Elounda
Elounda on Crete's north coast is a popular holiday town with a pretty harbour, from where you can take day trips by boat to see the island of Spinalonga.
Like Malia, Elounda is a mix of the ancient and the modern. It has a long and rich history, but today it is mainly known as a popular beach resort if not quite as loud and abrasive as Malia. There are several large luxury hotels as you approach the town, including some of the best resorts on Crete, and an attractive harbour with some good restaurants.
The Harbour at Elounda
Olous
Elounda is on the site of what was a city-state known as Olous, and the remains of this site are visible just beneath the surface of the waters between Elounda and the Spinalonga peninsula, joined by a causeway from where the remains can be seen.
Olous had one of the most important harbours in eastern Crete, and it is known that there are at least two temples beneath the waters. It is thought that the city was destroyed in about the 2nd century BC, when immense land movements caused several areas of eastern Crete to sink below the waves, while the opposite happened in parts of western Crete.
Our Pick of the Crete Guides
The Venetians
On either side of the causeway are also the remnants of Venetian salt pans, as it was the Venetians who developed Elounda as a port in 1579. Its advantages were – and still are – that the harbour is well sheltered by the protective peninsula.
On the peninsula itself, which is a good place to escape most of the crowds, there is a church which was once part of Ancient Olous, which still has some of its original frescoes and from where, if the light is right, you can make out parts of the old harbour beneath the waves.
Spinalonga
Offshore from Elounda is Spinalonga Island, which also helps protect the bay and is where the Venetians built their protective fortress. It was such a stronghold that this was the last place on Crete to surrender to the Turks, in 1714, some forty years later than most of the rest of Crete.
From 1903 to 1957 the island was renowned throughout Greece as a leper colony, and a thriving town built up, the ruins of which can still be seen. It is a haunting spot, filed with the ghosts of the people who lived out there lives here, in enforced isolation.
The Island
Spinalonga became better-known in recent years as the setting for Victoria Hislop's best-selling novel, The Island. You can take day trips to explore the island from the harbour at Elounda.
Boat Trip to Spinalonga
Other Crete pages
Crete’s wildlife and landscape are two of the island’s attractions, including gorges for hiking, rare raptors like the lammergeier, wildcats and ancient trees.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in western Crete, including both luxury and inexpensive hotels in Chania, Rethymnon, and Paleochora.
Greece Travel Secrets visits Crete and learns about making rakomelo from Jorgos Kourmoulis in Agouseliana.
The Samaria Gorge is one the longest gorges in Europe and doing the hike is one of the best and most popular things to do on Crete.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Crete Botanical Gardens near Chania and finds a wonderland of colourful plants, trees, and flowers filling a lovely valley.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in Irakleio, the capital of Crete, including nearby beach resort hotels and accommodation in the city centre.
For a Crete olive oil tour Greece Travel Secrets visits Biolea, one of the few olive oil factories on Crete that you can visit.
The Snails House in Plouti near Phaistos in southern Crete serves the Cretan delicacy of snails, cooked in several different ways.
We visit and tour the Manousakis Winery on Crete with a wine-tasting and a chance to buy their tsikoudia, sea salt, olive oil and other goodies.
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Cretan Botano herbs and spices shop near Matala in southern Crete in search of the herb man of Kouses.
Is someone from Crete a Greek or a Cretan? They are both, of course, but most will tell you that they are Cretan first and Greek second.
This Airbnb in the quiet village of Malaxa, a 30-minute drive into the hills above Chania, is a peaceful retreat with a delightful and thoughtful artist owner, with wonderful views and amenities.
Driving central Crete in three days gives you time to see the highlights including the Minoan palaces at Knossos and Phaistos, the beaches and the Diktean Cave.
The Dalabelos Estate offers luxury eco-tourism accommodation on Crete in the hills near Rethymnon with its own farm, vineyard and olive groves.
What was daily life as a Minoan like on Crete, living in palaces like the ones at Knossos, Malia, Phaistos, and Zakros, and what were their religious beliefs?
Ancient Gournia is a Minoan archaeological site between Agios Nikolaos and Sitia in Eastern Crete where the visitor can see evidence of a maze of back streets.
Driving on Crete is the best way to see Greece’s biggest island and here is our driving advice and some information about Greek driving regulations.
The Battle of Crete during World War 2 inspired several books and took place with an airborne invasion over Maleme on the north coast of the island.
Crete's capital and largest city is Irakleio, also called Iraklion or Heraklion, a large and busy place with good restaurants, museums and historical buildings.
This tour around central Crete lists some of the area’s highlights such as the traditional village of Arolithos, Minoan remains at Tilisos, and Agioi Deka.
Sir Arthur Evans is the archaeologist famous for the excavations he made at the royal palace of Knossos on Crete.
Greece Travel Secrets recommends where to stay in Central Crete including hotels in Matala, Ayia Galini, and Zaros.
The best things to do on Crete and top things to see include the Samaria Gorge, the Minoan Palaces at Knossos and Phaistos, the towns of Chania and Rethymnon.
Crete festivals and events include Carnival Easter, Whitsun, Christmas, many other religious feast days and public holidays.
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