South West Crete

[Greecemad]

Yassas ston kathena,

One of my favourite areas to visit is the South-West coast of Crete.
This is well-away from lager-lout territory (Malia and Hersonissos).
There are small villages with great beaches, and excellent tavernas.
There is a ferry service along this part of the coast, as there is no
road and this is the only access to some of the villages (Loutro and
Aghia Roumeli).

Andio,

Greecemad.

[Jan Bergtun]

Hi Greecemad!

Have you been in this area in the end of Mars/beginning of April?

I 'am looking for places in Crete at this time where there are a lot of
flowers and especial Orchids. Do you know about places to whist, where I can
find that what I'm looking for and use my camera and taking pictures of/in
the nature?

Jan

(Only 25 days to my next trip to Greece!)

[Greecemad]

Jan,

Firstly, can I say that I am honoured that you are asking me a
question. I recognise your name from other websites, particularly your
pages about Antiparos, which is another of my favourite destinations.

Unfortunately I have never been to Crete so early in the year - I have
only been in the summer. The earliest I went was the end of April and
as it is a long time ago I can't remember the details of it.

Greecemad

[Henry Hooray]

The earliest we've been there was at the end of April / beginning of May a
few years ago. Our most usual destination is Paleochora, and so it was on
that trip, the particular occasion was that we wanted to experience a Greek
Orthodox Easter with friends there. It was absolutely fantastic, loved it!

The weather had been atrocious up until the day we arrived in Heraklion. We
spent the night there, and the next morning took the bus to Chania, and
there was snow to be seen in the hills from the coastal road, and then we
saw a lot of snow when on the bus from Chania to Paleochora.

However, as I said, the weather had just turned, and we went swimming every
day; it was quite warm enough for swimming, but I wouldn't have been reading
a book on a lilo! It was a funny experience, swimming in the Libyan Sea and
seeing snow-clad mountains as a scenic backdrop.

We did see many strange flowers, but a lot of them were already on the turn.
Some big, some very big, some small, but all beautiful. My wife, who is more
in to these things than I am, would know some names, and we also have a
couple of books about Cretan flowers and fauna.

Paleochora is 'open' all year, but of course it isn't busy with tourists as
yet, so choices are limited, but they certainly do exist.

HTH, Henry.