East of Chaniá

To my mind, this Cretan countryside resembled good prose, carefully ordered, sober, free from superfluous ornament, powerful and restrained. But between the severe lines one could discern an unexpected sensitiveness and tenderness; in the sheltered hollows the lemon and orange trees perfumed the air, and from the vastness of the sea emanated an inexhaustible poetry. Nikos Kazantzákis, Zorba the Greek

Akrotíri

Akrotíri, the bulbous headland east of Chaniá, shelters the island’s safest port, Soúda, from northerly winds. Its strategic position has assured it plenty of history, and, now that Crete is safe from imminent invasion, the steep access road, Eleftheríou Venizélou, is often chock-a-block with locals heading out to Akrotíri’s beaches, nightclubs and villas.