Crete

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Crete, the largest Greek island and the fifth-largest in the Mediterranean, is a world of its own. The cradle of Minoan civilisation, the island is home to the Palace of Knossos (3,000 BC), one of the most remarkable archaeological sites in Europe. The Samaria Gorge (18 km, the longest in Europe) runs through the White Mountains National Park down to the Aegean Sea. The north coast concentrates the lively towns of Heraklion and Rethymno, while the south offers exceptional wild beaches: Elafonisi with its pink sands, Balos, Vai and its palm trees. Cretan cuisine, recognised as one of the healthiest in the world, is a delight at every meal.

More a country than an island

Two hundred and fifty kilometres separate east from west, and a mountain chain runs the whole length, rising to 2,456 m at Mount Ida. Which is to say you do not do Crete in a week: you choose a base, or two.

In the west, Chania and its Venetian harbour, the Samaria gorge — sixteen kilometres of descent to the Libyan Sea, one of the longest gorge walks in Europe — and the lagoons of Balos and Elafonissi, their sand tinted pink by crushed shell. In the centre, Heraklion, its archaeological museum and the palace of Knossos, capital of the Minoan civilisation, the oldest in Europe. In the east, drier and quieter, the palm grove of Vai and the Lassithi plateau.

Crete also has an identity of its own, almost a country within the country: an accent of its own, music played on the lyra, and an island pride inherited from centuries of resistance — to the Venetians, to the Ottomans, then to German paratroopers in 1941.

Spring, the season that wins

April to June is the finest stretch: the island is green, covered in flowers, the gorges are open and the heat stays gentle. September and October bring warm sea and empty sites. In July and August it often passes 35 °C inland and the major sites saturate — Samaria is walked from opening time, at 7 am. One caution: the gorges close from November to April because of flood risk.

The car, the table and the raki

A car is essential, and distances deceive: mountain roads average 40 km/h. Allow three hours from Heraklion to Chania by the northern motorway, and more if you go by the south.

Cretan cooking is the reference point for the Mediterranean diet, and it shows at the table: dakos — barley rusk, tomato and fresh cheese — snails, wild greens, slow-roasted lamb, olive oil in everything. The meal ends without fail on a glass of raki (or tsikoudia) offered by the house, with a dessert alongside: you may decline, but you would be stepping around a ritual that says everything about Cretan hospitality.

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