- Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective
- Day 73: Homeward Bound
- Day 72: Our Last Full Day
- Day 71: More Sifnos Sightseeing
- Day 70: Exploring Sifnos by Car
- Day 69: Sun, Sand and Sea on Sifnos
- Day 68: Bus Trip to Apollonia
- Day 67: Mum and Dad’s First Full Day on Sifnos
- Day 66: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
- Day 65: Sifnos Sunshine
- Day 64: More Clouds Over Sifnos
- Day 63: Sifnos Cloudy First Day
- Day 62: Sikinos to Sifnos
- Day 61: Sikinos Sightseeing
- Day 60: Relaxing on Sikinos
- Day 59: Ios to Sikinos
- Day 58: Ios Last Full Day
- Day 57: Ios Psathi Beach and Palaiokastro
- Day 56: Ios Chill Day
- Day 55: Ios Agia Theodoti Beach
- Day 54: Exploring South Ios Magganari Beach
- Day 53: Naxos to Ios
- Day 52: Exploring Naxos by Car
- Days 50-51: Agia Anna
- Day 49: Relaxing in Agia Anna / Plaka Beach
- Day 48: Amorgos to Naxos
- Day 47: Kos to Amorgos
- Day 46: Kos Final Full Day
- Day 45: Last Gym Session on Kos
- Day 44: Moving Hotel Room Part 2
- Day 43: Moving Hotel Room
- Day 42: Visiting Tigaki
- Days 38-41: Living Life in Kos Town
- Day 37: Back to Kos Town
- Days 34-36: Nothing But The Pool
- Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain
- Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)
- Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
- Day 30: Ed Arrives on Kos
- Day 29: Why I’m Still on Kos
- Day 28: Kos Town Hotel Move
- Day 27: Kos Beach Day Again
- Day 26: Kos Car Hire
- Day 25: Kos Town Beach Day
- Day 24: Cutting Tilos Short
- Day 23: Rhodes to Tilos
- Day 22: Rhodes Town Beach
- Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town
- Day 20: Rhodes Arrival
- Day 19: Exploring Karpathos by Car
- Day 18: Ammopi Beach by Bus
- Day 17: Karpathos Beach Day…Again
- Day 16: Karpathos Beach Day
- Day 15: Karpathos Arrival
- Day 13: Gortyn, Heraklion and Sitia
- Day 12: Phaistos and Matala
- Day 11: Preveli and Agia Galini
- Day 10: Road Trip Across Crete
- Day 9: Last Day in Palaiochora
- Day 8: Last Time at Grammeno Beach
- Day 7: Elafonissi Beach
- Day 6: Finally the Wind Dies Down
- Day 5: Grammeno Beach Again
- Day 4: Frangokastello, Hora Sfakion and Chania
- Day 3: Palaiochora Morning Exercise
- Day 2: Palaiochora and Grammeno Beach
- Day 1: Crete Arrival
- Touring Greece Without a Plan
- An Exciting Journey Begins
Saturday 10th July 2021
Escaping the Wind…or not!
The strong winds we’d been experiencing over the past two days showed no sign of easing today. To avoid a repeat of yesterday’s itinerary, we decided to use the hire car to explore some of southwestern Crete. As I’ve mentioned, this was my first time in the area despite having visited the island many times.
My parents suggested we visit Frangokastello, which is further east along the southern coastline, and then take in some other places on the way back. Although Frangokastello is less than 50km east of Palaiochora, no direct coastal road exists. The only way to reach it involves driving north towards Chania, east across the northern highway and then turning south again across the island. It’s a 2.5-hour drive, but the long journey was fine as we planned to make a day of it.
Castle Closed
The drive south from Chania was through some pretty mountain roads. Traffic was almost non-existent, something I find hard to get used to compared with British roads. As we neared Frangokastello, we stopped at a high viewpoint over the south coast, but it was so windy we could barely open the car doors! When we finally arrived in the village, we were disappointed to discover that one of the main sights, the Frangokastello fortress, was closed for renovation. We still enjoyed a stroll around for photos of the area, including the nice resort beach:
We contemplated having lunch in the village, but options were limited, so we decided to backtrack to Hora Sfakion first and see if we could find somewhere nicer.
Hora Sfakion
A few kilometres west of Frangokastello lies Hora Sfakion. It’s well known for local ferry connections and is popular with hikers, especially those tackling Samaria Gorge.
It’s a strange village, nestled into a small bay harbour, but it has quite a nice vibe and a good selection of tavernas and shops.
We ate pork gyros at a snack bar and then strolled around before returning to the car for the homeward journey. Our intention was to stop in Chania as we would be driving past it anyway, even though I’d visited it on a previous trip during a sightseeing drive across the island.
Chania
It was busy in Chania despite the pandemic and its effect on tourism. We walked around the harbour and stopped for coffee and ice cream at a nearby cafe.
Back to Palaiochora
By the time we’d arrived back in Palaiochora, it was a little after 6 pm. We returned to our rooms for a quick rest and shower, then met for dinner, this time trying a taverna called Angel (opposite Aristea, where we had eaten on our first night).
