Central Crete
The Perfect Greek Driving Holiday
Hi there, and welcome to this week’s regular mailing about Greece. We’ve just added a new page to the website, about Zaros, an absolutely lovely and charming town in Central Crete.
So I thought this week I’d write a bit about Central Crete, an area which makes for a perfect driving holiday in Greece. It’s got everything - beaches, mountains, archaeological sites, monasteries, lively towns like Zaros… and great food! We’ll never forget the terrific and unusual lunch we had at the Snail’s House in Plouti, a 10-minute drive from Zaros. Snails are very popular on Crete. Many Cretans relied on them for food during the dark days of the Second World War.
Central Crete in Three Days
We’ve been lucky and have been able to visit Crete for long periods, researching guidebooks and now for Greece Travel Secrets. But we’re aware that most visitors may only have one or two weeks for their holidays, so we put together a driving itinerary showing how to see the best of Central Crete in Three Days. And if you’ve got longer, just linger!
The itinerary takes in three major Crete archaeological sites in Knossos, Gortina and Phaistos, the popular resort of Matala, the Idhaean Cave, the craft village of Arolithos, and of course Zaros. It’s quite a varied itinerary, if we say so ourselves.
Driving on Crete
If you’ve never driven on Crete, don’t worry. We have a page of advice about Driving on Crete, and other pages on the website about Driving in Greece generally. Another page, Our Hire Car on Crete, describes some of the adventures you can have if you do rent a car for a few days.
It doesn’t always go smoothly, of course! I’ll never forget the time we were driving in pre-sat nav days, trying to find our way somewhere with only a rough map for directions. We took a wrong turn (something we’re good at), and the road got narrower and bumpier. It eventually became more of a single track ‘road’, but there was no way to turn round. We decided to keep going till we came to a landmark of some kind. No such luck.
The road took us into a little village and simply ended. We had to reverse along this narrow track till we saw a little concrete parking area that I could back into and turn round. There was a drop-off on each side so I had to steer carefully. I looked down over the edge only to see someone looking up at me and waving his fist. We were on the roof of someone’s house! I shot off there and drove out a lot faster than I’d driven in. It shows what you remember from travelling. I’ve no idea where we were coming from or trying to get to, but I’ve never forgotten that moment.
Where to Stay in Central Crete
Alongside the suggestions for how to see Central Crete in three days we’ve put together a small list of places to stay that we can personally recommend: Where to Stay in Central Crete. It includes places in Matala, Ayia Galini, and Zaros.
So if you want some fun and adventure, like archaeological sites, beaches, mountains and good food (especially snails), then set your sights on a driving tour around Central Crete. We’d go back there in a heartbeat.
Till next time, cheers!
Mike and Donna
Your experience on that narrow "road" to who knows where was crazy funny! I appreciated your description, I could see it all. Plus, would love to get to Crete one day.
It reminds me of the time we were driving through Idaho in the U.S., even with GPS & it eventually took us on this turn onto roads marked "Caution: Not Maintained" - but we'd gone so far by then, we wondered that it wouldn't make sense to turn back. As the GPS still said our destination was ahead!! We got there eventually, but it was a harrowing experience, similar to yours!