Fill up on Cretan authenticity in the villages of Chania

Highlights of the villages of Chania

With 34 Apokoronas villages, you could spend an entire holiday village-hopping in Chania, but here are some highlights not to be missed:

Vamos

Chania’s principal village is the liveliest and deserves most time. Beyond the shops and tavernas of the main square, you can visit a winery nearby and there’s also an excellent cheese factory. The 13th-century chapel of the Virgin Mary and the Karydi Monastery, with an arched olive oil press, are also well worth a visit. Every July, Vamos organises the largest Jazz Festival in Crete.

Douliana

With 40 houses and a total population of 200, there’s a wonderfully cosy feel to Douliana, which is 100m above sea level. You could just soak up the atmosphere of the central square but you should also try one of the short walks from the village. There’s one that passes through a forest to Gavalohori.

Gavalohori

You’ll enjoy the stone houses, paved streets and churches, and especially the super-traditional Cretan coffee shops of Gavalohori. There’s an interesting Folk Museum – with local costumes, old coins, weapons and traditional items of daily use – and a local Women’s Cooperative has a shop that keeps old crafts alive, such as kopaneli, a form of lace needling with Byzantine roots. 

Kalyves

If you’re looking for a coastal village, Kalyves is a great choice. There’s an old and new section, but that hasn’t stopped it from retaining all its traditional feel. There are plenty of eating options, and accommodation too. And there’s a beach just before the entrance, so your village-hopping doesn’t interrupt your daily dose of beach-time.

Fres

Built on the foothills of the White Mountains, at an altitude of 220m, Fres is surrounded by olives groves and vineyards. Its large main square is the centre of village life and just outside the village is the intriguingly named church of Panagia of the Two Rocks (it was built on a rock that tumbled down the mountain and another boulder lies nearby). 

Vrises

With bridges and waterside tavernas and cafes, Vrises is a village dominated by nature and running water (its name means springs). Just outside the village (on the road to Rethymno), there’s a bridge dating to Greco-Roman times – the so-called Greek Kamara. And close by is Crete’s only natural lake, Lake Kourna. If you’re lucky enough to find antikristo (lamb cooked next to, not over, the flames) in a taverna that has traditional Cretan music, you’ll never want to leave.