The caves
Carved chambers and benches you climb into and walk through.
Public domain ยท Rudolphu โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Jan M โ CC BY-SA 3.0 ยท Zde โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes โ they are a **managed archaeological site** on a low-priced ticket with opening hours; you climb up by steps and paths and walk among the carved chambers. โ But note: **the rock is uneven and slippery in places**, and some sea-facing edges have no railings โ closed shoes are essential and close attention with children. **Sleeping or camping** in them is not allowed (they were cleared in the 1970s and occupation banned). Outside opening hours the site is shut, so plan a daytime visit โ the sunset is watched from the beach rather than the caves.
**As part of a day in the south, yes; as a trip in itself, barely.** It is about 70 km and an hour and a half each way โ a lot for a small village and a beach. But it lies at the end of the **Phaistos and Gortyn** road, and the natural order is: the two archaeological sites in the morning, then down to Matala for a swim, lunch and the caves in the afternoon, returning in the evening โ a balanced full day of ruins and sea. โ Avoid **July and August** if you can: the village is small, parking scarce and the crush severe.
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A small village on a sandy bay on Crete's southern coast, overlooked by a **rock face cut with dozens of caves** โ the most famous cliff on the island. The caves are **tombs carved** into the sandstone, cut in the Roman period and perhaps used before it, some with chambers, benches and steps. Christian hermits later lived in them in Byzantine times. Then came the chapter that made the place internationally known: in the **1960s and 1970s the caves were occupied by hippies** arriving from Europe and America โ they lived in them free for months, and musicians visited, among them **Joni Mitchell**, who wrote about Matala in her song "Carey". The Greek authorities cleared the caves in the 1970s. Today the caves are a **ticketed archaeological site** you climb into and walk through, with the beach below free. โ The village is small and gets very crowded in summer, and it lives off this story โ signs, festivals and shops in a 1960s spirit.
Carved chambers and benches you climb into and walk through.
A sheltered sandy bay between two cliffs โ the sunset is famous.
A village living off the hippie story, its signs recalling it.
Matala, 70200 Crete