Day 5. Spinalonga and the final day by the sea

I decided to spend the last day without trying to set a world record for the number of sights I saw. In the morning I set off towards Elounda, from where I can get to Spinalonga Island.

Elounda

Spinalonga

Spinalonga is one of those places where history is felt especially strongly. A fortress, Venetian fortifications and a settlement associated with the history of the former colony for people with leprosy have been preserved on the small island. When you walk along the stone streets and look at the sea around, it is quite difficult to perceive this place just as a beautiful tourist destination.

After Spinalonga, I returned to the mainland and decided not to rush anywhere else. I had lunch in Elounda, then I found a place by the sea and just rested for a few hours. Of course, my inner tourist tried to convince me that the last day should not be spent without new attractions. But I beat him. Sometimes, after four days of trips, climbs, beaches, and streamers, the best plan is to have no plan at all.

What have I seen in five days?

If you put the entire route into one scheme, it turned out to be quite intense: Heraklion – Knossos Palace – Rethymno – Chania – Elafonisi – Lasithi plateau – Agios Nikolaos – Elounda – Spinalonga. At the same time, I didn't specifically try to go around the entire island, because in five days it would have turned into a competition with the navigator rather than a vacation.

Kules Fortress

What I liked the most was that Crete is constantly changing. In the morning you can walk among the ancient ruins, after a couple of hours drive along the mountain road, and in the evening sit by the sea with a plate of local food and watch the sunset.

Elafonisi at sunset

If I were to re-create this route now, I would most likely leave the same places, but make it a little quieter. I would allocate more time to some points, especially to Chania and the coast, because there it is very easy to say to yourself "I'll look quickly" and suddenly discover that three hours have passed.

And I would definitely take the car again. Because the main advantage of Crete for me turned out to be not only in the famous sights, but in the road itself between them. You're driving around the island, mountains, olive groves and the sea are changing outside the window, there's another turn ahead, and you don't know what's going to happen there – and that's why I love these trips.

In general, the five days in Crete went about the way a good trip should go: I watched a lot more than I had planned, spent a little more time on the road than I promised myself, got lost several times, changed the route a couple of times, and on the last evening I was already thinking about only one thing – why didn't I take a vacation at least for ten days.