Located in the East central part of Crete are the town of Heraklion and the famous palaces of Phaestus and Knossos. In the same area, but further South- East is the Messara Valley, the more extensive and fertile on the island, where Greek Mythology says that Zeus took the beautiful princess Europe. The department of Heraklion is the largest of Crete and includes most of the places of interest, besides Knossos and Phaestus, Agia Triada, Gortina and Malia. The town of Heraklion, surrounded by the famous Venetian walls has one of the most important archaeological museums of the world. There is also a modern artificial port and an international airport. West of Heraklion is the Bay of Agia Pelagia, a modern seaside resort with wonderful sandy beaches and crystal clear sea, whereas East of Heraklion we find the beautiful Bay of Mirabello and Ag. Nikolaos, the most important tourist resort on the island with its picturesque lake and houses built all around it and on the other side the harbour and the sea. Also in the eastern part of Crete we find Elounda, important seaside town, from here it is possible to take a ferry to visit the small island of Spinalonga; Paleokastro, a big village with a sandy beach and further South the remains of an ancient minoic town; Vai, the famous palm forest and wonderful sandy beach; Sitia the beautiful town with its harbour and long beach; the Lassithi verdant plateau offers some quite unique scenery with its 10.000 windmills.
How to get there
Despite being the farthest island of Greece, Crete has the best connections, both by air and by sea. By airplane : there are flights from most European cities as well as from Athens, Saronic, Mikonos and Rhodes in Greece. By sea from Pireus with many daily connections; in the evening at 18.00 or 19.00 hours.
