You're on the sunset side of Crete island, choosing a sheltered sandy cove or a sweeping half-moon bay, visiting sleepy villages of simple whitewashed houses and looking out on a landscape that seems untouched by time … you're enjoying another easy day on your holidays in Akrotiri. This peaceful peninsula is far from being a place to party. But if you're the type who likes to hike over herb-scented hillsides awash with wild flowers, to leave your footsteps in the sand on a water's edge stroll, and to seek out a typical taverna for a meal that lasts all evening – Akrotiri holidays provide the perfect setting. The location for the classic film 'Zorba the Greek', the golden sands of Stavros beach were the stage for Anthony Quinn and that famous dance. Little has changed in the intervening 40-odd years. There are still olive groves for dappled shade, vineyards cloaking sunsoaked slopes, historic monasteries perched in high places, and views over coast, countryside and colourful Chania. You'll have got the message – summer holidays to Akrotiri peninsula are unhurried affairs. This is what's known as 'the real Crete', where the living is easy, the locals are friendly, and feasting on Cretan specialities is still affordably cheap. Holidays to Akrotiri are particularly popular with families. So don't leave it to the last minute. Holidays to Akrotiri sell fast

Castello City Hotel - Crete
ideal choice for the visitor of the city of Heraklion in Crete giving the feeling of a boutique luxury hotel. Castello City was designed so as to satisfy the highest demands of its select clientele, professional as well as recreational. It is open throughout the year and its convenient location offers easy access from and to the airport or the port, being at the same time very near to the commercial centre of the city. The Hotel Castello comprises 68 standard and superior rooms, Luxury Junior and Business suites...

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Castello city, Lato Boutique, Aldemar Royal Mare, Korifi suites, Blue palace, Atlantis, Flisvos beach, St. Nicolas bay

Perle resort, Agapi beach, La Stella, Aldemare Cretan village, Dimitris Villa hotel, Cretan Mallia park, Astali, Renieris

Akrotiri Quick Info
Home to Zorba the Greek, the Akrotiri peninsula is a firm favourite of ours. Ideal for families, it offers a range of picturesque villages with sandy beaches and plenty of shallow rocky creeks waiting to be explored. Many of our properties here have beautiful sea views and the sunsets are not to be missed. Above all, there is an air of complete relaxation and contentment which surrounds this unusual but stunning area.
Every part of such a fascinating island as Crete has its devoted fans but a particular favourite seems to be the northwest tip of the Akrotiri Peninsula. For many, the dramatic limestone rocks, the majestic Zorba's Mountain and the rough terrain has a special attraction, and this more remote part of the peninsula still retains its appealing atmosphere, its traditional villages, its olive groves, vineyards and melon fields and its open tracts of land colonised only by wild herbs and flowers.We first came here in 1985, to the village of Stavros, right on the tip of the peninsula and it quickly became a favourite of ours; all we knew then was that Stavros had been used as the location for the film 'Zorba the Greek' as it represented the archetypal sleepy fishing village. Later we discovered, on visiting a Cretan friend who lives there, the quaint seaside hamlet and harbour at Tersanas, just around the coast from Stavros. Both villages benefit from having shallow, sandy beaches which provide ideally safe swimming for families and there are other delightful sandy beaches and hidden rocky creeks waiting to be explored on the other shores of the peninsula. Akrotiri is certainly not a choice for the jet-setting sophisticate; any nightlife tends to be impromptu and centred on the few tavernas which serve delicious but simple food.
This is an area of great natural interest, both on land and sea, for walker, botanist or snorkellor. There are also some of Crete's most lovely and ancient monasteries set in quite stunning positions close to Stavros. The proximity of Chania airport means that the attractions of this region can be enjoyed almost instantly upon arriving on the island, without wasting any time on lengthy transfers. Above all, there is an air of unhurried contentment about this unusual part of Crete which is often remarked on by visitors who find this a particularly relaxing destination.