The 10 best things to do in Crete

A vast stretch of land encompassing Cape Sidero’s 19th century lighthouse, the Minoan palace of Zakros and the golden sand beaches of Vai, which is home to Europe’s only palm forest, this off-the-beaten-track region is rarely on tourist radars. Come here to wander in Sitia’s steep streets and labyrinth of shopping lanes, swim from the blond-sand beaches of Xerocambos, or order kochloi boubouristi wine-marinated snails, vlita wild greens and other meze snacks in the traditional kafeneions of remote mountain villages like Armenoi and Ziros.

Cretans are famed for their kefi – high spirits – which are best experienced at one of the traditional glendis, or village festivals, that take place throughout the summer months. Usually held in the village square, glendis start late - usually around 10pm. Buy a ticket at the entry desk, and then grab a seat at one of the long trestle tables where you’ll be served meze snacks followed by hearty local dishes and plenty of raki. Once the music starts you can expect to party until dawn.

Strap on thick soled boots, lather up with suntan cream and bring plenty of water for this epic hike through Europe’s longest gorge. Spectacular views are ten-a-penny during this rugged 16 kilometre trek which descends from the Lefka Ori - White Mountains - via the spooky abandoned village of Samaria and sideroportes, a three meter cleft which is the gorge’s narrowest point, before spilling out onto Agia Roumeli’s pebble-strewn beach where you can take a taxi boat across sparkling waters to the taverna-lined streets of Hora Sfakion. 

From the birthplace of Zorba the Greek creator Nikos Kazantzakis, to the recently revamped Heraklion archaeological museum, Crete has plenty of cultural spaces worth visiting. In seaside resort Fodele seek out the artwork-packed Domenikos Theotokopoulos museum dedicated to the Renaissance artist that most of us know as El Greco; don’t miss Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ private collection of ancient artefacts housed in Chania’s completely refurbished Archaeological Museum, and spare an hour to mosey around the quirky Kotasanas museum built, according to the blurb, ‘to showcase the hi-tech inventions of the ancient Greeks’. 

With its tiny mountain villages and traditional kafenions, the Lasithi plateau high in the Dikti Mountains is like a Seventies time warp. It’s a stiff drive along winding roads to get there, but once you pop out on the fertile plain studded with dozens of white sailed windmills (there are around 10,000) you realise it was well worth the effort. 

After visiting Dikteon Andron, the cave where legendary god of thunder Zeus was born, hike out to see the spectacular Monastery of Panagia Kroustalenia, stop off to buy the local handmade carpets or stroll through whitewashed alleys of a dozen picturesque villages, including capital Tzermiadon where tavernas like Kronio and Kourites serve vegetable stew sofegada and other local dishes.

Overlooking the glittering Gulf of Mirabello, Agios Nikolaos’ street art-decorated staircases and labyrinth of shopping lanes cluster around Voulismeni, a lake that locals thought was bottomless right up until 1976 when marine explorer Jacques Cousteau established that it is actually 64 meters deep. Apart from the lake surrounded by tavernas where you should order Cretan speciality dish slow-cooked goat’s stew tsigariasto, this city which is the capital of the lesser-visited Lasithi region has an artefact-packed Archaeological museum (look out for the skull of a 1st Century AD athlete holding a coin to pay Charon between his teeth), along with a clutch of glorious golden sand beaches.

Chania’s Venetian harbour and warren of shopping lanes are a magnet for most visitors, but there’s a whole other side to the city to discover if you explore. Whether you sip a syrupy thimble of elleniko coffee in one of the traditional cafes on historic 1821 Square, seek out shops selling knives engraved with Cretan rhyming poems known as mantinades along Sifakas street, shop for courgette and cheese-stuffed boureki pastries and custard-stuffed bougatsa pies in streets near Hatzi Michali Yannari, or seek out the last stivani leather boot makers along Skridlof street, you’re guaranteed to see a more authentic side of this city which is built on the site of ancient Kydonia.

Crete is one of the world’s oldest wine-making regions. The local production was limited to rustic table wines until a few decades ago, however, when a handful of dedicated oenologists began working with ancient varieties to produce some of Greece’s best bottles. Sample them, – along with lashings of meze snacks – by following the Heraklion wine trail, which loops along vine-fringed roads to visit top producers including Agelekis, where wines are aged in clay pots that have been made here for centuries, and Boutari who is one of the region’s most innovative vintners. 

The nailbitingly scenic ride through jagged rock-strewn landscapes near Therissos Gorge will whet your appetite for the foodie thrills to follow at Dounias, a rustic eat-retreat on a working farm in the high-flung hamlet of Drakona. Sit at a wonky wooden table, sip punch-packing local white spirit raki and watch the goats, rabbit and cows graze in the surrounding fields as farmer Stelios Trilyrakis cooks beef stew stifado, feather tender lamb with homegrown potatoes and other luscious dishes, just like his grandmother did, in clay pots over a wood burning fire. 

Myrtos beach in Kefalonia may be Greece’s most famous beach thanks to its appearance in ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’, but Elafonissi is considered by many to be its best. This low islet, joined to the mainland at its most south-westerly point, is famously tinted pink thanks to crushed-up shells. The island and sand surround a shallow, warm lagoon of a perfect turquoise sea.