crete.
Accommodation in Crete
In every place of Crete, even in the smallest village you can find the villa of your dreams, designed in such a style that it reflects the atmosphere and the feeling of the area it is located. Mountain or sea view villas, luxurious or traditional or even a combination of all these, all of them with their private swimming pool, will offer you coziness, privacy and the warmth of the Cretan hospitality.
Enjoy your dream vacations in Crete
Crete is an island of countless hidden treasures and amazing beauty. In your visit you will not be disappointed by the diversity of the landscape – the rugged mountains, the endless beaches and the turquoise seas, the towns and villages and stunning countryside.
