1 i Introduction Incredible beachesIncredible Intro If someone asked you to list the reasons why you would choose a place to spend your summer vacation, what would those be? Don’t think about it too much. The trick is to give spontaneous an- swers, or even better, to mentally travel to that destination, create an image, place yourself in it at a central spot and describe it out loud. Let me guess: you already feel the sun warm on your face! You listen to the sound of the sea as if you held a shell to your ear. You have a camera in one hand, a cool cocktail in the other and you taste unprecedented gastronomical joys. Don’t open your eyes yet! Let a warm smile see you off just before you leave your imaginative tour and listen closely to that little whisper inside your mind… Discover the magic of Chania! 1 4 Reason No1 Incredible beachesIncredible Beach index It might sound like a truism when a tour- ist guide advertising a summer destina- tion refers to its beaches as “incredible”, but when it comes to Chania this is in fact the truth. Whether you are looking for, busy beaches with all kind of amenities or isolated paradises on earth, it is there! All you have to do is look for it… Elafonissi 8 Balos 14 Falassarna 20 Platanias 24 Stalos 54 Agia Marina 55 Chrissi Akti 62 Kalamaki 66 Platanias 68 Kolympari 72 Kasteli 74 Stavros 76 Kalyves 82 Georgioupolis 84 South Beaches 86 Palaiochora 88 2 8 Reason No1 Reason No1 9 Elafonissi Incredible beachesIncredible beachesIncredible If someone asked you til the island and feel like a which is your happiest castaway and a conqueror childhood memory, you at the same time! would probably include, “a Besides, the south coast day at the beach splashing of the island has many hid- my feet in the shallow wa- den beauties and pleas- ters of the sea”. Your visit ures waiting to be discov- to Elafonissi could be in ered… a way, a trip to your child- A dive in the sea of Ela- hood. fonissi feels like a dive to Every single of these your years of innocence, small, childish desires that and for that reason only it connect you to the sum- is a priceless experience. mer will be awoken the Before arriving at the moment you look from beach however you may afar at the scenery: to make a stop at the monas- build castles on the sand, tery of Chrysoskaliotissa, to lie right at the point located about 5 km away where the waves break, from Elafonissi and built to jump up and down in high on a rock. Visit the the water until you make historic monastery and your friends wet, to eat look for the golden step, ice cream, to search every which according to the inch of the white sand in legend, is a proof of your quest for corrals, to walk faith to the divine, or even through the lagoon up un- to your own self… 3 4 14 Reason No1 Reason No1 15 Balos Incredible beachesIncredible beachesIncredible Balos is what most lo- visitors. It is pointless to cals would describe as resist: throw your stuff heaven on earth, and on the sand and through heaven can indeed be yourself to the dance! very close to your hotel. Wade your feet in the shal- It only takes a small boat low waters, dancing your trip from Kastelli’s port own version of a balos, the and you are there. The slow, leisurely type, as is name «Balos» could have the relaxing, harmonious been randomly chosen to scenery of the Gramvousa namethis beach, but it is a just opposite Balos. And perfect way to describe it when you are tired, lay on as it connotes the famous the shore, leave your head island dance «Balos». Ba- half way into the sea and los has an exotic beauty, let yourself enjoy the joy- but it also brings together ous, lyrical melodies of the most of the beauties of the landscape… greek landscape. On your way back, you All colors of the greek may stop in the pictur- seas can be found in its esque port of Kolymbari waters and, as the waves to eat fresh fish that fisher- come and go through the men bring every morning reefs and the rocks, you and also drink good local get the feeling that the wine. sea dances a fast, rhyth- You can find happiness mic balos to seduce its in small things after all! 5 6 7 20 Reason No1 Reason No1 21 Falassarna Incredible beachesIncredible beachesIncredible After 30 minutes of easy the cultivations. While at driving, and even though that very moment most you realize you are only 5 feel that they could stay minutes away from diving there forever, suddenly an into the cool blue sea and irresistible urge pushes drinking your coffee under you to throw yourself to the shade of your umbrella, the sea, like answering one cannot resist making to the call of the ancient a stop at the top of the hill nymph Falassarna, who past Platanos village. wants to guide you around You owe it to yourself to her mystic land. spend a few minutes just And from one moment to imprint within you, the to another you will be beauty of the landscape. transferred from the occult And you will stand magic of the landscape to before it with the same a sandy beach full of life reverence and respect and activity, or you will that one stands in front discover quite corners of an artwork, gazing around the beach so that at the endless coast you may savour the sea on line where the gold of your own. the sand becomes one For those wishing to take with the blue of the sea a trip back in time the ruins and then again where it of the old city are there meets the deep green of waiting to be explored… 8 9 24 Reason No1 Platanias Platanias, just 11km away from Cha- nia, was planted on the map of Crete, to foster the desire of the visitor to wander from the busy north coast to Incredible beachesIncredible the routes of the White Mountains and the pla- teau of omalos. This contra- diction that characterizes the wider region, enhances an internal division to the visitor: why would someone come to Platanias? To have a cosmopolitan holiday or to experience a quiet break from real- ity? The answer is indeed as simple as your mood in the morning, while enjoy- ing a full breakfast, tasting local del- icacies in one of the hundreds “cozy” lodgings of Platania. In other words it’s what Greek people would describe with such accuracy: “whatever you are craving for!” From beaches and excursions to places where man has not dared to “in- tervene”, to beach bars, water sports, loud music and all day parties, from fish taverns to gourmet restaurants and from sunrises to sunsets! 10 28 Reason No2 Reason No2 29 Old Town Beautiful Old Town Beautiful Old Town The town of Chania is a and activity from the first magical destination itself, sunlight until late at night. accumulating all of the The closed market and the beauty of the Mediterrane- flea market, small shops an Sea, as well as the mag- and picturesque houses ic of its cultures. Centuries with unique architecture, of history are traceable in court gardens with bou- in every corner and every gainvilleas and other color- alley of the town center. In ful flowers compose the the narrow streets of the puzzle of the town. hebrew neighborhood, to A walk around the center the Halepa and the Kum feels like a peculiar treasure Kappi, historical buildings, hunting, which leads you al- the ruins of the fortification ways to the same spot: The walls, byzantine churches, old venetian port. Across mosques and neoclassical the pear which ends to the mansions mingle with the lighthouse that stands as a modern part of the town. tireless guardian and pro- The access to the center tector of the city since the of Chania is easy no matter 16th century, there are all which part of the munici- sort of restaurant and bars, pality you choose to stay offering fresh fish or deli- and so a visit to the town cious Cretan specialties, is definitely somethingone the best view of the town must do before leaving and your strongest mem- Crete. The old town of ory from your holiday in Chania is bursting with life Chania. 11 12 Irida Irida 34 Reason No3 Reason No3 35 Samaria Gorge Beautiful Mainland Beautiful Mainland The crossing of Samaria you will feel like closing Gorge is an experience behind you the door to the beyond words, although real world and entering a it is more than obvious magical place, as if paint- that dozens of adjectives ed by El Greco’s brush or would be “flattered” in written by Kazantzakis’ case they were chosen to pen. And if the talent of describe it. the two great Cretan art- And though it seems dif- ists suffices to depict the ficult to convince the visi- beauty of the landscape, tors of Chania to leave the a few lines written in a comfort of the lounge and tourist guide will certainly the coolness of the beach not do justice. So the only to travel on foot a distance way to really know Sama- of 12 km, a few images, ria Gorge, is by walking some captured on paper through it.