4x The Most Beautiful Daytrips on Crete
Greece is known for it’s countless beautiful islands. We visited the largest one of them, Crete, in the autumn of 2022. We all know Greece’s for its delicious food and relaxing beach holidays. However, Crete has so much more to offer! In this article, we will tell you more about 4 beautiful daytrips on Crete. Do not forget to take a look at our Google Maps travel guide Crete.
Day 1: Daytrip to Imbros Gorge Crete
Crete’s landscape consists almost completely of mountains, the highest peaks are even above 2000m altitude. You can find gorges between those mountains at numerous places in the inland. The most famous one is the Samaria trailhead, however, this hike is quite demanding and takes a full day including a return with ferry and bus. Due to short period of daylight (end october), we made a hike through the Imbros Gorge (1) instead, being much easier and better accessible. Find out more about this trail in our article about the Imbros Gorge on Crete.
After the hike and a typical Greek coffee, you can drive further in southward direction, over the pass. Tourists clearly do not visit this part of the island, it is really quiet when we make a short stop at a beach: Paralia Orthi Ammos (2). On our way back, we take the beautiful route over the Passo Kallikrati (3). Just like other roads in Crete, this pass is quite steep and narrow, without having any crash barriers, so don’t be afraid of heights. For better comfort, we would also recommend to drive this pass upwards (south to north).
Day 2: Psiloritis, Highest Point of Crete
Climbing a mountain peak usually is for mountaineers, especially reaching ‘the highest’ point. Not at Crete, where you can easily hike to the top of the highest mountain, Psiloritis (4), in just a few hours and without needing any climbing gear! Of course, a moderate level of fitness would be required and being afraid of heights is not going to help you on this hike. But other than that, this hike can be done by almost anyone. Find out more in our arctivle about climbing Crete’s highest peak.
Day 3: Beautiful Beaches Falassarna and Elafonissi
Crete has lots of beautiful beaches. Although we did not visit the entire island, there are three beaches we would recommend in particular: Falassarna (5), Elafonissi (6) and Balos Beach, all of them having sandy beaches and crystal clear water. We visited only the first two, due to lack of time, but also heard about beautiful boat tours to Balos from the locals. If you want to find out more, you can read our article about 3 must-visit beaches on Crete!
Day 4: Daytrip to Preveli and Matala
One of our daytrips at Crete includes a real palm tree forest at the southern side of the island: Preveli beach (8). Crossing the island, you will find this small beach after a one hour drive from Rethymno. It requires a small hike to the beach, but from here you can access the palm tree forest easily. Don’t forget to make a stop at the beautiful Kourtaliotiki gorge (7) on your way. Here you can look into a deep gorge with a waterfall.
After visiting the palm trees, we completed our daytrip by driving to the south, towards the small village of Matala. This village is located next to a beach and a large rock with caves, formerly inhabited. Unfortunately, this place is very touristic (paid parking, entrance fee to visit the caves and crowded beach). However, the village itself is nice for a visit and dinner with its colorful streets.
Our Accommodation on Crete
Crete may be the largest island of Greece, the most beautiful of our daytrips on Crete are still doable from one accommodation. We stayed in Rethymno, which is quite central for exploring the center and western side of the island. This is where we stayed:
Litsa’s Lefkoniko Beach Hotel: We had a room with private bathroom and breakfast in the morning. There is also a small swimming pool at the hotel. We parked for free on the streets. The rooms may be a little outdated, but for us not so much a problem, since we were out most of the time. We thought it was good value for money.
We think a rental car would be necessary for these daytrips. We always rent a car through Sunnycars, as they always provide an all-in price without extra hidden fees.
