Local Area Overview

This holiday villa has an elevated position above the village of Roussospiti which has a useful mini-market and a couple of tavernas within walking distance. A much wider selection of shops, restaurants and facilities can be found nearby at Rethymnon which is only 6km from the villa. The villa has views to the Platanes beach which is around a ten minute drive away as is Rethymnno Beach. Platanes town was formerly a small coastal village which has blossomed into a popular holiday resort in recent years. The town has good shopping, dining and leisure facilities, with a buzzing nightlife in its bars, discos and tavernas. The long sandy beach here is ideal for sunbathing and you can try a range of water sports including windsurfing, water ski-ing and parasailing. The nearest large commercial centre is the port city of Rethymnon, a ten minute drive to the west. The city has a wide range of shopping and restaurant facilities as well as a huge expanse of beach which stretches for 20km and is lined with tavernas and beachside bars. Numerous water sports are on offer here with instruction and equipment hire available. The quaint old town is a mass of narrow alleyways lined with Turkish houses and minarets reflecting the 250 years when it was ruled by the Turks, with a Venetian influence showing in its charming houses with wooden balconies and wall fountains. The picturesque harbour is lined with fish restaurants offering a range of regional specialities and locally caught seafood, with regular boat excursions leaving from this point. In July/August, the city stages a Renaissance Festival and comes alive with folk music and traditional Greek dramas, or you may be able to sample locally produced wine in the public gardens during the annual Wine Festival. Guarding over the city on top of Palaiokastro hill, is the fortress that was originally built to protect Rethymnon from pirates. There are great views from this vantage point, particularly at night, over the lights of the harbour town. The Ida Mountains to the south are home to the ancient Arkadi Monastery which was a centre of Cretan resistance during the Turkish occupation. Mount Ida is the highest mountain in Crete at 2456m and is known locally Timios Stavros. On September 14th, the day of the Holy Cross, there is a celebration on the summit of this ‘holy mountain’ with Cretan people travelling here from all over the island the previous day to walk to the peak alongside a priest. They spend the night on the mountain top and hold a ceremony inside the little church of the Holy Cross. There are many myths associated with this area including a legend that Zeus was brought up in the Idaion Antron, a large cave near the Nida Plateau. Some distance away at Knossos near Heraklion is the famous archaeological site of the Knossos Palace. A palatial ruin dating back several thousand years, this site is rumoured to have been home to King Minos who, as legend would have it, released the fearsome minotaur into the Labyrinth.