My girlfriend and I visited Plakias for the first time in July last year. Before the holiday I sought the (very helpful) advice of contributors to this site on what to expect, where to eat/visit etc and never got around to posting my own thoughts back here. So, with no particular organisation, here goes…
It is no exaggeration to say that those two weeks in Plakias last summer were the best two weeks of my life. Partly this was due to who I went on holiday with (this was the first time I had been abroad with a girlfriend) but the wonderful setting of Plakias was very important too. The town was exactly what we were looking for in a location. Not so quiet that there was limited choice of where to go and places to eat, and not to raucous that we were surrounded by clubs in some sort of 18-30s hellhole. Plakias was a perfect balance, small enough to be friendly and offer peace and relaxation whenever it was required but offering a large variety of tavernas, delightful places to eat and visit along with a spectacular landscape.
We stayed at the Costas Chrissoula (sorry about the spelling but you know where I mean) apartments. Being more ‘pool people’ than beach we found the accommodation more than acceptable as we were able to virtually roll out of bed and straight into the water. The rooms (as expected) were basic but very clean and all the staff very friendly (a special mention to the mercurial Dimitris behind the bar). The pool might have been a little small but this is clutching at straws when trying to criticise because there were rarely more than two or three people in it at most times of the day.
The main thing that will stay with me about Plakias is the wonderful food that we enjoyed there each night. We did not have a single bad or overpriced meal for the whole of the two weeks. Of course some places were better than others but all could be graded in the good to excellent bracket. I think it was seven or eight days before we went back to the same restaurant twice and we left at the end of the holiday still with several menus unsampled. Again from memory, the average price we paid for 2 starters, 2 main courses and a bottle/jug of retsina was around the equivalent of £13.
Our favourite establishment was recommended to us by Allan on this very site a few weeks before we went on holiday and were it not for him we certainly would never have ventured to the Secret Nest. Set back from the main front the Secret Nest is smaller and even more obviously family run than the other, more prominent eateries. I think it was our third night when we set off to find this place and it seemed to take ages to locate and involve an awful lot of wandering along unlit dirt tracks. (Upon later inspection in daylight I have no idea why it seemed such an effort to locate that first time as it is only a stones through from the main road and several signs point the way. I can only put it down to disorientation and a significant number of pre diner drinks). Two things particularly stick in my mind when thinking about the Secret Nest. I can still taste the amazingly tasty but simple fried squid splashed with fresh lemon juice that I enjoyed on both visits and the fresh, whole fish that I was called into the kitchen to select myself for grilling. There may be restaurants in Plakias with better views, comfier chairs and a wider selection of drinks but nowhere beats the Secret Nest for the quality and freshness of its seafood and its raw, basic charm.
It was amusing to read on this site about the departure of the First Choice rep before the end of the season. We did attend the (overlong) welcome meeting but were made to feel like criminals for not supporting a subsequent quiz night. We did our best to stay out of here way and thankfully were never in desperate need of her services. However, her bark was very definitely worse than her bite.
Plakias in July was hot. It wasn’t so much during the day when sometimes there was a slightly cooling breeze (none of the virtual hurricanes I had feared) but during the night. We had a ground floor apartment (no air conditioning, heavy curtain across the door blacking the breeze) and the nights were difficult to tolerate due to the discomfort that comes with perspiring while trying to sleep off too much good food and drink. A frozen bottle of water taken out of the freezer at midnight would be lukewarm inside a couple of hours. This is possibly the only thing I don’t miss about Crete although once it did cause me to get up at 5am and walk along the beech as the sun came up over the hills with not a soul around. A good experience that made the hot nights worthwhile.
Only on three days did we stray from the town. Once for a walk along the road to Souda Bay (can anyone tell me more about a war story an elderly acquaintance told me about a submarine that evacuated allied troops from there in WWII?) which was very quiet and picturesque. Souda makes a bit of a change from the Plakias beech and the walk is manageable (just!) in the Cretan summer.
In our second week we went on the organised trip to Santorini. The island is spectacular with hundreds of coulourful buildings perched on top of a sheer cliff face. Words cannot do the place justice but it is so far away and took over 5 hours to get there by boat. The ship was like a mini cruise liner and was a little to crowded for my tastes and it did sometimes feel like we were a large herd of animals being transported somewhere, being told when to eat and where to go. Once on the island we were able to get away by ourselves and the experience of being on and seeing Santorini made the journey there and back worthwhile.
The second organised trip was the Cretan night. I was not hopeful of an enjoyable evening and imagined more herds of people being force fed an American tourists perception of Greece. My fears were initially realised as we boarded a minibus and then joined others on a larger coach for an over long journey to the large establishment where the event was to be held. Again we were herded around and directed to a table of eight. My girlfriend and I joined six Germans who knew each other and spoke no English. However, large (and I mean large) amounts of unlimited red and white wine flowed, the food was good and eventually I was up dancing. Ultimately the experience was a really good one, even if I did disgrace myself (like others) by being ‘ill’ on the coach on the way back.
Looking back it might have been nice to do a bit more exploring and a bit more adventure. Getting a bus to Rethemon (spelling again?) was something we intended to do but never got around to but the sheer heat made us very lazy and the pool very tempting. From other posts around I know that July is not the month to go trekking around Crete on foot.
This post has already turned out to be longer than I imagined. As you can see, I had a great time in Plakias and have so many fond memories of the place and the whole holiday that come out when I start speaking or writing about it. Apologies if I have rambled a little. Plakias and Crete is about so much more than can be covered here and I have many more memories and little experiences that have not cropped up above. If anyone has a question or wants me to elaborate more on any of the above I will be happy to do so.
Phil J
