- Start
- Chania
- Driving
- About 60–70 km in total
- Best for
- A day without long drives
- Needs
- A car; modest clothing for monasteries
Morning: view and monasteries
Start at the graves of Eleftherios and Sophoklis Venizelos on Profitis Ilias hill, with a view over the whole of Chania. Continue to Agia Triada (Tzagarolon) monastery for its Venetian façade and a taste of the monks' wine.
If you have energy, drive on to Gouverneto and walk down to the ruins of Katholiko; allow about an hour and a half for the round trip.
Midday: choose a beach
For calm water whatever the wind, choose Marathi or Loutraki on the Souda Bay side. For a shallow, round bay under a mountain, choose Stavros, where the final scene of Zorba the Greek was filmed. Seitan Limania is spectacular but small, crowded and reached by a steep path.
Lunch and back
Marathi's harbour tavernas are a good fish lunch; Stavros and Kalathas have tavernas too. You are back in Chania by late afternoon, in time for the harbour at sunset.
Questions before you go
How long do you need for Akrotiri?
One day covers the main monasteries, a beach and lunch.
Can you do Akrotiri without a car?
Buses reach Kalathas, Stavros and Marathi, but the monasteries are much easier by car or taxi.
Which Akrotiri beach is best when it is windy?
Marathi or Loutraki, which face into sheltered Souda Bay.
