Crete (Greece)

...you will be aware that Crete is a popular tourist destination. As well as having a plethora of unspoilt historical sites, there are also some interesting little known facts about the island. Crete is commonly recognised as the seat of the most ancient civilisation in Europe. It was the site for the ultimate, and strategically largest, airborne attack by Nazi Germany in 1941. (Battle of Crete) This invasion was also the only recorded battle in history ...
...removal of the Venetians from Crete by the Turkish Ottoman Empire after the siege of Candia, (1648-1669) noted as the longest siege in recorded history. Crete is best known however from Minoan history, made famous by historians such as Homer. His descriptions of ancient Greek history allow us to explore and understand Cretan origins. There are many legends mentioned, such as King Minos, Theseus and the Minotaur, Daedalus, and Icarus. The first signs ...

milleniumzeus 17.08.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...of all the Greek islands, Crete is the most like a separate country of its own. The national slogan in fact is pretty much “Cretan first, Greeks second”. It is the largest of the islands forming modern Greece and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean (behind Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus and Corsica) With its fine variety of sights and landscapes, it deserves to be explored independently by car, giving you the added advantage of escaping the over-trodden ...
...farming. This is today’s parallel Crete – mass tourism running smoothly alongside the gentle, timeless lifestyle of ordinary Cretans. Over 2,000,000 visitors come to Crete every year, so it isn’t always easy to escape them, especially in the over-developed north of the island. Panormos is probably one of the only non-commercial resorts left in that area now, but is sadly unlikely to remain that way for long. The south is still far less targeted by ...

flickpugh 01.07.2004 (20.09.2004) · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...to drive at night in Crete is a distinct plus! If you've never been to Crete before, don't expect it to 'feel' like a Greek island in the same way as the ones where Uncle Spiros is the Mayor, taxi\donkey driver and local hotel owner/undertaker. Crete is big - driving from east to west and back again in one day is purely for the likes of 'white van man' on a mission; we're talking London to Manchester here. I'm guessing but I'd say that Crete represents ...
...summer to get that way. Crete also has a tendency to be a 'bit breezy', so beware burning, thinking it's cool when it's not. …….AND THE SECOND QUESTION "What's the food/beer like?" Well of course, a foreign holiday wouldn't be a foreign holiday without genuine John Smith's on draught, Yorkshire pudding* on Sunday and football on Sky would it? These worst excesses of the British preponderance to only go somewhere 'coz the weather's nicer, whilst ...

BNibbles 04.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

We visited the island of Crete this May. The island is varied depending on area, but we concentrated on the Chania area. This review is mainly random ramblings of our thoughts and observations, perhaps a few tips and some fundamental useful info too, hope you don't find it too boring. Chania (also known as Hania) is an obvious destination for the tourist to visit. It's a mix of old and new, quite a busy place especially around the harbour area of ...
...made elsewhere anyway, with a Crete label stuck on. Souvenir hunters should look for real local goods rather than the endless cheap tat sold at these touristy shops. Shopkeepers commonly sit or stand outside, and may sometimes entice you in, but never being overly pushy. Once inside service can be stressful if you are the only customer, as all the attention is on you. This doesn't appear to be as bad as shops in other countries however. Don't be ...

Kingseany 26.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...how could we know that Crete would greet us with a cool wind blowing dark clouds across the sky and the tourists away from the beaches? We chose the resort Hersónissos, 40 km east of Heraklion, the capital of Crete, because it's nearly in the middle of the north coast and we thought it would be a good starting point for excursions. Hersónissos is the busiest resort on Crete with the most hotels and an active night-life, we had read about it in a ...
...see a single skyscraper, Crete appears low key and modest to us. The private houses in the small towns and villages are exactly like the ones in other Mediterranean countries, i.e., simple, ugly concrete boxes with flat roofs, the Cretan variety is advanced in one respect, though, nearly all houses have a collector for solar energy on the roof, very laudable! What did we do? We walked along the coast, had a look at the tiny harbour (the town itself ...

MALU 08.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...through most of the night, Crete could be a good holiday destination, provided you choose your destination carefully. We spent a week at the end of July in the Elpida Apartments at Kala Chorio. Kala Chorio is a very small resort on the northern coast of Crete, about 15 minutes drive from the bigger resort of Agios Nikolaos (which the holiday reps insist on calling Agnic!), and probably located about as far eastwards as most package tours go (70 ...
...of music and dance from Crete and the rest of Greece. Cretan music is quite unique, and does not sound at all like the bubbly bouzouki stuff one usually associates with Greece. It is much wilder, with hints of Arabic or perhaps Sephardic, because it sound almost klezmer in places. One specifically Cretan instrument is the lyra, which looks a bit like a short-necked lute, but has only four strings and is played with a bow vaguely cello-style. The ...

tehuti 13.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...of my great holiday on Crete in general. Background ********** The island of Crete or Kriti in the local language lies 100 miles south of mainland Greece in the Mediterranean Sea. It is the fifth largest in the sea after Corsica, Sardinia, Cyprus and Sicily. It measures approximately 150 miles across and 50 miles wide making it the largest Greek island, but still retains all the features of the Med. Clear and warm blue seas, golden beaches and ...
...other parts of Eastern Europe. Crete is an island, surrounded by seas full of fish and other life. On the land the terrain is very mountainous with large hills and peaks close to 1,000m. It makes spectacular scenes, very dramatic hills. The vegetation is typically Mediterranean with olive trees and rough bushes on hard ground. Much of Crete is hilly, but there is still a large amount of agriculture. The Capital of Crete is Irakleio or Heraklion depending ...

Chris_Padden 13.04.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

I went to Stalis in Crete for two weeks in September 2004, with a couple of friends. We had an eventful flight there - a couple of hours after leaving Glasgow one of the passengers became ill and we were diverted to Salzburg to get medical attention for him. Then, the plane was overweight and needed to be checked before it could take off again - no 737 engineers in Salzburg, one had to be flown in from Manchester, we were stuck in Salzburg airport ...
...we should have arrived in Crete at lunchtime, but it was early evening by the time we got there, so it was 9ish by the time we got to our apartments, Triandafillo in Stalis, or Stalida. It was pitch black and we walked around in the dark for a little while until Giannis, the manager, found us and showed us to our apartment. Triandafillo is your standard Greek holiday apartment - beds, wardrobe, drawers, kitchen with a fridge, sink and 2 electric ...

Flossiesdoll 18.08.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

I strongly believe that Crete and particularly its western side is one of the most beatiful places in the world. One of cousins, who spent most of his youth in the USA navy told me once that although he travelled all over the world, he couldn't find anywhere a place with such beauty and as friendly and hospitable people as in Crete. Since, Crete is my birthplace I'm often asked by friends who want to visit the island, where should they go. I always ...
...doesn't it? Obviously western Crete has many more places that you shouldn't miss - However, I didn't want to make this review too big - in case the response is nice I can write an additional one later for its eastern side, which also has lot to offer. ...

expertop 06.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...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 ...
...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 ...

moose 06.05.2001 (31.07.2002) · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...a holiday to Rethymnon in Crete for 7 nights via lastminute.com. It only cost me £216 for a week and I thought that was a damn good deal. However, it was probably that cheap because I booked it at the very, very last minute. I mean, I think I booked it about 2 days before I left. THE VIEW The beauty of Crete struck me even before the plane landed. You could see a divine view of the island from the plane. It was awe-inspiring. It was like catching ...
...the fortresses and a beautiful harbour. VERDICT I would recommend Crete to anyone who wants to catch a glimpse of heaven. It is a truly beautiful, picturesque island. It’s not just the mountains, the beaches or the old churches that define Crete, it’s also the people. ...

Ebele 05.06.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...much fun. Crete has a wide range of things to do and see. The beautiful scenic area of Elounda and Chania is for a quieter holiday. You can also visit Santorini on a day trip but beware that the boat can be a bit choppy sometimes and delayed. There is also the 'leper' island of Spinalonga, which is interesting historically. You can do the full on historic adventure in Crete if you wish and the famous Knossos Palace is a favourite, although dont expect ...
...leaves! The centre of Crete is Heraklion, which is a modern town with a maze of streets with various little shops. Big names like Zara are in one street and a small market off this for souvenirs and eating places. However, the best bargains are found on a Saturday when the large outside market is held. This is located just outside the centre, in walking distance, but if you do not know the town better to take a taxi there. There you will find shoes ...

Phweeter 28.04.2009 (25.09.2009) · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...associate with a holiday to Crete but there again we did have our two children sleeping in the same apartment so that might explain the substitution of serendipity. This was our first holiday to Greece so we did not know quite what to expect, we took far more clothes than we needed we even took fold up raincoats (you can see we are used to camping holidays in France). All we really needed was lots of different t-shorts and shorts. The Journey: ...
...in this one resort in Crete and we chose them because of the childcare they offer. They provide a programme of activities on 5 days a week for 4-6 hours a day. There were two girls running the activities and there were on average only 4-6 children attending. Our kids thoroughly enjoyed it and it gave us time for ourselves. Final thoughts: Would we do the holiday again?, probably yes but we would try to go at a cooler time of the year, May or September. ...

martinprice 09.08.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...We booked our holiday to Crete way, way back in May 2002, and the 18 months wait was a torture! We stayed at the Sunlight Hotel which is midway between Aghios Nicholas and Elounda on the North East Coast of the Island. There was fairly regular bus service 1 bus an hour going each way between the 2 towns, the main problem was they stopped running at 9pm. It cost 1 Euro each for the bus or 7 Euros for a taxi from either town. Aghios is very tourist ...
...you decide to go to Crete I think the latest you should go is the first 2 weeks of October because after that the smaller towns seem to close completely, we spoke to a local bar owner in Elounda who told us that there are only about 10 hotels open in the town through the winter months and only 3 bars and 4-5 restaurants. The hotel we stayed in was ok, it was very basic, there was a pool and a pool bar but it closed at 6pm and stopped serving snacks ...

tarara 20.10.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)

...several meditaranian islands better than Crete for that. The south coast is a bit inaccessible but thus all but empty, and very beuatiful. We spent the most time on the far east of the island and found the beaches clean, spacious and full of fish. It would have been quite easy to spend twice as long there. The food was superb, and we found that often the best thing to do was ignore the menu and have a look in the kitchen, especially when choosing ...
...possibly tar your view of Crete is the palace of Knossos, which we found to be crowded, poorly signed, and full of people trying to sell things - we also noticed tavernas which had about as much relation to the places we'd been eating on the rest of the island as I do to a mongoose (a genuine sign was ''authentic greek traverna: pizza and chips"). however it's definately worth visiting the museum of Crete in central Heraklion/Iraklio and if you are ...

nethesi 02.06.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Crete (Greece)