Messages

1

Plakias / Re: Seafront work

« on: April 14, 2023, 06:22:25 PM »

He also added that the goal is for Plakias to be pedestrianized in the next tourist season, as then, as he said, the ring road will be completed while the municipality will have at its disposal two municipal parking spaces and a private one.


Is there a map/route plan for the Plakias by pass ?
Would be most interesting to see  how and how much of the town is planned to be pedestrianized .

2

Plakias / Re: Plakias 2022

« on: September 28, 2022, 07:34:26 PM »

We have now been back home for a week after our 2 week stay in Plakias with George at Creta Mare.

Weather during the day was excellent and swimming in the warm sea was as good as we have known it .
But not a lot of change of temperature from day time to nighttime which made sleeping difficult.

The town was fairly busy, especially on several evenings when there were a lot of people in town, wandering around and using the bars and tavernas.
Didn?t understand this as it only happened a couple of times and on random days ?
But usually Tavernas were pretty full and booking sometimes needed.
We used our usual places, Sirroco, Lysseus, Siffi ,  Gio Ma and the one up the side street, next to Cosy Corner who?s name escapes me.

I think that now, Sirroco is probably the best food and Sifi the best atmosphere.
Such a shame that Lysseus will be under new ownership next year.

The mix of nationalities was, as is usual, very good , with non especially predominant.
But very few British voices to be heard, especially in the evenings .

Plakias seems now to be very popular with people coming into town during the day for the beach and in early evening for the Tavernas.

But that is the last time that we will visit Plakias.

The reasons for that decision are many and varied :
Old age is creeping up with us and driving on Greek roads is becoming something which we can do without .
Plakias is no longer the village/ small town which we first discovered some 20 years ago and came to love .
At first it changed slowly and still kept it character and charm.

But in recent years that change has accelerated and the changes made have altered the look and feel of the place
From that which we first came to know and love.

So goodbye Plakias, old friend , time for us to move on to pastures new .

But thanks for the memories !!!

3

Plakias / Re: Plakias 2022

« on: September 13, 2022, 07:56:45 AM »

Now half way thru our Plakias stay.

Weather is hot and at times fairly windy ( even for Plakias )
Very warm in the evening and during the night, making sleeping difficult.

The town is very busy and tavernas usually full by 8 pm .
Beaches also fairly full, particular towards weekend.

Nothing much has changed since our June visit and there does not seem to be much building WIP .

Enjoying our stay with George at Creta Mare and eating with Sifi ,Geo Ma, Sirocco and Lysseus .

Will give a fuller report when we get back home next week .

4

Plakias / Re: Plakias 2022

« on: September 05, 2022, 04:17:50 PM »

Packing for out last 2 weeks in Plakias .
Mixed emotions .
Leeds Bradford 6 am tomorrow morning with Jet 2 .
Staying with George and. Joanna at Creta Mare as usual.

Will report back after we have settled in .

5

Plakias / Re: Plakias 2022

« on: June 24, 2022, 03:47:10 PM »

The souvlaki place at the bottom of the street is now an office for a dive centre.
Progress ?

6

Plakias / Re: Plakias 2022

« on: June 23, 2022, 09:19:10 PM »

Ok back from out two weeks in Plakias with George at Creta Mere .

First things first :

Airport at Leeds Bradford was not as bad as we had feared.
50 minutes through security was ?acceptable ?
But we did arrive 3 hours early as advised to cover all possible eventualities!!
Flight  with Jet 2 good and on time.
Picked (ver expensive !!) car up at airport and slowly drove down to Plakias in about 2 hours .
We are the car that you all pass when travelling about.
And petroleum in Crete is eye watering expensive.
Checked in with George and Jo Anna at Creta Mare and pleased to se that little has changed in the hotel.

Great holiday and enjoyed every aspect of the trip.

As to the town and general thoughts :

The first thing that we noticed was the low number of British visitors.
Very rarely heard an English voice either in town, on the beach or in a taverna.
Maybe as low as 5/ 10 pc British in our time there ?
Mostly German, Dutch, French and a few Easter European ( sorry but I can not identify some of the more obscure accents so will have to generalise )
We still wonder why the number of British was so low ?

Eating out was good as is the norm in Plakias.
We used Gio Ma , Siri, Lysseus, Sirroco the one up the side street, Elia.
All were good but Lysseus excellent.

Weather temperature wise was good for us.
A little cooler first week (mid to high 20 s )
Much hotter second week but :
The strong winds for 3 or 4 days were a nuisance.

On the whole the resort was much quieter than in previous years.
No problems getting sunbeds anywhere on the beach.
We also noticed that the far end was exceptionally quiet and much reduced in numbers.
Have people now started to move over to Souda ?

Restaurant were also quiet at times .
Table available some evenings at places at which a booking was essential.
Another indication of how quiet Plakias was for our two weeks.

As to the town itself:
There is building work going on in various places but it is either small new building or general update and refurbishment.
Not a lot is being built to change the look and feel of the place.
We didn?t see any obvious changes in Taverna ownership or style and things were much as they were last year.

As I said at the beginning, a really good holiday and we both much enjoyed our stay.

We return in early September for another two weeks with George at Creta Mare .

BUT :
This is planned to be our Swan Song with Plakias and we do not plan to return to the resort after this time.

I will go into more details of why, where, when and why we have reached this decision when we get back home in late September :
But suffice it to say that we feel that we have had and we have
seen the best of Plakias over the last 20 years.
And it is not now the Plakias which we initially fell in love with.
Time for us to move on.

7

Plakias / Plakias 2022

« on: June 09, 2022, 05:51:36 PM »

We flew out on Tuesday morning 6 am flight with Jet 2 from Leeds Bradford .

Followed their advice and arrived at 3 am three hours early.
Better than expected ( feared ? ) experience at the airport. Thru in 55 mins and maybe they are beginning to get their act together at last.

Flight good and on time and arrived 12 noon at Iraklion to pick up our Yaris hire car.
Car hire is very expensive these days.
?460 for 14 days ?

Checked in with George at Creta Mare and now settled in to our 14 day stay with him.

Ate at Gio Ma and Siifis first 2 nights and tonight going to Lyseus .
Always our favourite place to eat and in our opinion the best food in town .

First impressions:

For a start, nothing has changed which would seem out of place in the current Plakias.
No huge new hotels or supermarket etc.
But plenty of upgrades to existing and small new buildings which fit in well with what is already here.
The whole town looks good and is starting to seem prosperous again.

As to visitors, then it is not too busy and I would say probably at about 70 % occupied ?
No problem with getting a table in the evening ( we had to book at Gio Ma ) and plenty of sun bed?s available in all areas.
We do not use the ?far end ?but that part of the beach seems fairly quite for this time of year.

Early days and only first impressions but will give a fuller update when we get back home after the holiday.

Final thought :
Absolutely delightful to be back in the old place.

Yamas .

8

Plakias / This could be interesting !!!

« on: May 09, 2022, 06:15:17 PM »

New hotel building on the Gonates cliff/Plakias
9 May 2022, 08:17
Save
Kalimera, a private hotel investor, tries to build a hotel complex there. The mayor of Plakias has announced that the municipality is in appeal and will act against the building permit within 60 days. The construction work continues every day.

https://www.crete.pl/de/news_2048_Plakias_-_zagrozony_klif_Gonates_na_plazy_Paligremnos.html

https://www.goodnet.gr/news-item/mpoulntozes-ston-paligkremno.html?fbclid=IwAR3bdpAHN44hoJdNgLz6wVOsQVfqtpsDFtJnPcv15gmFEZKeUkM9F3GMWIA

9

Plakias / Plakias weather today

« on: January 12, 2022, 06:24:36 PM »

Plakias weather.

Anyone currently in Plakias in January ?

One weather report is saying 71.4 mm of rain in the last 24 hours.

That's almost 3 inches in old money !!

Any flooding or dammage caused by this ?

10

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: November 07, 2021, 02:39:45 PM »

Well that is 2021 Plakias done.
June was a disaster and unable to go .
But September was different.
In spite of our initial trepidation , will we decided to take the plunge and go back to see George at Creta Mare .
Plenty of paperwork and checks and hoops to jump thru but after all of that, a tremendous 2 week return visit.
And we are ready, really, really pleased that we did this .
Would not have missed it for the world.

Now on to 2022 .

My thoughts and plans for this upcoming .

11

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: October 12, 2021, 04:41:45 PM »

Another 6.4 magnitude earthquake reported today  on Crete.
Centre looks like at the far eastern tip of the island ?
No reports of much damage caused.

12

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: September 27, 2021, 12:58:03 PM »

The starting point of the new road to Rodekio is not all that easy to find, and it is not yet signposted.
However, from Plakias, drive right to the end of Souda and turn right at the last taverna.
Continue up this road for about 400/ 500 yards and look for a road or more like track to the left.
The road then goes downhill and thru a series of tight bends before if begins the climb up to the top level.
An interesting drive then over to Rodekio.

Couple of things:
Not a good road for the faint hearted and not one to be used in the dark !
And at the Radikio end, take careful note of where the road comes out.
Again, not signposted and easy to miss on the way back.
Remember that it starts with a steep concrete climb.

And please give the new pop up Cantena Foinikias on the road side avisit if open.
The views from there are stunning and always a warm welcome.

13

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: September 22, 2021, 12:30:39 PM »

End of term report :
First of all, we have had a lovely 2 week holiday in Plakias with George at Creta Mare.
We have had to wait 2 years for it ,so the return was all the more welcome.
We are delighted that we took the time and effort ( and leap of faith ) and returned to Crete .

Positives:
Jet 2 flights from Leeds Bradford with Jet 2 were excellent. Plane barely half full going out but 90 pc full coming back.
Car hire good and as usual accommodation at Creta Mare was first class.
Weather was very good for mid September.
Just one afternoon of rain but otherwise good.
But towards the end of the holiday there were 4 very hot days ( and nights !!) with temperatures up into the mid 30 deg.
Unusual for so late in the season ?
The general discipline of mask uses and social distancing was well observed and particularly so by the European visitors.
Made us feel more at ease outside and inside Tavernas in Plakias than it does sometimes in England.
The welcome that we received from Taverna owners was warm and genuine.
They are really pleased to see old faces back in town after so long away.

Changes :
And I record these without comment :
The road outside Creta Mare and On the Rocks has been doubled in width to allow proper off road parking.
A huge concrete retaining wall has been built at the back of the beach to support this.
I am told that this work is planned to continue next year all the way to the new harbour and even on towards Souda but who knows ?
A brand new huge Supermarket has been built on the spare land opposite the existing supermarket.
It fronts onto the sea front and attracts trade from those on the beach or those traveling along the beach road.
Building work on the sea front continues at pace.
Some good.
Some not so good.
From Antonios Place to the far end is now built up.
How long before the rest also goes this way ?
I remember this when it was all fields !!
When coaches came in for the day, the first Taverna offered free sun beds with a meal.
This has moved on.
Now, the Hotel has put tables into the wooded area and serves snacks and meals from there.
There are also tables on the sea front outside some other cafes and hotels also serving food and drinks.
The number of cars and visitors coming into town for the day has increased a lot.
Parking towards the far end is now at a premium .
The whole resort was very busy for the time of year.
Accommodation mostly full.
Tavernas full and booking essential at our favourite ones and at a reasonable time.
The owners say that the second half of 2021 is at least 10 pc busier then 2019.
Needless to say, they are delighted by this.
The mix of nationalities is very different this year.
Probably 80 pc European with the vast majority from Germany.
But also French, Dutch and Italian visitors there.
Very few Britain voices heard .

Eating out :
We used our usual Tavernas of Sirocco, Lysseus, Geo Ma and of course Sifies.
All we excellent but to our mind, Lysseus offers the best quality of food and the best choice of food.
And a special mention to a new addition :
On the newly made up road from Souda to Rodekio, a new small pop up Cantina Foinikias has opened.
Well worth a visit if passing that way.

Airports:
Going out with Jet 2 from Leeds Bradford was very good and well organised.
We had all the correct paperwork in place so no problems passing through here or in Iraklion.
But coming home was not as good.
All our required details were stored on our iPhones.
But there is no internet connection at the Jet 2 check in at Iraklion. Why is this so Jet 2 ?
Luckily help was available to sort things out but it took an awful lot of time and effort.
Our advice would be to take a photo shot of any forms or paperwork or store then on the iPhone where they can be easily accessed.
But best of all, take a paper copy !!
Arrival at Leeds Bradford was just the opposite.
Just have to show your passport
Every thing then comes up on their screen and no need to show any other documents.

We are now back home.
We have booked flights next year for early June and early September.
So we wait and see what next year will bring us.

14

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: September 14, 2021, 06:13:04 PM »

Yes it is closed at the moment
Don?t know for how long ?

15

Plakias / Re: Ok, 2021, lets go !!

« on: September 11, 2021, 05:38:31 PM »

Funny that you say that .
We are heading to eat at Siroco in about half an hour
It has been closed for the first few days that we have been here but re opened last night.
Looking forward to it !!!