Crete

A week in Crete from Chania and Heraklion, with the east on longer trips

Crete stretches 260 km and its mountain roads are slow, so a week covers about half the island from two north-coast bases. Spend four nights in Chania for the old town, Balos and Elafonisi and three near Heraklion for Knossos and the museum; ten days or more adds Spinalonga, Lasithi and the south coast.

• One week, west and centre: four nights in Chania for the Venetian harbour and old town, the Balos lagoon (boats from Kissamos continue to Gramvousa) and the pink-tinged sand of Elafonisi. Then three nights near Heraklion for the archaeological museum and the palace of Knossos, 5 km south of the city. Break the drive in Rethymno, whose lanes sit below a massive Venetian fortress.
• Ten days to two weeks: add the east. Agios Nikolaos or Elounda put you close to the boats for Spinalonga and to the Lasithi Plateau, 840 m up and ringed by old stone windmills. Sitia gives access to the palm forest at Vai; Ierapetra, on the south coast, looks out to the cedar-covered island of Chrysi.
• A slower option: a few nights on the rugged south coast, where villages are reached by branch roads or by boat. Matala keeps its red sand and the caves once lived in by hippies.

The Samaria Gorge needs planning, because the trail ends at Agia Roumeli, which has no road. Reserve hire cars and child seats before you land in summer.

Ferries from Piraeus take about 8 and a half hours to Heraklion or to Souda near Chania, mostly overnight. In summer a high-speed boat links Rethymno with Santorini. For real freedom, rent a car.

Crete's long warm season, mountain snow and the raki harvest

Crete stays warm from April to early November, the charter season. Walkers should aim for May, June, September or early October.

Few Greek destinations stay warm for as long. Charter flights land at Heraklion, Chania and Sitia from April to early November.

The island has its own climates. The south coast, including Ierapetra and the Mesara plain, gets more sunshine than anywhere else in Greece, over 3,257 hours a year, and stays noticeably warmer than the north. Western Crete around Chania is greener and wetter than the dry east. Up high it is another season altogether: snow covers the mountains between November and April, while the coast keeps January highs around 16°C.

Samaria opens on 1 May, and gorge hikes in midsummer heat are punishing. July and August crowd famous beaches such as Balos and Elafonisi and lengthen the queues at Knossos.

Autumn is the island's most local season. Grapes come in from August to October. In October or November raki distilleries mark the first spirit of the year with a rakazani: music, grilled meat and plenty of drink. Show interest and you may be invited. The olive harvest follows, running from October into January. Winter is mild on the coast. December and January are the wettest months, and many resorts close.

Dakos, Cretan cheeses and tsikoudia

Eat what was cooked that day in Crete's tavernas and village kafeneia, looking into the kitchen as locals do. Start with dakos, a rusk soaked in olive oil and topped with feta, tomato and olives, try graviera and myzithra cheeses and slow-cooked snails, and accept the tsikoudia, or raki, offered after the meal.

The printed menu exists mainly for tourists. Locals ask what was cooked that day or look into the kitchen and the glass display case, and visitors can do the same. The cheeses are local. Graviera is the everyday hard cheese, made in many styles; myzithra is fresh and made from ewe's milk. Wild-gathered snails, cooked in several ways, are one of the oldest dishes on the island.

Meat was once kept for Sundays and weddings, and the best dishes are still built on vegetables and olive oil. Almost every family owns olive trees, and during the harvest visitors can watch the oil being pressed at village mills. Bread comes with every meal.

The drink is tsikoudia, also called raki: a clear grape spirit with no aniseed. It often arrives unasked at the end of a meal, and accepting a glass is the polite response. Local wines use Cretan grapes such as mantilari and kotsifali.