Last year I went on a cheapy holiday to Malia with First Choice holidays - £189 bargain! I stayed in the most tacky/loud/English resort on the whole island but I did manage to escape the resort in the short time I was there and I will detail you of my experience.
General ------- Crete is one of the few Greek islands that could support itself if it wasn't for tourists. Even on the bus to my resort I came across the banana plantations, potato crops, olive and orange groves dotted by the roadside. Everywhere you get the feeling of self-sufficiency. They have snow capped mountains until the end of June which filters down providing the island with its own extremely valuable source of mineral water. The island itself is about the size of Jamaica about 260km long by 60km wide. The island was Turkish owned until 1913. Most of Crete has tourist resorts dotted along the North and South coast of the island but there are areas where you can still get a feel for Greek life. The exchange rate is about 550 Greek Drachma to £1. I will focus on the area of Malia where I stayed from here onwards.
Malia - General --------------- Malia is one of the busiest tourist resorts on the island. If you love English food on holiday you will love this place! I stayed here at the beginning of the holiday season (the resort itself only 'opened' 2 weeks before I arrived), and it was still busy. However at this time of year it attracts more German visitors, couples and children. In the summer I know it is dominated by English yobs (pretty much like myself!). I went with a single friend and we still had an excellent time in early season!
There are two totally different parts to Malia. The Beach Road area, full of clubs, pubs and tacky restaurants, and the Old Town. These are separated by an extremely busy crossroads, along which many locals 'hang out'. The old Town is extremely quaint and peaceful but can get very hot as it is extremely sheltered.
Malia - Accommodation --------------------- Most of this resort is taken up with package holiday company apartments. Indeed the
studios where we stayed (Fanourakis Studios) were solely for First Choice guests. However there are many pensions situated on the outskirts of the town that advertise rooms for rent. Our studios were extremely clean, although very small and noisy (situated just off the main beach road). Throughout the resort, regardless of where you stay you can always here the thud from either a club, pub or restaurant. I took ear-plugs to be able to sleep at night (£2 from Boots!) - and I would thoroughly recommend them if you go to this resort! Most of the accommodation is studio style, with no air conditioning and no shower curtain (get used to flooding your bathroom!!).
Malia - Eating -------------- The Beach Road is infamous for dodgy kebabs and burgers - beware! (although most of the people who eat them are so beered up, that when they are ill, it could be either the beer or the burger!!). There are a few select places that I would recommend along the Beach Road - most are ok, offering English food, pizzas and chips. If you want authentic cuisine do not even bother here!
Towards the bottom of the Beach Road there is Electra Cafe. They serve up great curries, Greek style dishes and also fish & chips (bit of a mixture!). This is one of the only places where I didn't feel hurried eating my meal (waiters seemed to 'hover' everywhere else!). Europa is also ok, one of the waiters gave us some great info about where to go and what to see! However this place, like most others, is the usual pizza and chips 'restaurant'. The prices are only slightly cheaper than they are in England - pay around £3 for a Greek salad and £4 for a pizza. I expected it to be much cheaper, after staying in Corfu a few years ago - but it isn't!
The Old Town has some more picturesque restaurants and definitely is the place for a more romantic meal (although I went there with a female friend!). Don't expect authenticity though! We went to a quaint restaurant by the name of Cordon Bleu, very nice menu, about £15 for two courses including wine, but the staff were entirely English, including the chef!!
There are other places that looked appealing in the old town, I was recommended the Stone House cafe, however as we went at the start of the season, most were still closed. Most restaurants however cheap/expensive serve bread with your meal, whether you ask for it or not! They will add it to your bill whether or not you eat it - so remember to tell them when ordering if you don't want any! You will also be served a free shot/long drink of the local tipple at the end of your meal - raki or Ouzo. Beware! Both are quite strong and potent in large quantities!! (my mate has regrets relating to this one!).
Malia - Drinking ---------------- Now to most important bit of my holiday! It is extremely unwise to go to Malia if you are teetotal! Much of the nightlife here centres around getting totally paralytic! The main club/pubs open their doors from about 10pm onwards - although nowhere hots up until about 1am. Most stay open until at least 4 so be prepared to arrive back in your apartment after sunrise! The Beach Road is littered with every kind of bar you could imagine - you have Flares (70s themed bar), The Red Lion (very English and also serves food), Zoo (which wasn't open when I was there but I have heard they have a body piercing studio within!?!) and many English named places (Newcastle, Club UK etc!!).
Many new clubs were popping up everyday (literally!) when I arrived! One of my favourites was the Kings Club - next door to a very distinct looking castle bar! You cannot miss it as it is in the centre of the Beach Road. There are English touts EVERYWHERE! Trying to get you into their pub/club with the promise of a free shot (you do get it if you are persistent and female!!). They get more money, the more people they drag in....so you can see why they are so persistent! It does get very annoying - so much so, that you practically have to hide when you go past some places, or run!! Another decent place is Corkers which gets quite busy. Look out for some of the DJs, they are a bit obscure! (there was a 65 year old English bloke in one of the bars where I went and another chap looked about 12 - bizarre!!).
The drinks are around the same prices as you get here. About £1 for a small beer, although the pubs/clubs only usually have bottled lagers (Becks, Amstel etc). About £2 for a Vodka and mixer, and £1 a bottle of water if it all gets too much! Cocktails are pricey at about £3!
You can easily get work in one of the bars/pubs/restaurants out there. Whilst I was there I got offered a few jobs! (very, very tempting!!). But you need to go there at the start of the season (April) and be prepared for low wages and to work as either a tout or waiter. There are quieter places to drink in the old town and along the main road at the top of Beach Road - these are the places that you can sit amongst the locals.
Malia - What to do ------------------ The beach is quite small for the amount of people I imagine will 'hit' it in summer. The main stretch is littered with bars and deck chair hirers. If you walk up a little you can be guaranteed a more peaceful area - walk up too far (like we did!) and you will come across a nudist area (don't think it was official but quite embarrassing suddenly stumbling across several naked bodies in the sand dunes!!). There are several waterparks nearby, although these weren't open at the time of our visit.
One of the trips you must take is to see the Palace of Malia. This is about 2 miles from the centre of Malia, you can either walk along the road (sign posted to Ayios Nikolaos, any bus bound for here will stop at the palace enroute) or along the beach. This has never been reconstructed and is worth getting a book for as it is difficult to work out what some of the remains are (I used my Rough Guide to Crete).
My favourite excursion was to Iraklion - one of the two major cities on the island. We caught the public bus (much better than paying an absolute fortune for a guided coach tour!), which stops on the main road in Malia. It costs about £1.50 one way - which, when you consider it is about 30 miles away is an absolute bargain! The bus stops just outside the city walls and one of the first things you see is the old fortress. This wasn't open when we arrived but I have read that you can pay to go inside.
You also see the venetian arsenali - which were used to store weapons - these are now graffitied and lost amongst a sea of traffic - it is very difficult to get close to them so worth standing back for a view! (and to avoid getting run over!)
A ‘must do’ is the Archaeological Museum. I am not generally 'into' museums but this was one of the highlights of my holiday. It is simply amazing and again I used my Rough Guide to Crete to navigate once inside. There are so many people to each person guide, it is actually better to DIY and get a book yourself, or, you can tag yourself onto someone else’s guide! If you have a student card remember to take it to Crete as you will get into many places free, like this one, otherwise it is £3.
There are many rooms and so much to see - give yourself at least 3 hours to see everything properly. A word of warning though - this place does attract many coach tours, if you go early or later in the day you can manage to avoid the queues (we ended up queuing for 30 minutes as we were behind 2 coach tours - not nice in the heat!).
There are many rooms, although the one that fascinated me the most was the ones with the tombs in - they actually were buried in coffins that were previously used as family baths!! Weird concept! You have many carved characters, shields, weapons and statues - all in all, a very fascinating place. Well worth my £3!
The city itself reminded me of Brussels! Very tall imposing buildings and squares everywhere for people to sit. Shops aren't great and quite touristy, and the clothes shops really do not cater for the English fashion! One place I would recommend shopping is the market! Just for a look at the goats heads (a local speciality!) displayed outside the butchers - quite a culture shock! There is a small street within the market which we managed to find, again thanks to the Rough Guide, - Fotiou Theodosaki. This little street boasts some authentic restaurants frequented by the locals and market traders. Well worth having a meal there amongst the hustle and bustle of the market.
Malia - Getting around ---------------------- It is so easy and cheap to hire a scooter. But be warned as like most Mediterranean resorts, crash helmets are not compulsory (and to be quite honest you'd look a complete idiot wearing one, as no one, BUT NO ONE wears them!). There is no speed limit on the island which is also quite worrying! If you want to hire transport, cars can be picked up pretty cheaply but make sure you have comprehensive insurance as part of your package, as this is not always included (and you sometimes have a hefty excess if you damage the vehicle!).
Like I have already mentioned...I would thoroughly recommend the public bus - its cheap, clean and air conditioned in most cases. They do get quite busy but are fairly frequent and do not have the same risk attached to them as a scooter!
Conclusion ---------- Ok, I can tell you are getting bored now (or you may have skipped to this bit!), so I will conclude (phew! I hear you say!). I had an excellent holiday in Crete, mainly due to the fact that I didn't stay in my resort. Malia is a great place, don't get me wrong - the nightlife is superb! But to really see the island you need to get out and about.
Well worth buying is the Rough Guide to Crete - this tells you where to go, what to expect and gives you excellent guides around places (I used the book at both Malia Palace and the Archaeological Museum). Get a cheap deal and you can use Malia as a base. Local buses are frequent and cheap so there is no excuse not to get out and about. Malia is great if you are just after a drinking lads/lasses holiday (stag parties and hen weeks would be great here in peak season!). Take loads of money and have a great time!! Just be careful of the Ouzo and Raki though ;-)
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