Elafonsi

[Stuart & Hilary]

Before heading to Plakias in October we hope to bus from Chania to Elafonsi ( mid September). Just wondering if it is worth spending a couple of nights there & how easy it is to get a room. Any info will be helpful.

Stuart

[harribobs]

ellefonisi is an long way to go by bus, i'm guessing rethyminin, then chania first. there are apartments above  but i've no idea how full they get

it's an difficult journey from plakias, i have only done it from paleochora and that was an hour and a half at least

chris

[kayisi]

As far as I am aware there is only one bus a day from Hania (9am returning 3 something).  We have only visited once and to be honest we were very disappointed with the place.  It is something of a tourist mecca for all of western Crete and therefore gets so overcrowded every day making it a not very pleasurable experience in my view.  There is accommodation up the hill from the beach but I've no experience of it so can't comment I'm afraid.

Unless you definitely know you want to stay there it might be better visiting on a day trip from Hania before deciding as once you are there thats it.  In my view for what its worth a better side trip before going to Plakias would be  Falasarna (3 buses a day from Hania if memory serves me right) with a great beach and good swimming and no shortage of accommodation.

[Stuart & Hilary]

Thanks Chris,

We always treat the travelling as part of the holiday and as we have the luxury of more than two weeks we are never in a hurry. We arrive in Iraklion late in the evening so will catch an early morning bus to Chania & will be there by 10a.m. So a day in & around Chania & next morning to Elafonisi (about a 1.5  hrs). From what I am hearing Elafonisi may not be a place for more than a day so then it's a boat to Palleochra for a few days & then on the ferry (the best bit of the travelling) to Sougia, Loutro and finishing with a week in Plakias.
We used to be able to catch a bus from Chora Sfakia to Plakias but now it's a taxi.
Stuart

[Stuart & Hilary]

Thank you Kayisi,
You have reinforced our feelings about Elafonisni and now you have thrown a pebble in the pond with mention of Falasarna. So back to the drawing board; but maybe we can do both, will need to check out bus routes.

Stuart

[harribobs]

Elafonsi is a long thin island, with a small strip of water separating it from the land and it is busy and crowded around the beach area close to shore, the further you go out the quieter it becomes, there are some wonderful little beaches and places to hid in the dunes






On the headland there are some small churches and memorials to the massacre there during the many years of rebellion against Turkish/Ottoman rule

[harribobs]

Elafonisi from above

[robludlow]

Lovely photos from Harribobs. We had a year off from Plakias last year and went to Kolymbari with Olympic.  We had a well organised coach trip from the apartment to Elafonisi. It's worth a day trip for the experience of all that sand and shallow warm sea to swim in, but involves quite a hike to put a bit of distance between yourselves and all the other day trippers.
Robert

[robludlow]

Just an afterthought to my earlier post - if you did go on a day trip coach or bus excursion, be aware that the queues for the portakabin type loos by the parking area can get very long indeed in the afternoon as people start to gather to get back on board!
Wouldn't want to put you off going - it's quite a unique experience, but IMHO the days when it would be worth staying overnight there are back in the last century sometime.  A bit like Vai in Eastern Crete, which when I went in 1980 was already over - run.
Rob