Crete tourist guide

Today, thanks to Zameer Pactyan's film, we would like to invite you for a short winter walk through sunny Agios Nikolaos. Although you can see quite a lot of strollers on the streets, after a while you can see that the vision of the tourist season is still distant. Most of the taverns, shops with souvenirs or local products are still closed and the few that are open are focused on local residents or Greek tourists from the mainland. We have to admit that such winter Agios has a lot of charm.

Annual research on the profile of a statistical tourist visiting West Crete provides a large dose of interesting knowledge about people coming to this part of the island. These studies are carried out to assess tourist traffic and take a closer look at emerging trends and possible changes in tourist behavior. In the study conducted in 2022, the results obtained were compared with the last pre-pandemic season, i.e. 2019.

Lentas , located in the area of the Asterousia mountains, is hardly a typical tourist destination. Away from the main roads, burdened with cumbersome access, this place appears on the list of holiday plans for few people. Of course, this does not mean that no one comes here at the height of the holiday season. Towns such as Lentas have a loyal group of fans who find here the opportunity for a less formal holiday seasoned with a large dose of family hospitality. Today we would like to share with you Zameer Pactyan's video showing the winter side of Lentas. We have to admit that we would love to visit this place in such a sunny green version :)

The first weeks of the new year are the traditional time for publishing various rankings. One of the most significant lists is Travelers' Choice prepared by TripAdvisor. Just like last year, Crete was also present this time. How did our favorite island fare in the opinion of the readers of this largest tourist portal?

The official total summary statistics of passenger traffic at Heraklion airport throughout 2022 are already known. We probably won't surprise anyone if we write that they were very good and even beat the data from 2019, the last normal season. Admittedly, the increase was not too large, as it amounted to only 3.5%, but still this result was quite a surprise. Even the most optimistic estimates projected by industry experts predicted that the return to such good results would take place only in 2024 or 2025.

It's official! It has just been confirmed that this year, after a three-year break caused by who knows what, another Matala Beach Festival will take place. Today, the official date of this largest musical event in Crete, organized at the foot of the famous rock with caves, has been announced. If you would like to take part in this unusual festival, book the 23rd, 24th and 25th of June. No details have been given yet, but it is worth noting that this year the Matala Beach Festival will be organized for the tenth time. So far, its organizers are quite mysteriously announcing a renewed and unique formula of the festival, which will offer participants much more than before.

Traveling around the White Mountains or within the Psiloritis massif in Crete, you can come across small stone buildings, called mitata. Their characteristic round stone structure reminds some people of an igloo. The most surprising thing is that mitata are made of only stones without the use of any binding material. Nevertheless, the lack of a binder does not prevent them from surviving for decades. The oldest building of this type is located on the Nida River and probably dates back to 1841. This date is inscribed on at least one of the stones.

Yesterday, Friday the 13th, in Poland and several other countries is considered extremely unlucky. The fear of this day even has a name: paraskevidekatriaphobia , which nomen omen comes from the Greek language. After disassembling this word, it turns out that it is a combination of three words: paraskevi in Greek means Friday, dekatreís is simply thirteen, and fobía is phobia, or fear. Despite the Greek origin of the word, it is worth knowing that, paradoxically, Friday the 13th is not considered a particularly bad day in Greece. Instead, it is Tuesday the thirteenth ( τρίτη και dekatris ), which translates to "Tuesday and the thirteenth". It's a special way to mark this special day. Why is Tuesday the 13th considered unlucky in Greece?

Be careful with black cats too ;-)