Captivating Crete

After a four-hour flight from East Midlands, we picked up our pre-booked hire car and were soon on our way to the quiet resort of Panormos, which is about an hour west from Heraklion airport.

It’s a lovely, seaside village with cobbled streets and has three small sandy beaches to choose from as well as some shops, a bakery, supermarkets and about half a dozen restaurants, serving the traditional Greek favourites including lamb chops, souvlaki and kleftiko. Prices were reasonable, with a main course costing about 10 Euros and a half litre of house wine priced at 4 Euros.

One of our trips out in the car took us to the popular town of Rethymnon, which is a 30-minute drive west of Panormos. It has a long sandy beach, a Venetian harbour and a pleasant old town, filled with narrow streets, boutiques and tavernas.

Bali (not the Indonesian one), is a shorter journey in the other direction. It’s quite spread out, with plenty of tavernas, several beaches (some small) and a port. Something to note if you have walking difficulties is it is fairly hilly.

We also visited Kournas Lake, which is surrounded by hills. You can have fun hiring a pedalo for an hour, which is what we did and then relax on a sun lounger on the beach (included in the cost of the pedalo). If you want to take a dip to cool down, you can do. There are tavernas nearby as well for a drink or a spot of lunch.

It was another lovely holiday, and I have returned relaxed and rejuvenated! If you would like any more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.