CRETE BEACHES. Elafonisi + Matala. It's a Dreamland! Best Beaches in Crete, Greece.

We spent two days exploring Crete and trying to find the best beaches on the island!

On day one, we made our way to Elafonisi beach to discover why it’s rated one of the best beaches in all of Europe. Because of how mountainous Crete is, it took awhile to reach the beach and we got there around 11 am and had no trouble finding parking in the huge parking area. However, the beach was quite busy and we didn’t find any lounge chairs in the shade. We ended up putting our towels down on the beach and swimming a bit in the calm, clear, shallow water. However, there were just too many people and we didn’t stay very long.

The next day we made our way to the hippy town of Matala. This town has a really interesting history! There is a beautiful beach with caves carved in the cliffs to one side. They date back thousands of years but more recently were used as homes by hippies in the 1960s, and Joni Mitchell was even there for awhile and wrote some songs about her time. We explored the town and the beach but didn’t actually go in the caves.

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Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and is in the Mediterranean Sea between the Sea of Crete and the Libyan Sea, south of the Peloponnese. Crete is approximately 260 km long and 60 km wide. Crete consists of four prefectures: Chania, Rethimno, Heraklion and LasithiCrete, with a population of approximately 650,000, is not just sun, sea and sand; it is a quite distinct place full of vitality, warmth, hospitality, culture and of course an excellent infrastructure. Crete is well known for its seas and beaches but it has a very contrasting landscape. The island goes from fertile coastal plains to rugged mountains and from busy metropolitan cities to very peaceful hillside villages. If you travel throughout Crete you can clearly see remnants of Roman and Turkish aqueducts and architecture from when these people invaded the island long ago. You will also find ancient Minoan ruins around the island.

Elafonisi:
It lies in the southwestern side of Crete and about 75 kilometers from the town of Chania, an island that is within walking distance from the mainland, sometimes without even getting one’s toes wet.You can get to the Elafonissi island on foot because the waters are shallow, sometimes without even getting one's toes wet, and therefore is ideal for families with small children. It is named by the word "Elafi", which means deer in Greek because people years ago discovered that you can get easily to the islet on foot like a deer that walked to it.
The island, which note is not to be confused with its namesake Elafonissos in Peloponissus, is a natura 2000 protected area. Moreover, Elafonissi is the only Greek appearance on a Tripadvisor list of the world’s 25 best beaches for 2014.

Matala:
A safe natural harbour on the Bay of Messara, blessed with a gently sweeping sand and pebble beach, the place in legend where Zeus swam ashore in the guise of a bull with Europa on his back. Many people make this village their base for Cretan holidays, as it is so central on the south coast, and away from the over-development of the north coast. The beach is 250m long and 45m wide.

Matala has something for everyone. Although it has become a popular tourist destination it still retains the charm and character of the quiet fishing village it started as at the beginning of the 20th-century, and the laid-back lifestyle of the hippies of the 60’s and 70's lives on. Half the beach is fringed by tamarisk trees, leading the eye on to impressive formations of sandstone rock cliffs with their famous caves sliding into the sea at an odd angle, creating one of the most unusual beachscapes on the island.

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Видео CRETE BEACHES. Elafonisi + Matala. It's a Dreamland! Best Beaches in Crete, Greece. канала Delightful Travellers