Location
The position of the villas is good for those who wish to explore Crete as the north coast road, which is not far from the Akrotiri peninsula, provides easy access to both south, west and middle of the island.
Akrotiri Peninsula
If you have a map of Crete you will find the Akrotiri Peninsula set to the north east of the city of Chania. It is almost spherical piece of land attached to the rest of Crete by a narrow “stalk”. On its western coast are numerous small beaches; the most notable of which being Stavros. This very sheltered horseshoe bay is almost completely enclosed by land and the southern side of the bay is fringed with soft sand, which shelves very slowly towards the extremely calm sea, making it the perfect spot for those with small children. When I last visited, a few years ago, it was still unspoiled and quiet, although there were a few large and virtually empty taverns around; perhaps these are full in Summer so the place might be quite busy then! Akrotiri itself is hilly rather than mountainous and as far as I could discover there were few beaches on its eastern shores.
Agios Anophris beach
The beach is about 1 kilometer from the villas. This pretty beach, which has been awarded a Blue Flag, faces west so gets the day’s sun to the very last minute! There are two taverns here so, food and drink is close at hand to sustain you through a hard day on the beach.
The airport for Chania
The airport is situated towards the eastern side of the peninsula but there are few planes and those that passed overhead when I visited the villas were hardly noticeable. Immediately south and between Akrotiri and the rest of the island is the very sheltered natural harbor of Souda bay. At the edge of the bay is the well-tended Allied War cemetery where row after immaculate row, stand the headstones of soldiers who fought and were killed in the Battle of Crete.
Chania
Which is approx. 7 kilometers from the villas, has its origins in Venetian times and most of the old city is contained within broad, ancient walls. Within these walls, and clustering around the harbor, are well preserved Venetian Merchants houses with an Ottoman Empire Turkish mosque on the eastern side of the sheltered water. Thankfully, all old buildings are protected from destruction and most have been restored without damage to their facades. It seems that nearly every house now offers their rooms, roofless restaurants or interesting shops. The streets are narrow and mostly impassable to cars making the whole area wonderful for aimless wander! At night the place awakens and around the harbor the lights of the taverns twinkle on the still water, the calm of which belies the buzz of life all around.