Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
great-value
rooms
and some excellent waterfront
tavernas
. Though there are a couple of
pebbly coves, what is missing in Hóra Sfakíon is a decent beach. You could walk (or for
much of the year take an excursion boat) west to Sweetwater, or there are numerous
opportunities for a dip along the coast road east towards Frangokástello and beyond.
Loutró
For tranquillity, it's hard to beat
LOUTRÓ
, one-third of the way from Hóra Sfakíon to
Ayía Rouméli and accessible only by boat or on foot. Like Hóra Sfakíon, the small
pebbly bay in front of the village soon gets crowded. If you're prepared to walk,
however, there are plenty of lovely
beaches
along the coast in each direction; these can
also be reached by hired
canoe
, and some (particularly Sweetwater to the east and
Mármara to the west) by regular excursion boats. For walkers, the
coastal trail
through
Loutró covers the entire distance between Ayía Rouméli and Hóra Sfakíon (part of the
E4 Pan-European footpath), and there's also a daunting zigzag path up the cliff behind
to the mountain village of
Anópoli
.
Loutró itself has a number of excellent
tavernas
and a fair few
rooms
, though not
always enough of the latter in peak season. The season in Loutró runs from April to
October, but in the winter months everything is closed.
7
Ayía Rouméli
AYÍA ROUMÉLI
, a small coastal settlement lying at the end of Samariá Gorge, is visited
daily by hundreds of weary walkers for whom the sea is a welcome shimmering mirage
after their long hike. After an iced drink, a plunge in the sea to cool the aching limbs,
and lunch at one of the cluster of tavernas, there's nothing much else to stay for,
although you'll have no choice if you've missed the last boat, in which case you'll need
to seek out one of the many
rooms
for rent along the beach.
Frangokástello
FRANGOKÁSTELLO
is named after a crumbling Venetian attempt to bring law and order
to a district that went on to defy both Turks and Germans. The four-square, crenellated
thirteenth-century
castle
, isolated a few kilometres below a chiselled wall of mountains,
looks as though it's been spirited out of the High Atlas or Tibet. The place is said to be
haunted by ghosts of Greek rebels massacred here in 1829: every May, these
dhrossoulítes
(“dewy ones”) march at dawn across the coastal plain and disappear into the sea near the
fort. The rest of the time Frangokástello is peaceful enough, with a lovely beach and a
number of tavernas and rooms scattered for some distance along the coast.
Paleóhora
The easiest route to the southwest leaves the north coast at Tavronítis, 22km west of
Haniá, heading for
PALEÓHORA
, and although this road also has to wind through the
western outriders of the White Mountains, it lacks the excitement of the alternatives to
either side.
The little town is built across the base of a peninsula, its harbour and a beach known as
Pebble Beach on the eastern side, the wide sands (Sandy Beach) on the west. Above, on the
outcrop, ruined Venetian ramparts stand sentinel. Though a resort of some size, Paleóhora
remains thoroughly enjoyable, with a narrow main street that closes to traffic in the
evenings so diners can spill out of the restaurants, and with a pleasantly chaotic social life.
Soúyia
A small village slowly on its way to becoming a resort,
SOÚYIA
is not, in all honesty, a
particularly attractive place on first sight but it does grow on you; its best feature is the
enormous swathe of bay with a long, grey pebble beach and sparkling clean water. At
the far end of this bay most summers there's something of a nudist and camping
community - known locally as the Bay of Pigs. Otherwise, sights are few - the local
