Itinerary · 7 days · 30 places
7 Days in Crete
Seven days in western Crete: four nights in Venetian Chania with the old town, the Akrotiri monasteries and the Samaria Gorge, then over the mountains to the south coast at Chora Sfakion with Loutro, the Imbros Gorge and Frangokastello.
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Photo: Pham Ngoc Anh · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Venetian Chania
Arrival in Chania
Hotel check-in
A base in the Topanas quarter above the harbour, where the Venetian lanes are too narrow for any car.
Venetian Harbour of Chania
The semicircular harbour basin with the Egyptian-style lighthouse tip, the arched Arsenali halls and the dome of the Küçük Hasan Mosque.
Evening: Topanas quarter
Zampeliou and Theotokopoulou streets with wine bars in Venetian doorways, lively until late in the evening.
Day 2Chania's old town between market and breakwater
Dimotiki Agora (Market Hall)
Cross-shaped market hall from 1913 with stalls selling graviera, mountain herbs, olives and raki.
Etz Hayyim Synagogue
The restored synagogue in the Evraiki Jewish quarter, with a mikveh in the courtyard and a memorial wall for the community deported in 1944.
Maritime Museum of Crete
Ship models from Minoan rowing boats to frigates, and a whole hall devoted to the airborne Battle of Crete in 1941.
Firkas Fortress
The Venetian bastion at the harbour entrance where the Greek flag was raised in 1913; from the top of the wall you can see across the whole basin.
Splantzia quarter
The shady 1821 Square under an old plane tree, with the church of Agios Nikolaos, which still bears the minaret from its time as a mosque.
Nea Chora Beach
The town beach ten minutes' walk west of the old town, gently shelving, with fish tavernas right behind the sand.
Evening: old harbour breakwater to the lighthouse
The 500-metre breakwater out to the Venetian lighthouse, lit up in the evening and with views back to the harbour front.
Day 3Akrotiri — monasteries and quiet coves
Agia Triada Tzagarolon Monastery
Venetian-Baroque monastery from 1634 with an ochre façade, its own olive mill and a winery in the courtyard.
Gouverneto Monastery
Fortress-like monastery from 1548 on the edge of the plateau; from here steps lead down to the Arkoudiotissa bear cave.
Stavros Bay
The almost perfectly round, very shallow bay below the rocky mountain where "Zorba the Greek" was filmed.
Marathi Beach
Two small sandy coves with turquoise water on the east side of the peninsula, looking out over Souda Bay.
Venizelos Graves
The tombs of Eleftherios and Sophoklis Venizelos on the rocky edge, with the widest view over Chania and the White Mountains.
Evening: bars on Sarpidona Street
The lane behind the Arsenali, where the cocktail bars and rakadika fill up late into the night.
Day 4The Samaria Gorge to the Libyan Sea
Omalos Plateau and Xyloskalo
The wooden stairway descent at 1,230 metres, from where the gorge drops 600 metres below Gingilos.
Abandoned village of Samaria
The village cleared in 1962 for the national park, with the church of Ossia Maria from 1379 and resting spots under cypresses.
Sideroportes (Iron Gates)
The narrowest point of the gorge: three metres wide between 300-metre walls.
Agia Roumeli Beach
The grey pebble beach at the mouth of the gorge, where you cool off in the Libyan Sea before the ferry.
Evening: Katechaki Square by the eastern wall
The square by the Grand Arsenal below the Venetian town wall, with views over the lit-up harbour front in the evening.
Day 5Over the White Mountains to Sfakia
Onward to Chora Sfakion
Hotel check-in
Chora Sfakion Harbour
The tiny ferry port below the cliff face, from which boats leave for Loutro and Agia Roumeli.
Loutro
Blue-and-white fishing village with no road access, reachable only by boat or coastal path, on a sheltered bay.
Glyka Nera (Sweetwater Beach)
Pebble beach below a sheer cliff, where freshwater springs seep straight out of the pebbles into the sea.
Evening: Chora Sfakion waterfront
The short row of tavernas above the water, where gorge hikers back from the trail gather in the evening.
Day 6Imbros Gorge and Frangokastello
Imbros Gorge
Eight kilometres downhill through a gorge that narrows to two metres in places — the Allies' escape route in 1941.
Frangokastello
Venetian castle ruin from 1371 right on the sand, surrounded by the legend of the Drosoulites, the morning-dew shadows.
Orthi Ammos Beach
Dune beach east of the castle with very shallow, warm water over pale sand.
Evening: beach bar at Frangokastello
The terraces opposite the castle, from which you watch the walls turn red in the last light.
Day 7Mountain lake, Aptera and departure
Lake Kournas
Crete's only freshwater lake, turquoise beneath the slopes of the White Mountains, with pedalos and terrapins along the shore.
Ancient Aptera
Excavation site on the plateau above Souda Bay with huge Roman cisterns and a small theatre.
Departure from Chania
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