Crete, the enchanting south coast – Part 1
The south of Crete is our favorite region, as it is even more untouched and pristine than the north of the island, far away from the main tourist spots on the island. Quiet stretches of coastline, small fishing villages, steep mountains and beautiful bays – all this can be found in the “wild south”.
Chora Sfakion
Our journey begins in the southwest of Crete in the small, idyllic village of Chora Sfakion, or just Sfakia. There are several family-run restaurants, hotels and vacation apartments in the village. However, many day tourists only use the village as a transit station between the ferries to Crete’s most popular hiking areas or the well liked day trip destination of Loutro.
You can drive to the village entrance by car and park, after which the village is largely car-free. A row of charming tavernas winds along the harbor and from there you have a wonderful view of the sea.
Our accommodation was the hotel’s “No Problem Apartment”.
Samaria By The Sea, Crete
and have not regretted this decision for a second. The apartment is bright, friendly and furnished in a rather minimalist style. You can prepare your own meals in the kitchenette or make tea and coffee in the morning. There is a small shop just a minute down the street, so you can quickly get everything you need. The absolute highlight, however, is the free-standing bathtub in the middle of the living room, from which you can enjoy the view of the harbor, the sky and the beautiful flowers on the balcony. The bed is huge and super comfortable and we simply felt completely at ease, both in our apartment* and the village.
The hotel has a restaurant where you can choose a delish breakfast from the menu. The restaurant is open all day and in the evenings you can enjoy a wide variety of typical local cuisine. Our absolute favorite was “Gigandes”, giant white beans in tomato sauce. They were definitely the best we have tried in Crete so far.
Chora Sfakion is the ideal starting point for excursion to some beautiful destinations nearby. Because as romantic and beautiful as Sfakia is, there really isn’t much you can do there. Although there is a larger car ferry that departs from the neighboring port, we opted for the small passenger ferry that departs several times a day to Sweet Water and Loutro during the season.
For our first day trip we chose to go to Loutro, a picturesque former fishing village that can only be reached by boat or on foot. Loutro is therefore car-free.
Loutro, the white village
In Louto you can enjoy the amazing scenary and have a quiet day. There are two beautiful beaches where you can swim in shallow, crystal-clear water. However, the beach is pebbly, so you can’t build sandcastles. However, you should spend time in one of the many taverns instead. Perhaps sipping a cool white wine,have tzaziki and freshly caught fish while enjoying the magical view? Yes please!
We loved Loutro and would love to spend a lazy day there again anytime in the future. But since there are so many other beautiful destinations in the area, we set off the next day for another highlight of our trip to Crete.
We took the same to Louto, but this time we didn’t go all the way to the final destination, instead we got off the boat halfway at the other stop of the journey.
Sweetwater or Glyka Nera Beach, Crete
This bay is also not accessible by car and is therefore neither overcrowded nor polluted. The bay is surrounded by steep mountains and apart from wild goats, gravel stones, a few trees and some beach loungers, there is not much to discover. But even here, the place captivates with its rustic beauty and heavenly tranquillity.
If you are hungry or thirsty, you can refresh yourself in the small tavern, which is buillt on a pontoon in the sea. The food is simple, typical for Crete, very tasty and authentic. And the view is certainly second to none. We are still raving about this magical place today and will definitely come back.
As we only spent half the day at Sweetwater, we were able to explore the area around Chora Sfakion on foot in the afternoon. If you follow the coastal road to the west, you will reach a small bay after just under half an hour’s walk
Illingas beach, Crete
with the small beach hotel Ilingas Mare and its beach bar. On the way there, you can marvel at the breathtaking views of the coastal landscape and the endless blue of the Mediterranean sea. A few wild mountain goats accompanied us part of the way, but otherwise we hardly met anyone. After a steep walk downhill to Ilingas Beach, we were able to take a break and refresh ourselves in the sea. The beach bar was already closed for the season in October, but the hotel restaurant was open. At the edge of the beach, you can stroll through small caves to escape the midday heat. Even though there wasn’t much else to do in Illingas, the small bay was definitely worth exploring and a walk in the fresh air is always good anyway. So thumbs up for the bay of Illingas!
After almost three wonderful days in the ‘Wild Sfakia’, we made our way to our next accommodation in Agia Galini, one of the most beautiful places on Crete, if you ask us. But as we all know, the journey is the reward, so we naturally planned a stopover.
Plakias, Crete
The small coastal town of Plakias is located between steep mountain slopes and the Libyan Sea, about an hour’s drive east of Chora Sfakion. Known for its one kilometer long sandy beach, Plakias is a popular tourist destination on the south coast. As we only spent a short time in Plakias, our recommendations are limited.
But anyone who appreciates good wellness massages should now keep on reading carefully. Because I had one of the best massages of my life in this little village in the middle of nowhere in Crete. And that means something, because I’ve had countless good massages all over the world – but I remember this one as being really above average.
The small massage studio Massage from Agapi is located in the town center, where you can also easily view the prices for the services offered in advance on the homepage and make appointments online. It is not without good reason that Agapi Studio (currently) has a 5-star rating on Google. I enjoyed the one-hour olive oil massage followed by a foot massage and cannot praise enough how fantastic this experience was.
Before the journey continued, we had lunch in a taverna by the sea, away from the main beach promenade. Both the food and the view were excellent, so here is our second tip for Plakias: Taverna Gio-Ma. Enjoy your meal!
As there are so many other great places on Crete’s south coast that I would like to tell you about, it would go beyond the scope in this post. For more great tips on Agia Galini and the surrounding area, Matala, Kalamaki and Preveli, pleaseclick here.
