Advice on day trips

[roger]

My travelling outside Plakias and damnoni has previously been restricted to a few excursions - chania and rethymonon , heraklion and knossos- a coupleof train trips including one over the mountains, and abus journey again over the mountains to Sfakion . This year though I will be with a new partner who can drive and we plan to hire a car ,probably for about three days which seems to be the standard deal .My initial thoughts on possible excursions are
1 defintely the trip west over the mountains towards and poss as far as Sfakion . I dont think you can get any further west than there though? Any places worth going to in that direction ?
2 Hania definitely worth a visit though I fear the natural inclinations of the fmale species to shopaholism will kick in ! But she is the driver and I know she will love Hania for all sorts of reasons , as I do . Not sure though whether there is any where else near there worth visitiing - poss Kournas Lake on the way back and /or Georgopoulos
3. If poss  Paleochora which has always seemed interesting to me as a poss place to stay but not until and unless I can try it out .But that mioght be too far ? And I think you have to go north and back south again which of course would extend the journey time
Any advice would be much appreciated .And any other ideas - esp inland .and in the mountains
 Another thought is evenings out - we will not want to go very far but where are there good restaurants in nearby villages .Myrrthios of course - though we will probably go there at least once on the train .Are there good restaurants in Sellia ? and anywhere else near - Lefkoia . I wondered about Spilli but that might be a bit too far for an evening so instead a pit stop on the way back from somewhere ?
roger

[ostraco]

We always like to get out of town a couple of times to eat in the evenings.
Firmly on our list of favourites now is the little taverna in Sellia. This is run by Mikalis who used to work at Ostraco, and you're certain he'll give you a warm welcome!
The menu is not extensive, but it's all very fresh, and there are usually a couple of 'specials'. For Greek food at its best, it cant be beaten. (And usually one of the cheapest dinners of the holiday).
It's easy to find too - just get to the square in Sellia, and it's the taverna with the small frontage. - He promises 'good view of the rear' on the notice out front - that means that if you go to the outside eating area, you'll get excellent views across Plakias Bay!
Say Hi from me when you get there - and don't miss it!

[John R]

My travelling outside Plakias and damnoni has previously been restricted to a few excursions - chania and rethymonon , heraklion and knossos- a coupleof train trips including one over the mountains, and abus journey again over the mountains to Sfakion . This year though I will be with a new partner who can drive and we plan to hire a car ,probably for about three days which seems to be the standard deal .My initial thoughts on possible excursions are
1 defintely the trip west over the mountains towards and poss as far as Sfakion . [a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=2045\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Our absolutely favourite car day trip is as follows and last year we noted that the roads over the full length had been improved to a very high standard :-

1) Plakias to Argyroupoli - a place worth spending a whole day at on another day

2) Argyroupoli to Asi Gonia -an incredible drive into the depths of a valley with a real old Cretan village (Asi Gonia) at the end

3) The road now goes through Asi gonia and winds zig zagging high up into the mountains (absolutely incredible) but a new and good road - despite vertigoe problems   [attachment=29:attachment]

4) you then carry on through the mountains on a new over improved (FAR too good) road to Imbros Village. Imbros Village is very high indeed and on the approach you look down on to Imbros from considerable height - just wonderful.[attachment=28:attachment]

5) Drive down the spectacular imbros pass (the ROAD pass alongside the Imbros Gorge) down to Sfakia.[attachment=30:attachment]

6) By now it will be late afternoon and the drive from Sfakia to Plakias - spectacular at the worst times is at its best at this time of day. I cannot think of a better day trip in Crete.

John R

[RoseT]

We have driven to Elafonisi from Plakias and back in a day.  It took about 3 hours to get there going north and along the national highway past Chania and Kisamos and then along the coast road (spectacular views).  Did not get to Paleochora but took the road inland through Topolia coming back, lovely scenery and good views of Topolia Gorge.   A long day but well worth it.

[compage]

Roger, if you're going to Hania I'd suggest making a small detour on the way to visit the allied cemetery just before you get to Hania.  See this post for more details.

[Noopsy]

See this post for more details.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=2054\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Never having been to Crete before, and although not planning on making any day trips, I read the post referred to by Compage above, out of interest, from top to bottom.  I was amazed at just how much the island has to offer.  Anyone wanting to venture farther afield, and seeking suggestions of where to go could do worse than consult that inspiring post.    

[roger]

Very many thanks for some really excellent ideas
 I particularly like the sound of John's suggested day trip - I had not realised that you could do such a round trip which is of course much better than retracing your steps .And the resturant in Selia certainly sounds well worth it - esp if we time it to see the sunset .I assume that vegetarian food will not be a problem.Will pass on your regards Ostrako
roger

[John R]

[attachment=31:attachment]

Very many thanks for some really excellent ideas
 I particularly like the sound of John's suggested day trip -.And the resturant in Selia certainly sounds well worth it - [a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=2057\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Well yes - a perfect (spot the cat) ending to that trip.

Guess what - a photo from that restuarant where we had some very good lunches.
John R

[John R]

More info for those interested in day trips via car. Unfortunately I don't seem to have many photos to illustrate this one :-

If one drives to Spilli then there is a left turn just as one enters the town - right at the western edge of town. This is a fairly new road, though now marked on the later tourist maps and goes over the tops to Gerakari in the Amari valley. This is an excellent route into the Amari Valley from the Plakias end of Crete and a day or more exploring this valley alone is well worth while. There are several choices of road to exit from the valley and a good choice is to make for Agia Galini after a day in the valley  - ice creams etc - before heading back to Plakias on say the main road - a fairly speedy trip back. There is a back way from Agia Galini via Melambes - but that is another story !!

However the main point in this writing is that last year we discovered an amazing new road. It is (was) not on any maps and by the state of it (excellent but VERY new) we must have been one of the first to drive on it. Gillian suspected something as she was navigating with the map in the Amari valley when she kept seeing signs to Arkadia and even wondered  if somehow we were in the wrong valley. She knew of a famous footpath over high mountains from the Amari Valley to Arkadia Monastry but "knew" there was no road. We turned back and decided to follow one of these signs.  Things did not look good as the road was exceptionally narrow and through a small village (can't remember which one !! - Thronos ??) which had obviously seen very few cars. We were convinced that we were simply following a track to the beginning of the footpath and I was getting panicky re turning the car.

Then suddenly a ginormous road opened up - really wide, really new and we followed it high over the mountains and suddenly found ourselves looking at the Arkadia Monestry. We could hardly believe our eyes. it took no time at all and opens up a completely new and fascinating route from the South to the North of the island. It was late on the last day of our holiday but this year we shall repeat the journey at a leisurely pace and take some photos etc.

John R

[roger]

John
 This is extremely useful info and opens up two new possible trips so we will either have to get the car for longer than three days or make some difficult choices - many many thanks.
 As for the new road not on the map , that does not surprise me - given the pace of road developement ,it must be difficult for maps to keep up to date .
 And thanks also for giving me a ready made excuse should my navigation skills come under any criticism at all from the driver !
This time next week we will probably still be at heraklion airport , waiting for our bags or for others going on the coach , and facing a journey probably including a circumlocution of rethymnon and in the heat of the day - not the highlight of the holiday .But the following two weeks will make up for that and the first refreshing pint at the Livicon - which is usually on the house as Dionysos is so good to his regulars in particular - will be especially welcome
 roger

[John R]

Lucky you. I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

When in Livicon tel Dennis (as we know him) to prepare himself for the invasion of English Skilos, John, Gillian, Christine Dennis (from UK), Tony and Jane, Chris and Les - all at the end of September / 1st 2 weeks October. He knows the crowd, sitting in his corner shivering in terror   Livicon with him and his super family make our holiday and he is so exceptionally generous and caring, and great fun. It is most likely that we will stay there in 2005 with the demise of FC. That would be a major bonus and well worth the extra expense. Tell him the Engllish Skilos brigade are coming again to torment him. Photos of dennis and Livicon below - happy times - enjoy yourself.

[attachment=33:attachment]

[attachment=34:attachment]


John R

[Noopsy]

What does "Skilos" mean?

[John R]

What does "Skilos" mean?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=2073\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Dog. :'(

Standing joke between our party and Denis of Livicon. He most certainly does not normally greet English tourists as "English Dogs" but he does us - and we love it.  

John R

[roger]

Well thanks John but sadly not so lucky - instead of being inplakias this week , we shall be in scotland instead
 See message on main Plakias section
 roger

[Graham_and_Karen]

Some excellent driving excursions have been posted but what about good walks. Having done the Samaria gorge in 02 and the Imbros gorge in 03 I'm hoping someone can suggest a good walk for this year, preferably somewhere further afield than walking to Selia as we would drive to the start.