Greece Island Review (Crete, Naxos, Santorini)

First of all, there are so many more Greek islands than I realized. Thousands in fact, although there are only about 100 that have big enough populations to host tourism. It was a task to narrow our islands down and choose which to stay on over the course of two weeks. We ended up choosing western Crete (5 days) for its hiking and dynamic landscape, Naxos (5 days) for its relaxed beaches and blue/white architecture, and Santorini because we had to see it and it is the easiest to fly in/out of. (3 days)

A few things. A lot of major European airports fly in and out of both Santorini and Chania, Crete. The cheapest flights are always on the budget airlines like Ryanair or easy jet for about $30. Once on the islands, it is easier to take the ferries to and from. The ferry prices do go up the closer you get to the date, so I recommend purchasing those early. The ferries are incredibly comfortable and efficient.

These island are certainly a “vacation destination” and therefore, set up as so. Greece is a poorer country and It reminded me more of the Caribbean/Mexico than the rest of Europe, which can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on what you want out of a trip. I am not sure if would recommend Greece for a first time European traveler, but would HIGHLY recommend it for anyone else.

The people are phenomenal. Some of the nicest, most hospitable people on the planet. Airbnb hosts, servers, captains, etc, went above and beyond to make sure we had a great time. Tourism is most peoples livelihood on the Islands and it very much matters to them that you want to come back and tell your friends.

Chania, Crete
We started in the western region of Crete, via a $30 Ryanair flight from Budapest. (Used points to get from MSY-BUD). We rented a car right away for $40/a day. Driving was very easy as most signs are in Greek and English. We booked a 4 bedroom, ocean view home with a pool, gym, outdoor cabana on one side and an outdoor BBQ cabana on the other for about $400/night in Stalos - about 3 miles from old town Chania and one block from the beach.

Pool:

View :


There were great restaurants all around us with dinner from about 4-12Euros per person. A cool thing about Greek hospitality is that every restaurant offers its own complimentary “house” dessert - and great portions. It was never a problem (at least in early June) for us to get a table within 20 minutes or so as a 10 top. Most taverns serve traditional Greek food such as grilled meats, Greek salads, and casseroles like Moussaka.

The bus stop was a few houses down and took us straight into old town in about 5-10min. The Venetian harbor is very picturesque with an old fortress wall, colorful buildings, mountains in the background, an old lighthouse in the water, and lots of narrow pathways to wander through. The water was crystal clear even by the main harbor. It was quite touristy, but it really came alive at night.





We took two 2 day trips while we were in Crete. One to hike the Samaria Gorge and another to visit the west Coach beaches of Elafonisi and Falasarna, considered some of the best beaches in the world.

The hike was a beautiful 10 mile hike that finishes at a remote beach only accessible by boat. There is a coordinated boat and bus that brings you back to your car at the end.

The gorge -





To get to Elafonisi, we drove through a beautiful mountain range until it opened back up into bright blue waters. It was a huge, shallow water beach with slightly pink sand. (The pictures online make it seem like it’s pink sand everywhere, but in person it is much more subtle). There are peninsulas that turn it into a pool at certain points. The day we went, it was very windy and there were some huge tropical-storm level gusts that would knock people down. Some locals told us to that anyone visiting the west coast beaches should always check the wind before going. Even with the wind, it was beautiful. My pictures don’t do these beaches justice.





We also hired a boat to visit Balos beach and The Gramvousa fort. I highly recommend using Balos lagoon boat tours since they are the only ones we could find that did a later afternoon trip. Instead of being there with 100s of people, Balos only had a few beachgoers left and we had Gramvousa literally all to ourselves. Both were incredible:

Balos is a natural lagoon beach on the tip of Crete:


And Gramvousa sits on the neighboring island with remains of a Venetian fort that was overtaken by the Turks, amongst others. Wild mountain goats were the only life forms there:




Overall, Crete was amazing even though we really only saw about 1/4 of the island.