A Week in Beautiful Crete

As my friends and readers already know, I love traveling, so we decided to prioritize another family vacation. In June, Tomas and I took a week of parental leave from work to travel to northern Crete, Greece. Tomas and I have been to Korfu (on our honeymoon in 1999) and Lefkas in the past, but never to Crete, and never to Greece with the children. Here are some of our pictures from our week there. If you are planning a trip with children and have any questions, feel free to comment this post and I will help if I can!

For the sake of simplicity, we had found a pre-packaged charter trip with the Scandinavian travel company, Apollo. We flew to Chania in the evening, and transferred by bus on winding roads in the middle of the night until we reached our hotel, Akti Chara at Platanes Beach, east of Rethymno. The hotel was fine, with two rooms, a fridge, hot plate (which we never used) and a balcony. However, we were hardly in the room at all, since we spent nearly all our time out and about, either at the pool area (which the kids absolutely loved!) or else out exploring. From the beach, which was just a short walk away, we could see snow-capped mountains (!).

Tomas with Leiah, two years old. She learned to float in the water using only her puffs, and absolutely loved it. "Kiddy pool!" she yelled every day. 

Tomas with Leiah and Yaminah, seven years old. She has recently learned to swim, and in the warm weather, we could hardly get her out of the water. 

Yaminah's first lunch in Crete consisted of this strawberry milkshake, since she had unfortunately come down with another case of strep throat the day before we left. 

I love Greece. I love the olives and olive trees and Greek salads. Of course the warm, sunny weather is a real draw, but another thing I appreciate about Greece is how child-friendly it is, in some ways. Eating at restaurants is much easier than in Minnesota or Sweden, since they are all outdoors, and most we ate at had little play areas for children. Arriving at a restaurant at 8:30 or 9:00 PM with children is no problem; that is when Greek families are out eating as well. Most of the time when we ate, once we had already paid the bill, a server brought out a little tray of treats for us: strong wine for the parents, along with fruit, a little cake, or ice cream for the children. Although this was probably paid for in the price of the food, it did feel like a very nice touch.

One afternoon we took the local bus to Rethymno and explored the city, especially the old town. Local busses are an adventure; on the way home it was so crowded that people could hardly hold on, but since I had Leiah, someone offered me a seat. Then a Greek woman just pulled Yaminah (7 years old) onto her lap, and sat and held her the whole bumpy way home, all the while continuing to chat with her friend. At that moment, I loved Greece even more. :)

Yaminah and Leiah cooling off by the Rimondi Foundation in the old part of Rethymno

We rented a car (a medium-sized 4WD Nissan) for a two days in order to explore some of the island. Crete is huge, so of course we only saw a few places, but it was an adventure that was well worth it. Armed with a big fold-out map and Google Maps on Tomas's phone, we headed south. At first the roads were great, wide and well-marked. Our first stop was the picturesque little mountain village, Spili, where we wandered a little, explored the small shops (bought local honey and thyme and rosemary-infused olive oil), and had a delicious snack at at Platanos Cafe, consisting of Greek yoghurt with honey and fruit, Greek coffee (don't drink all the way to the bottom... :) and homemade baklava. After that we continued our journey south, in our attempts to find a shallow, child-friendly beach. Here is a tip, that I wish another nervous mother had told me in advance: don't do it! Don't turn off the good roads in search of a deserted beach. Tomas drove well, but when we turned off the main road to head south to the beach, the road suddenly morphed into an extremely narrow, winding, dangerous mountain road that I had forgotten how much I disliked. We made it, but if I knew what the road would be like, I would have chosen to aim for a different beach!

All buckled up and ready to go! We were surprised that it was not difficult to find a rental car that included a booster seat and car seat. You may have to ask at a few places for the best deal, but just ask and you should be able to find good options for your children.

Platanos Café in Spili: I highly recommend it if you go there! 

At Platanos Café

Yaminah at a famous lion-head fountain in Spili. The waitress from the café went down to the fountain to fill up a pitcher of drinking water for us. 

Spili

The next day we found our favorite location in Crete, the tiny old fishing village Almyrida. This time the road only felt very dangerous at the end, and it was definitely worth it. The beach was relatively narrow, but sandy, and the water was shallow and perfect. First we ate brunch at an amazing French café, and then we spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach. It was a perfect day.

If you go to Almyrida, I highly recommend Café Francoise! The brunch was great. 

The beach at Almyrida

On our way home again, we stopped at the beautiful little village of Vamos, where we walked around and ate fresh tuna at a little family-owned restaurant. 

There are olive trees all over Crete. 

Fresh tuna, sardines, Greek salad, and fresh-squeezed orange juice for dinner. 

Back at the hotel pool: Yaminah, who loved the pool. 

Showered and on our way to eat out on our last night in Crete, I wanted to get some family photos as the sun set. 

Tomas took this photo of Leiah. :) All of the other ones, unless I am in them, are taken by me. 

Yaminah and Leiah watching the sunset.

Leiah back in her happy place: swimming in the pool on our last day.

Nothing beats banana juice on a hot afternoon. 

And finally... the obligatory cat photo.

We spent the rest of our week at our own hotel, especially at the pool, since the kids were so happy there. We ate lunch and dinner at restaurants and walked on the beach in the evenings. The week ended too quickly (Yaminah cried when we had to leave...) but we definitely hope to go back again.