My wife, three-year old son and I have just enjoyed a wonderful 4 weeks exploring western Crete, its coast, towns and beaches. Christina’s house, set in the middle of an olive grove in the sleepy and unspoilt village of Drapanias, was the perfect base for our trip.
The house’s location is one of its big advantages if you have a car. The famous beaches at Falassarna, Elafonissi and Balos are all within easy reach (in July/ August get there early to avoid the coach loads of tourists) while the lovely towns of Chania and Paleochora are within an hour’s drive. The boat trip with captain Nick and the water park at Limnoupolis were definitely the highlights for our little boy! Nearby Kissamos doesn’t have much to keep you but has all the shops and facilities you need within a 10 min drive. Drapanias, Drapanias beach and Nopigia beach are a short 5 min drive through olive groves. Compared to the busy resort towns further east, these are lovely, quiet and unspoilt and have some great places to eat (Ippokampos- food and service perfect every time / Porfira- views of the bay / Maracaibo). The bay is very beautiful and our sunset dinners on the beach were unforgettable.
Christina’s house was cosy, modern, spotlessly clean and well- equipped. The brand new bathroom was perfect. The kitchen had all we needed to prepare meals and everything had been thought of. The living spaces were modern and comfortable and the garden had all we needed to relax (sun loungers etc and our host even bought a paddling pool for our little one to enjoy). Air conditioning in the downstairs bedroom was essential in the hot weather and we found it impossible to sleep in the mezzanine bedroom as it was too hot for us. We managed to all squeeze into the downstairs room to sleep but it wasn’t ideal. The WiFi was mostly reliable and there’s satellite TV and a Firestick for Netflix etc.
Christina and her mother were really helpful and kind hosts. The house isn’t so easy to find so having someone to meet you in the village was great. The plate of freshly baked treats, raki and olive oil on arrival was a lovely surprise. When things went wrong with the oven or a power cut in the village, Christina provided updates and resolved the issues very quickly.