East Crete

Why East Crete?

Crete has a length of 260 km. It's capital Heraklion is located approximately in the center of the island, on the North coast. For the purpose of this site, East Crete refers to the half of Crete located to the East of Heraklion.

It comprises part of the prefecture of Heraklion and the prefecture of Lassithi. Geographically it also has two mountain ranges, Dikti which reaches an altitude of 2148m and to the far east the lower Sitia mountains (Afendis Stavromenos, 1476m).

The East is an area of contrast, with highly developed tourist resorts on the North coast giving way to much more sedate seaside villages as you get to the far east of the island and the South. The interior is still mainly agricultural and quite poor (compared to western Crete).

Whether you are looking for all night parties, luxury resorts or quiet village life by the sea, you can find it all if you know where to go.

How to use this guide?

People have varying expectations about their holidays. Save yourself painful mistakes and check out what is hidden behind place names in holidays brochures. The aim of this guide is to give you an overview of what you can expect to find where. If you think that a resort or a village might be the right place for your holidays you will find relevant links for more information.

The guide is divided in two sections:

  • general information about Crete in the menu on your left. This will provide you with the basic information on the island of Crete as well as links to follow if you want to know more.
  • information about most of the resorts and villages located by the sea (with at least some tourist facilities). By clicking on Resorts or using the links below you access the navigation and can look up each of these places.