My Greek Getaway: Crete

I put off writing this post for a while because, I knew it meant I had to accept that my holiday is well and truly over. After a week and a half back in the UK, this is something I’m just not quite ready to do yet…

However, although all this reminiscing may be somewhat torturous, I am still itching to show you all what I got up to during the third and final part of my Greek getaway in the beautiful island of Crete! This destination was the one that struck the perfect balance between relaxation and fun for us because we had a lot of time to relax on the beach, but the area we stayed in also had so much going on. This time, we didn’t make the mistake of not pre-booking a taxi for when we arrived in Crete…although after a lot of confusion it still took us about half an hour to find our driver anyway. Did someone say an idiot abroad? After a palaver at the port and an hour-long taxi journey (with a few wrong turnings) later, we finally made it to our last holiday home!

THE APARTMENT

With this apartment, we opted to favour location over anything else. Because being in the centre of town was important for us after the last destination was somewhat quieter and out of the way. We were welcomed by our host Andreas to a simply gorgeous, open-plan flat in the lively city of Rethymnon.

This place was super spacious, stylish and comfortable to be in. As you can see, the living and kitchen area was massive and open, so it was perfect for a family of seven like us! The flat came with Netflix and a PS3 (not that I touched it), three bathrooms, and balconies in pretty much every room!

My favourite balcony was the one that lead out from the living room, and I loved sunbathing there in the day, then watching the sunset from it at night.

I honestly have no complaints about this apartment. Andreas was amazingly attentive and gave us everything we needed. We arrived to a bottle of prosecco, some cookies, bread and jam for breakfast, and sheets of paper telling us the best restaurants in the area, places to visit and watersports options to choose from- all of which were SO helpful and such a nice touch! During the first two nights, the air con wasn’t working in our bedroom, and Andreas not only sent out repair men to install a new unit straight away, but he also insisted on paying for us to have breakfast one morning to apologise for the inconvenience, which was such a lovely gesture!

All in all, I can’t recommend this place enough, it was in the perfect location just a short walk from the beach and the restaurant area meaning we didn’t even need to get a taxi the entire time we stayed there! If you’re interested in staying here for a big family holiday then I’ll leave the link here.

THE CENTRE / THE OLD TOWN

It took just a five minute walk from our apartment to arrive at the beach front, and running along this was a long strip of bars, restaurants and shops. This area was great because it provided us with everything we needed and I particularly liked how lively it was in the evenings! Every night, this place was packed with people going for food, drinks and shisha, so the area had such a great vibe to it!

If you walk a little deeper into the centre, you eventually come across the old town, which was such a pretty area! This place was filled with little shops and pretty streets galore!

Every corner you turned there was another little shop and a pretty painted building. Once again, I felt like I was back in the ‘instagram’ version of Greece and I couldn’t get enough of it.

The reason these streets are so great is because you get to familiarise yourself with all of the traditional products, not only of Greece, but of the area itself. We saw lots of olive wood, olive oil products, natural sea sponges, raki liquor and more!

FORTEZZA OF RETHYMNO

It turns out Athens isn’t the only place that boasts cool ancient buildings. We took a little trip to the Fort that lay high on top of a hill overlooking Rethymnon to see what it was all about.

This place was so cool because it gave you panoramic views of the coastline and the city below. From up here it felt like we could see everything going on below us and it was so nice to watch the ocean crashing against the rocks on the shore!

I have discovered this holiday, that Greece is actually the land of the cats. Which was the cutest icing on what was already a delicious holiday cake. There were lots of them just hanging around the fort area and I couldn’t help but take a photo…I mean the cat practically asked me to by posing like that.

I really enjoyed walking around this place and thought it was a pretty cool area to visit! It was meant to be 4 euros each to get in, but they do discounted tickets and all seven of us managed to get a family ticket for just €10, so this place is definitely worth a visit if you’re holidaying here!

 THE VENETIAN HARBOUR

The clue is in the title with this one. This little harbour really was a slice of Venice right here in Crete! Lined with restaurants overlooking little boats and a lighthouse, this was such an idyllic setting during the daytime and the evening.

This harbour was the place that we enjoyed our final meal of the holiday, and it was certainly one to remember…

We decided to visit one of the delicious seafood restaurants in the area called Remezzo and wow, just wow. We ended up getting two big platters of meat and seafood to share between all seven of us and well…I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves.

This was such a great meal, not just because of the gorgeous food, but also because the staff were so welcoming and friendly, the atmosphere was super lively, and the views of the port were simply beautiful. I would honestly give this meal a 10/10!

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Whilst we’re on the subject of food, I just wanted to do a little section on some of the meals we had here because they were all so nice. Plus, everyone loves a bit of food porn now and then.

We found that food here was actually really good value for money so we ate some delicious stuff for a comparatively low price. Starting with breakfast, we ate out at two different places for it and both times were great.

These eggs Benedict at a place on the strip called Fraoules were to die for, but I must admit the stars of the show were these white chocolate pancakes from a little place called Vivliothiki…needless to say I took them home with me when I couldn’t finish them.

The other meal I wanted to mention was at a lovely place called Alana that was recommended to us by our host. This place was in a gorgeous setting with gorgeous food to match, and the staff were so lovely to us.

We enjoyed delicious food that this one photo doesn’t really do justice, but apparently I was too hungry to bother taking pictures before I tucked in. I recommend this restaurant so highly to anyone holidaying in Rethymnon because it was such a nice experience and the food was good value for money too!

THE BEACH

As we all know, a big part of any holiday is the beach, and this beach was certainly a big part of Rethymnon. Stretching for miles along the town, the shores offered beautiful views, big waves, and some of the warmest water I’ve ever swam in. Although it was lined with sunbeds that you had to pay for, we just brought our own parasols and lay in the sand (#cheapskates) which was just as nice! We spent a lot of our afternoons here because it was such a nice place to just relax. Otherwise, if we weren’t on the beach itself, then we were riding along it on the Lime electric scooters to see the pretty coastal views!

QUADBIKING

Whilst we were away in Crete, it was my brother’s 19th birthday, and how do you celebrate a birthday in style when on holiday? Go quad biking of course.

This was the first time I had ever done something like this and I was actually really nervous to drive the quad bike. But as soon as I got on it I loved it! We opted for a tour with a guide and I am so glad that we did because it meant we got to see places that we never would have if we had tried to do it ourselves. The route was 50% on road, and 50% off…so a healthy mix of smooth riding and holding on for dear life. During the route we stopped off at various gorgeous locations including a beautiful blue lake nestled in mountainous scenery.

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This was probably one of the best things we did all holiday in my opinion! I’m not really an adrenaline junkie but this was just so fun! It worked out at about €50 each but I honestly think it was worth that because we got four hours of biking through the coolest and prettiest parts of Rethymnon- places that we never would have come across otherwise! I 100% recommend this to anyone holidaying in Crete, or just anywhere in Greece that offers it in general, you WON’T be disappointed. (You might leave with a bruised bum though).

BAJA BEACH CLUB

So we only actually discovered this place on our final day in Crete, but I’m so glad we managed to go! After being in salt water all week, we had been dying to jump into a swimming pool, so we decided to check this out. It was situated on a private beach, but it also had a bar, music, a swimming pool and sunbeds galore. Basically, think Ibiza vibes, but less intimidating and a whole lot less expensive. Like, you can actually buy a drink without needing to sell an organ on the black market…

I was absolutely obsessed with this place! I loved being able to go between the beach, the pool and the bar, and I’ll be honest, I felt pretty boujie drinking prosecco on my sun lounger…

The atmosphere here was great, with loads of people and good music. There was even a live saxophone player standing on the tables, I mean, how extra can you get?

I definitely recommend this place to anyone staying in Rethymnon! If you want to feel a little bit prestige for the day, then this is certainly the place for you.

Wow, that was a long post. I didn’t actually realise just how much I did in Crete until I had to write it all down and my fingers started aching as a result. This part of the holiday was truly jam-packed, but in a good way. You know what they say, always leave the best till last. I suppose now, looking out my window to a decidedly grey sky, it’s time to really let go and admit that my summer holiday has come to an end. So it is with reluctance that I end this post and indeed the ‘My Greek Getaway’ series. I hope you enjoyed reading about what I got up to, and if you haven’t caught up on part one or part two of the series yet then, what have you been doing?

Hopefully this post gave some travel inspo to anyone out there planning on visiting Greece, but for now I bid you farewell as I plan to spend the evening scrolling back through my photos and crying into my dressing gown sleeve. Is this what heartbreak feels like?

What’s your favourite destination in the world? I’d love to know in the comments below! 

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