Crete has so much more to offer than just the pretty beaches straight out of the brochures of your local travel agent. Don't get me wrong, the beaches and all the famous spots are amazing but what really stuck in my memory were the hidden gems inbetween.
Setting off from Chania, we headed to the west of the island next. We rented a car for a few days to be able to drive around freely. Crete is quite well connected in terms of transportation, all the major cities and spots are connected with motorways and the busiest one is connecting the whole island from east to west. Well, but very often to get to the final destination the drivers must have some nerve. The island is very mounainous and steep, curvy roads are almost unavoidable. They will sure increase your adrenaline level for the day but the views will be rewarding and you won't regret it.
Falasarna
Our first stop as well as our accomodation for the following two nights was Falasarna, right by the sea on the west coast of Crete. It used to be a harbour that flourished during the hellenic period, but now its remains are insignificant and unseen, I didn't even know about the cultural side of Falasarna until I made some additional research after returning home.
Modern Falasarna is abundant in agriculture and tourist attractions. It's relatively difficult to move around without a car, it's a spacious area with only a few facilities around. Thanks to that the area had a bit rural and genuinely local atmosphere even though it was focused on tourists. We chose this destination to enjoy some beach days away from any bigger crowd and we succeeded. Furthermore, our hotel was only a short walking distance to the public beach, with a view to the sea and to the mountains. A good deal, if you ask me!
All right, Falasarna has undoubtedly won the prize for my favourite beach of this trip. Golden sands and perfectly clear turqoise water. All in a beautiful natural scenery of sandy dunes and mountains in the distance. It's less known than Balos or Elafonisi, so the amount of people was acceptable. There was a pleasant beach restaurant offering iced coffee and other refreshments too.
We were able to rent umbrellas and deckchairs with ease. Usually I am a travel minimalist and rather not rent such stuff, but in such high temperature and such scorching sun spending time on the beach without any shade is simply stupid, specially with my rather pale complexion and a tendency to sunburn. So quite often renting an umbrella was the only rational option.
But not to lie, it made me feel cool. Sipping a drink on a comfy wooden deckchair in the shade.
If you think about top greek products, you'll most likely think of olives first. Correct. Olive gardens are omnipresent all across the island, taking up big areas on cretan hillsides they are a view you'd probably remember. Actually, there was one olive garden right behind our accomodation.
When we googled up a place to eat dinner, we came across Taverna Vassilis, a family business located on an hilltop. The food was delicious and enjoyed on a beautifully decorated green terrace with a view to the whole bay. Imagine dining there during sunset. We actually went to this tavern two days in a row because we enjoyed it so much.
To shoot some photos at sunset we drove south from Falasarna, stopping at a random rocky beach.
The following morning we woke up for a dawn photoshoot. Despite how difficult getting up was, the sunrise was spectacular.
Balos
When looking up "what to do on Crete" Balos is possibly one of the first result you are going to get. It is said to be one of the most beautiful natural wonders that Greece has to offer. It is a paradise-like lagoon located between Crete and a small island called Tigani in the North-Western corner of Crete. Balos beach is hardly accessible by car, there is a dirt road leading up to it, but most car rentals do not allow their regular cars on this off-road route due to the risk of landing-gear damage. The other way of reaching Balos is to take an organised cruise from Kissamos, and this is what we chose.
The cruise was nice but overcrowded, specially in term of coronavirus safety measures.
The ferry had to go around a massive peninsula first and the view on the cliffs as seen from the water was something notable. It was possible to sit down on the front of the ferry and chill.
Before approaching Balos itself, the ferry stopped at Imeri Gramvousa island. The island seems inhabited and apart from the ferry only a few private yachts were there. It was possible to ascend the top of the island, but eventually we didn't go.
Then we finally arrived at Balos Lagoon. It was midday, it was tremendously hot and the experience was not the most enjoyable for me. It looked beautiful from afar, though.
The lagoon is a narrow strip of land connecting Crete and Tigani, with the sea directly on one side and a shallow bay on the other. On the cretan side there's a large mountain overlooking the lagoon. The views are quite astonishing, that's true. There was even a bit of pink sand on the beach! But the amount of people was quite scary. It was possible to walk up to a viewpoint, we tried to reach it but abandoned the idea quite quickly. it was impossible to find shade anywhere near the water, there were umbrellas to rent but all of them were taken already when we arrived. We couldn't walk too far from the Ferry dropping point to explore, perhaps we would have found a nice spot to rest and enjoy Balos properly.
The lagoon is a narrow strip of land connecting Crete and Tigani, with the sea directly on one side and a shallow bay on the other. On the cretan side there's a large mountain overlooking the lagoon. The views are quite astonishing, that's true. There was even a bit of pink sand on the beach! But the amount of people was quite scary. It was possible to walk up to a viewpoint, we tried to reach it but abandoned the idea quite quickly. it was impossible to find shade anywhere near the water, there were umbrellas to rent but all of them were taken already when we arrived. We couldn't walk too far from the Ferry dropping point to explore, perhaps we would have found a nice spot to rest and enjoy Balos properly.
By the end of our stay when the sun lowered a bit it became more enjoyable.
Elafonisi
Elafonisi is another very popular lagoon in the western part of the island, but on the south. We decided to give it a shot and drove from Falasarna.
We chose a route that was supposed to be the shortest. Well... this was definitely one of the most memorable roadtrips i had recently. It was incredibly curvy on steep mountainsides and i think our driver went through a few panic attacks on the way. The quality of the asphalt was very doubtful, in some parts it was not asphalt at all. On the road we met goats and donkeys.
But those views, ah those magnificent views. I couldn't stop shooting out of my backseat window!
The road was much more thrilling than Elafonisi itself, which actually irritated me straight from the start. Even more overcrowded than Balos, it was hard to even find a free spot on the sand.
It most famous feature is pink sand, made from bits and pieces of shellfish. It was once all over the place, now barely visible. There was an island which was accessible only through water, being partially a natural reserve of dunes, that was in my opinion the biggest asset of Elafonisi.
It most famous feature is pink sand, made from bits and pieces of shellfish. It was once all over the place, now barely visible. There was an island which was accessible only through water, being partially a natural reserve of dunes, that was in my opinion the biggest asset of Elafonisi.
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