Destinations, Europe, South Europe

Crete – Greece

Posted by mareikewanderlust on

Our vacation started by a strike of the airport personnel in Heraklion and it took us a few hours to get to the hotel. Yes, hotel, this was my fist and so far only ever self-booked hotel vacation with breakfast and dinner included. My ex wasn’t a fond of backpacking so this was our compromise. I liked to go away for longer periods of time, the maximum of what he agreed on was 12 days away from home. I agreed to only one hotel by incorporating various daytrips and at least one meal outside the hotel each day. That’s how we spend our summer vacation in 2015 on the Greek island Crete. Would I do it again? With kids, maybe, but as a couple or solo traveler, I prefer to have more diversity, so rather not. Don’t get me wrong, the service was really good, everyone was friendly, the food was tasty, everything clean and I still enjoyed it. We had a great time, just very different from the type of traveling I rather do. This was not traveling, it was vacation. Having breakfast at an accommodation is nice, it makes you leave in the morning without the urge to find a nice place soon. But I would rather stay open for food on the go as for the other meals. Still, our view right at the coast wasn’t too bad.

Malia

View form the Ariadne Beach Hotel terrace – Not so bad though. Still, I don’t get having a pool while your right in front of the ocean.

A bus from the airport took us to the tourist town Malia. Why such a touristy town? Another compromise since he wanted diverse restaurants and bars around. Would I stay there again or recommend someone to stay there? With kids, maybe yes. For all the others, better choose a more authentic town and if you want to see diverse places get a car, motorcycle or a quad.

View over Malia. We took a small litte train who passes the streets of Malia every now and then and you can hop on and off.

Samaria Gorge

Our first day trip took us to the famous Samaria Gorge for a day of hiking. I love being in nature and since we went short before the summer season at the end of May there weren’t too many tourists with us. Still, I am afraid of heights and was out of shape. It was a hard time for me. The gorge is 17 kilometers long and takes you from 1200 meters hight to sea level. As today I got a few more hikes behind me and challenged my fear of heights a couple of times, I am sure I would do way better today. Anyway, they give you enough time to get though it but especially the first hour of just going down on small a rocky path was hard for me. At the end, the view and nature around us was absolutely worth it. My recommendation: Wear good shoes, I had the bad idea to go with Chucks and bring a big water bottle. You can refill it on the way with fresh water.


This is around the first hour of hiking. So steep, so better watch your seps…
This view though.

Felt like being above the clouds.
As to me it looks like from a fantasy movie.
The path was very diverse and natural.
Almost at the end of the hike day.
We made it! A viw at the ocean is always the best reward.
Boat trip back to the next big village and then the bus took us to the hotel.

Chania and Rethymnon

Next day trip brought us to a few bigger cities. First of all Chania, the oldest city on the island. Very touristic but beautiful. The second city we saw that day was Rethymnon

This lady was our guard during the whole city trip. I loved her.
Small harbor of the city.
Love these cute little side streets. I mostly recommend going of the normal path.
Aren’t these streets of
Rethymnon adorable?
So glad it was off season, so away from the main tourist stream. That way you can feel a little more relaxed while exploring.

Exploring the surroundings

Another daytrip took us by quad through the rough nature, up a mountain and into an again very touristy cave. We should have gotten a off road quad because we really pushed ours to the limit.

That are the path we took our quad up and down.
That is on top of a mountain on the way to the cave.
Cave of psychro.
Eating in Greece as a vegetarian limits you to two to three national dishes, but since each restaurant makes them different it as still delicious.
Sunset at “our” beach.
Last day we had to leave short after breakfast.

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Published by mareikewanderlust

Berlin born but home in the world, documenting my journeys as well as my daily life with photography. Currently exploring Canada on a working holiday visa and excited about all the new adventures awaiting me. Feel free to follow my journey.

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