Crete Day 5: May 8 - Elafonisi - Agia Sophia - Falasarna

Today we went on a trip to Elafonisi, which is generally known as a dream beach. That sounded good, although the travel time was a bit long with over an hour, we didn't want to change hotels today and our further route would take us in the other direction anyway. So we left directly after breakfast so that we could be there before the tourist crowds. However, the weather today didn't look particularly good. Very cloudy and incredibly windy. Not exactly beach weather.

Elafonisi

Nevertheless, we still went, hoping that it might clear up. After another exciting drive, we arrived at the beach of Elafonisi. Luckily, there was still nothing going on, but that might have been due to the not-so-good weather. The beach was indeed very beautiful and incredibly large! I think even if it was crowded, you could still find a quiet spot here. You just have to walk a little bit. The beach would have had dream beach potential with good weather, but with today's weather, it all reminded me a little bit of the North Sea. So we walked around for a while and explored the beach. We later set up our 'camp', but didn't stay there for much longer. The wind was simply too strong, it had become quite chilly and it didn't make sense to stay here any longer. But what really is a problem here is the toilet situation. There are some, but only ONE SINGLE one for all visitors. So I had to wait forever. And it wasn't even that busy. I don't even want to know how long you would have to wait for a toilet visit here during peak season.

Agia Sophia

Our next destination was a stalactite cave that also served as a monastery. The Agia Sophia. We had read in the travel guide that we always carried with us that it should be on the way to Falasarna (which was our next destination). Once we arrived there, we had to climb the mountain to get to the cave. We were the only visitors there. There was also a restaurant on the slope where we had a snack. Freshly strengthened, we then made our way to Falasarna.

Falasarna

Here, you could already get a wonderful view of the magnificent beach from above. The weather also cleared up now, the sun came out and suddenly we had 30 degrees! We hadn't expected that anymore. It was a great decision to come here because the beach was beautiful! We stayed here for a while, Luke even went into the icy water. And again, the off-season paid off: no people as far as the eye could see! There were some beach clubs with their sun loungers set up, but if you walk a little further, you have peace and quiet. After we had sunbathed enough and it was getting late, we made our way back to our hotel in Balos.

Restaurant 'Gramvoussa'

Once we arrived there, we got ready for dinner again. This time we wanted to eat outside the hotel and decided for the restaurant 'Gramvoussa', which was about a 15-minute walk from the hotel. The decor was rustic and reminded me a bit of the Middle Ages. We liked it a lot! The food was also good and plentiful. Here, they actually serve bread with every meal, completely free of charge. The price was a bit higher than what usually fit into our budget, but you have to treat yourself sometimes ;) In any case, we had a nice evening with good food and a view of the sea. What more could you ask for? A good end to another successful day!

The journey will continue tomorrow to Chania, the most beautiful city in Crete!