I am just going to jump right into this one: Go to Crete. Now. Book a flight and spend a month. Go with friends, a lover or just head off alone to soul search- which is exactly what I did.

I have to thank whomever created Airbnb because it is my new favorite way to find a place to stay. Hotels and resorts are great and sure, they serve a purpose in certain situations; but if you are looking for that true local experience then you have to choose Airbnb. 

I found this two bedroom, two bathroom villa in the small village of Anopolis that is nestled in the mountains about 14 kilometers from Heraklion. It is recommended to have some mode of transportation because the nearest town and beach are about 4 kilometers down the mountain…I didn’t know that. I walked it every day for a week. But my host was super sweet; picked me up from the airport, took me to the grocery store that first night and made sure I had everything I needed for my stay.  Oh, and I should mention Kal, my kitty for the week. I miss Kal. 

But this is not for me to complain as the walk was just stunning and made me not feel so guilty to stuff my face with vine leaves, feta and moussaka every day.

So this house is the thing I did right on this trip but as we know, not everything goes as we plan. I had six days to fit in the entire island of Crete… And hadn’t planned a single thing, except that my first day would plan the week from the beach.

Packing your beach bag

Before heading down the 4 kilometer mountain, I packed my necessities:

• Swell bottle
• Water
• Wine
• Linen towel
• Book
• Headphones
• Sunscreen
• Chapstick
• Small money

I really do not want to use this blog to promote a specific brand but get yourself a bottle that keeps your liquids cold for a super long time. Being my first time checking out the beach situation, I wanted to bring everything in case the prices were very expensive. Turns out, they weren’t! 

I went to the beaches in Kokkini Chani and found a lovely tranquil spot that charged 3 euros to have a chair and umbrella for the entire day. Sold. And Drinks? Try 2.50 euro for a glass of delicious Greek wine. Did I say I was making plans to leave the beach at all this week? I did? Damn. Very well.

Knossos

Being in BFE (for my International readers, this is an American way of describing something very far away from any civilization ) without a way to navigate independently, I needed to rely on the public transportation. Surprisingly, Crete offers one of the best mode of public transport I have used: air conditioned tour buses. I paid 2 euros to get from Kokkini Chani to Heraklion and another 1,80 to get to Knossos…but I am getting away from the point of this article. Let me share with you the best and only way to tour this old AF archeological site.

You have to buy your ticket in combination with the Heraklion Archeology Museum ticket. I did this museum first and before you historic and ceramic loving people smite me for this, please be aware that I do not understand the need to look at hundreds of clay pots that have been buried underground for centuries. With that being said, I will say the 5 euro entry fee was reasonable as was the 20 minutes I spent walking through it. The prize was the ticket to Knossos which was valid for three days after purchasing. 

I will go on record that the clay pot exhibition was lovely. There. Is everyone happy? Moving on…

So my bus drops me off at Knossos and to my horror see a huge line wrapped for at least 200 meters ( for you Americans, it’s like a line at a Disney World attraction) and think for a moment to abandon ship. But alas, this line was for the poor burning alive people who didn’t look at clay pots before. I walked right through and enjoyed the absolutely amazing preserved city I have seen.

Heraklion City

When I came back from Knossos, I walked around the edge of the city to the old fortress overlooking the sea. Another low cost attraction that I recommend: 2 euros for stunning views of the city and the sea.

Monastery of Arkadi

I usually don’t care to go out of my way to see an old monastery…actually I’ve never done it. However, when researching Crete, this site kept coming up on every website and I had to find out why. Bare with me on the brief history lesson but it plays important to understanding why I put myself through what I did.

When the Turks invaded Crete, the Monastery of Arkadi served as defense post and safe haven for nearly 1000 Christian people. The Turks wanted to capture the monastery as it proved to have an excellent defense position in the mountains. Over a few days, the monastery fell to the Turks and over 800 men, women and children inside were killed and 1500 Turks lost their lives as well. It is known in this area as one of the worst bloodshed attacks in their history.

I had to go. 

Took the same bus to Heraklion where I bought a new ticket to Reythmnon for 8.40 euro. Another air conditioned tour bus that would take me to the city in 90 minutes. Pretty easy, right?

Turns out that there is another bus to take from Rethymnon to the monastery!! This bus ride is another 45 minutes but here is the kicker: it runs every 4 hours. I arrived to the main bus station in Rethymnon and learned the last bus of the day to the monastery was leaving in ten minutes. The cost was 2,40 euro with the alternative being 25 euros with a taxi. Score.

I get there and stand in awe of this holy place. Such a peaceful setting and hard to imagine what happened there. I buy my ticket (another 2 euros) and ask the lovely man when is the next bus to Rethymnon. He smiles and politely tells me the last bus of the day is in 30 minutes. 

I’m sorry, what? I just went through 3 hours of travel and I only have 30 minutes to soak in everything? You have got to be kidding me. 

So what did I do wrong? I didn’t plan ahead. You can google the bus routes and times for every destination in Crete– KNOW BEFORE YOU GO. Or be happy cutting your experience short or paying extra for private transportation.

Vineyards

My boyfriend decided to show up on my last day in Crete ( he heard about the “plans” and decided to save himself) And we wanted to visit a vineyard. We rented the oldest fiat on the island for 35 euros. That’s right…35 euros from Blue Sea Rentals. We didn’t book until very last minute, which explains the car. I am sure if you book ahead, you can get a much better deal.  My biggest tip of renting a car is to get it through one of the local companies and not the international agencies. 

Back to the wine. We chose to visit Stilianou Winery and were not disappointed. This four generation run winery  is settled in the foothills of the mountains that I am pretty sure hold hundreds of forgotten bodies. Google maps decided to take us off road,so much so that I wasn’t sure we would make it up the hills a couple of times. For 5 euros, you can have a tour of the vineyard, an explanation of the process followed by a tasting of wine and olive oil.  I can not say enough how lovely is this family. We could have stayed there for the whole evening and we both felt like they would have welcomed us with open arms. 

The total spent in week one was 200€! Crete can be an amazing place to visit and you don’t have to break the bank. But Santorini is next and well, let’s see how the euros fall there 🙂