Anyone any views on crete?

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blueshoes

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Just wondering if anyone here has been to crete? Whats the food like? Is there much to do/see? Whats the nightlife like? Were young but like to go to bed at a resonable hour not mad party animals!! Like sightseeing and stuff during the day. What would the weather be like?

I cant remember the exact name of resort but I think it was Gouves..go vay is how you would pronounce it..I will post back later with the proper spelling. I cant see it on the net. The travel agent ringing back in afternoon so will post it then.

Thanks
 
gouves is a bit boring, its kind of plonked on the main road between heraklion and hersonissos.

Hersonissos would be a main lively centre allright, but if you like it a bit quiter, try piskapiano or koutouloufari. They are nice little villages up in the hills about 5 mins from Hersonissos (taxi). Loads of lovely little vars & restaurants up there.

btw there is a lovely restaurant in malia that you should try called the 'brassiere bar & grill' very nice.
 
Thanks for that bosshog, im was just trying to google it and see what i could find...and your right not a lot.

The girl in the office told me it was lively and in the centre of evrything!
 
try get piskapiano or koutouloufari, they are perfect for quiet nights. and if you feel like a bit of a late night, you can head down to Hersonissos.

even though i recommended the brassiere restaurant in Malia. I would not recommend Malia as an area to stay. Full of tacky english bars. same with Stalis.
 
We stayed in Gouves (Goo vase) 10 years ago and loved it. It's a pretty quiet area, but a short taxi ride to Hersonissis, so it's easy to get out, but you don't have people shouting and screaming on your doorstep. Some resorts are quieter than others, you can check before you book. If you are in any way interested in history or ruins, the island is crawling with them. The food was good, the wine was good, the people were lovely and we had a great time.
 
Hi,

Myself and my flatmate a few years went to Malia for a week with the intention of chilling out and taking it easy and having a few nice meals and glasses of vino in the evening. We absolutely HATED it. We had gotten the holiday last minute with Airtours and when we got there we realised the resort was almost completely English. That was fair enought and initially we didn't mind until we were either ignored or verbally abused from one end of the week to the other for being Irish - everytime we spoke and they heard our accents. We COULDN'T believe it, we were completely ostracised and had never experienced anything like it before. As two girls on a quiet holiday we were pretty much minding our own business and couldn't understand why the reaction would be like that. Anyway, moral of the story.....avoid Malia unless things have changed a lot.

H
 
we stayed in gouves about 8 years ago and would second what terrysgirl said. We were in our early 20s but went late night partyers either so being a short taxi ride from hersonissos was perfect, stay out as late as you want but there's no party going on outside your window. Families and couples. Nice restaurants (love Greek food) and food and drink were cheap, considerably cheaper than hersonissos. Visit Knossos for the ruins, do an island tour, think we visited Santorini island on a day trip too, really enjoyed it. If it's not too hot walk up the hill to old Gouves, non touristy old village.
 
Other things I've remembered are, if you are there in high season, take mosquito repellant (we were there in September and it was OK). Hersonissis is (apparently, I have no evidence but heresay for this) the male date rape capital of Europe, DYOR.

We visited:
Knossos
Malia (the palace there, less developed than Knossos)
Rethymnon (Interesting town, you can take the regular bus service from the road through Gouves)
Iraklion (V good museum, and very interesting city. Continuously inhabited for something like 6000 years)
Samaria gorge (never visited it, but it's supposed to be good)
The mountains are spectacular, and there are caves everywhere, we hired a scooter for about a week, but I can't remember now where exactly we went. There is a plateau up in the mountains that was spectacular, Lasithi Plateau
Spinalonga leper colony, lovely island.

Things to watch out for:
Truely dreadful driving (but the roads were fairly quiet)
 
I am in my twenties and stayed in Gouves last year. Thought it was beautiful. As someone else said, it is easy to get to the mad party areas like Hersonissos by bus and taxi. There are plenty of lively pubs in Gouves itself and a lot of good restaurants. Cretan food is mostly the same as Greek: moussaka, lot of fruit, gyros (fried meat in a wrap with chips). They cater for tourist so you can get Italian, Chinese and "standard" European dishes everywhere. I was there mainly to look at archaeological sites so I did Knossos, Malia, Phaistos (long drive for this) and Heraklion. If you want to see the east part of the island, a car is essential. I didn't think the drivers were as mad as, say, Italians, but that sort of opinion really depends on your own experience. It's definitely worth a visit. Also, the Indo did a small Crete guide a couple of weeks ago, you should still be able to get a copy in a larger newsagents.
 
Stayed in Hersonissos about five years ago. Hated it, it was filthy! I'd never go back.
 
We went to Gouves bout 4 years ago and really enjoyed it altohough it was beginnning of August and in the 40's, but I was told that was unusually hot. It has enough nightlife to enjoy within walking distance of most apartments and like others have said its short ride to Hersonissis which I have been reliably told is a cockroach invested kip!

The beaches are nice in Gouves, water is beautiful, scenery isn't blighted by multistorey blocks and there is a range of day tours available, including trips to Athens. You won't be sorry to go there
 
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