Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Zeus
Psykhró
T
28440 31284 (or enquire at Taverna
Halavro close to the cave car park).
This small,
seven-room hotel offers simple rooms just outside
the
main village, with views across the plateau. April-Oct.
€35
Kritsá
KRITSÁ
is a pretty mountain village about 10km inland from Áyios Nikólaos and
despite some commercialization is a welcome break from resort life. On the way you'll
ind the
Church of Panayía Kyrá
and the ancient site of
Lato
, both worth a visit.
Kritsá is known for its local
crafts
, particularly weaving, ceramics, embroidery and
olive wood carvings, which are sold along the main-street shops by the village women.
Once you get past the touristy shops and explore the maze of streets winding up the
hillside, and their wonderful valley views, you get a real sense of a genuinely Cretan
village. The small platía at the centre of the village is the focus of life.
Church of Panayía Kyrá
Daily 8.30am-3pm • €3
On the approach road, about 1km before Kritsá, is the lovely Byzantine
church of
Panayía
Kyrá
, inside which survives perhaps the most complete set of Byzantine frescoes in Crete.
The fourteenth- and fifteenth-century works have been much retouched, but they're still
worth the visit. Excellent (and expensive) reproductions are sold from a shop alongside.
7
Lato
Tues-Sun 8.30am-3pm • €2
Just before Kritsá a surfaced road leads of for about 4km to the archeological site of
Lato
,
where the substantial remains of a Doric city are coupled with a grand hilltop setting. The
city itself is extensive, but largely neglected, presumably because visitors and archeologists
on Crete are more concerned with the Minoan era. If you're interested in knowing more
about the site and its history an informative booklet is on sale at the ticket office. Ruins
aside, you could come here just for the views: west over Áyios Nikólaos and beyond to the
bay and Olous (which was Lato's port), and inland to the Lasíthi mountains.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
KRITSÁ
By Bus
Áyios Nikólaos to Kritsá (8 daily; 7am-8.15pm; 15min).
ACCOMMODATION
Argyro
On the way into the village
T
28410 51174,
W
argyrorentrooms.gr.
Clean, pleasant and economical
en-suite rooms, some with TV and wi-fi - around a
courtyard, with op
en v
iews across the olive tree-lined
valley. A/c €5 extra.
€35
Ì
The Olive Press
Close to the main church
T
28410
51296,
W
www.olivepress.centerall.com.
A most
attractive place to stay, this is a Belgian-run venture with
pleasant rooms and apartments in a beautif
ully
restored,
stone-built olive-oil mill. Breakfast included.
€50
EATING AND DRINKING
There are a number of decent places to eat in the small platía at the centre of the village, with more alternatives further up,
as well as a couple of bakeries for tempting
tyrópita
(cheese pies) or currant breads.
East to Sitía
From Áyios Nikólaos the main road heads south and then east, a drive through barren
hills sprinkled with villas and skirting above the occasional sandy cove. A newly
completed stretch of the E75 continues past the site of
Gourniá
, slumped in the saddle
between two low peaks, and from here on the road to
Sitía
is one of the most
exhilarating in Crete. Carved into cliffs and mountain-sides, the road teeters above the
coast before plunging inland at Kavoúsi. Of the beaches you see below, only the one at
Mókhlos
is at all accessible, some 5km below the main road.
