Click on the map ( Thanks to www.westCrete.com ) for a more detailed plan of Central Crete. The "museums"  thumbnails will take you to my pages of the most important museums and the one for "sites" has some of the more famous monasteries as well as the better known archaeological sites in the region ( Thanks to the Greek Ministry of Culture's site: 'Odysseus'

Essential Links to Heraklion

HERAKLEION (IRAKLION)    

What's the forecast for Heraklion, cheers Yahoo.co.UK

Maybe I am getting old but the stretch between Aghios Nikolaos and Heraklion always makes me want to close my eyes. Not that it is particularly ugly but it is now full of the type of places which are better suited to the Costa del Sol and it always amazes me why people come those extra thousand miles to do the things that Spain is far more suited for.

Hersonissos, Malia and Stalhida (Stalis) are three such places, but people certainly seem to know how to enjoy themselves there. Stalis is the "nicest" of the three in my view. However,  Hersonissos (Chersonissos) boasts Roman mosaics and Malia a great Minoan palace so if you archaeologically minded they are both worth a trip to. Malia's old town is also rather nice, but the burger infested front may be a place to steer clear off if you are purist, or in fact if you have any taste whatsoever...McDonalds has of course infiltrated here!

The following are pen-pictures of some of the places in the nomos of Herakleion. I hope that you find it useful, but it is not intended to be a definitive guide...we sell those. SJ

Ano Viannos  A lovely village on the South side of Mount Dikti, Frescoes by Nikoforos Fokas can be found here. Interkriti's description of Viannos  Taverna

Archanes     A nice-looking town with one of the best restaurants in Crete, details to follow. This is the summer palace of the palace of Knossos can be found here. Fourni and Anemospili are worth visiting, especially the latter, if only for its spookiness. Here it was that a human sacrifice was rained-upon, by an untimely earthquake, catching the sacrificed and three perpetrators just after the act! The knife that had been used upon the victim is in the Archanes archaeological museum, which is definately worth a visit. Accommodation is scant to say the least, details of where I stayed to follow.   See our archaeology  page

Is, or shall be, part of my walk, currently being serialised for "Interkriti"

Arkalachori   For the environs See Interkriti's page or for the cave click here

Arvi   Worth seeing is the Monastery of Arvi

Aghioi Deka  or "The Ten Saints" who martyred themselves in the 3rd Century. The Romans were to take a further 75 years to embrace Christianity themselves.

Aghia Varvara A rather large, and not particularly attractive town, if you are a tourist, Ag. Varvara is probably not your cup-of-tea. However, I like the place which is quintessentially Greek and does not try to pretend to be what it is not. Certainly worth a coffee or three along the main road - where you will be spoilt for choice -  just hanging out with the locals. Pretty it is not, but real, it most certainly is. A beautiful drive to Zaros is definately worth it, with Mt Ida towering away to your West.

Is, or shall be, part of my walk, currently being serialised for "Interkriti"

Chersonissos    (Hersonissos)   East of Malia, this is very much a package holiday destination and can consequently get booked out during high season. For the historically minded this is the Roman port and some interesting mosaics still exist, but for the most part, this is "party town".   Place to stay Il Camino Apartments and for a "Virtual tour of Hersonissos click on Jiannis site

Chondros

Fodele    Birthplace of "El Greco" Domenenikos Theotokopoulos see Interkriti's site to this area.

Gornes

Heraklion  At first site Herakleion can be a bit off-putting. It is the fifth largest city in Greece, the concrete manufacturers Herakles appear to be everywhere and Herakleion can be hot and dusty especially in high season. Don't be put off though; Herakleion has a charm of its own waiting for anyone who can be bothered to find it. This is also the perfect place to be for those interested in archaeology: the archaeological museum is second only to the National Archaeological museum in Athens. It is an absolute must as it houses the world famous and to date unique pictographic disk found in 1907 by the Italian school of Archaeology at Phaistos and imaginatively dubbed 'The Phaistos Disk'. Knossos is just a couple of miles Southeast of Herakleion and slightly further south again is the Minoan site of Archanes. Phaistos close to the south coast is an absolute must as is its summer palace of Aghia Triadha a couple of miles down the road. These two sites are easily reached from Aghia Galini as is the Kamares cave - you'll find examples of the Kamares-ware pottery in the Herakleion museum. Aghia Galini and Matalla were hippie communes in the 60s and 70s and they are both places where latter day hippies come to hang out during summer.

Interkriti have a nice history of the town of Heraklion

Accommodation

The hotel 'Lato', is a splendid looking place - as you will see by looking at their site - close to the Venetian arsenale in Heraklion

Hotel Mirabello This is where I stayed in Heraklion in 2003. It's a nice, friendly place.

Also see:

Kastro Hotel   Nancy-Hara Apartments  Interkriti have a list of telephone numbers for Herakleion hotels. 

Kamares   Situated deep in Mount Ida , conveniently on the E4 path, Kamares is a must for those interested in art. Dissevered by Italian archaeologists in 1893 at the cave which is a Northerly walk  Most of the distinctive "Kamares ware" can be found in   Herakleion museum, so have a look at it before you leave.

Is, or shall be, part of my walk, currently being serialised for "Interkriti"

Malia     For people interested in sun, sand and sea, as well as the cultural side of Malia, John Emmelot's page is excellent (see link below). For the Minoan site click here or go to our museum page above. I truly hate this place - not because of the people, but the fact that it just doesn't belong here - which is partially saved by the old town alone. Saying that, I am not as young as I was or ought to be and there must be something "fun" about it all. The staff at the bars, remain friendly, despite the occassional provocative small-brain Brits, who seem to have forgotten that the Costa Del Sol is alot closer to home. To be fair to the vast majority, if you like the three s's above and perhaps a bit of a fourth "s" too, this "town" may be the very place for you. SJ

This is a great site to Malia

Is, or shall be, part of my walk, currently being serialised for "Interkriti"

Matala This was the main port for Gortyns and a latter-day hippy commune. Nowadays it is a tourist resort not dissimilar from the three on the Northern coast.

Moires     See Interkriti's page

Tymbaki    One of those places that are worth visiting, if only to see how a real Cretan town works. It is not an attractive place, in fact it is rather ugly, thanks to the essential but pain in the eyes greenhouse affect!  Like Aghia Varvara, it has a quintessential Greekness about it and is situated close to a number of fantastic archaeological sites and great walks to make it worth a stay.  Funny place too, I know three people who come from here and live in the UK and they are all fabulous people...what's the odds, eh?! See Interkriti's description of the area around Tympaki

Vorizia    East of Kamares, this is a great area to do some walking. See bus time table below for return journeys to Moires.

Zaros  Whenever you buy a bottle of water, the name "Zaros" is likely to spring to mind, so to speak.In the mountains approximately 30 miles south of Herakleion. The hotel Idi is one that I hoped to try out in 2003, but didn't; the place I did stay at, shall be mentioned in despatches...just click on the following icon...

Is, or shall be, part of my walk, currently being serialised for "Interkriti"

See Interkriti's page

Essential Links to Herakleion

All other Cretan links can be found here

              All other Cretan links can be found here  

Bus timetables may be found here KTEL Heraklion

Climbing, mountaineering and walking Climbin'Crete

and The Mountaineering Club of Herakleion

                   Explore Crete Explore Crete An excellent generic Cretan Site

                             Interkriti    Interkriti   My favourite site to Crete

                  The Nikos Kazantzakis Airport The Airport for Herakleion

The Archdiocese of Heraklion  Church details for the nomos of Herakleion

Newspapers: You will need to be able to read Greek if you wish to make head or tail of these two Herakleion based newspapers: Mesogeios and Patris there is a two-monthly magazine in both English and Greek: Stigmes

Books

If you like our Cretan pages you can  vote for us by clicking...HERE:   Thanks a lot. S.J.