The seafront
A row of cafรฉs and tavernas the locals use, at reasonable prices.
**Free** โ an open town; the archaeological museum charges a small fee. โ **It is far**: about **70 km from Agios Nikolaos** (an hour and a quarter) and **135 km from Heraklion** โ which makes it **an overnight rather than a day trip** if you want Vai, Toplou and Zakros together. โ **Clearly cheaper** than Agios Nikolaos and Elounda for rooms and food. โ **Its options are limited** out of season and many places close in winter. โ **The beach is long and sandy but exposed to wind** โ eastern Crete is among the windiest parts of the island; expect blowy days even in summer. โ **Its airport is small** with limited seasonal flights โ do not rely on it without checking. โ **Olive oil** is the thing to buy here. โ There are **ferries** to Rhodes, Kasos and Karpathos โ useful for island-hopping.
๐ฌ Ask on WhatsAppOpen in Google Maps โ**The last real town in eastern Crete** โ the furthest point most visitors reach, and for its size the least touristy place on the island. It is built on a slope running down to a **wide bay**, with a long sandy beach stretching east of the town, and its seafront is a long row of cafรฉs and tavernas that work **for the townspeople before the visitors** โ a difference you feel in the prices and in the atmosphere. Above it stands the Venetian **Kazarma fortress**, what remains of larger defences destroyed by earthquake and invasion. โ There is no major ยซsightยป here: no preserved old town and no archaeological site within it. โ But it is **the base for the far east**: from here you reach **Toplou**, **Vai** and **Zakros** โ all too far from Agios Nikolaos for a comfortable day trip. โ It is also a **famous olive oil** region, and it has a good small **archaeological museum** with finds from Zakros and Palaikastro.
A row of cafรฉs and tavernas the locals use, at reasonable prices.
Venetian remains above the town looking over the bay.
Small and good, with finds from Zakros and Palaikastro.
Sitia, 72300 Lasithi, Crete
**Sleep there if you want the far east; skip it if your itinerary is in the west.** โ **The simple arithmetic**: from Agios Nikolaos to **Vai** is about **95 km** (an hour and forty each way on mountain road) โ **three and a half hours of driving** in one day before you add Toplou or Zakros. That is a tiring and limited day. โ **From Sitia**: Vai is **25 km**, Toplou **15 km**, Zakros **40 km** โ so the whole east comes within a comfortable day. โ **And a night or two in Sitia is clearly cheaper** than Agios Nikolaos. โ **Do not sleep there** if your time in Crete is short and you want Knossos, Chania and Samaria โ the far east is **an addition, not a foundation**, and moving your luggage out there and back west costs you a full day. โ **The ideal arrangement**: two nights in Agios Nikolaos plus one in Sitia.
**Because of distance from the airports, not because there is less worth seeing.** โ **The first and decisive reason**: Crete's two main airports are at **Heraklion** and **Chania** โ in the centre and the west. Most arrivals hire a car and stay within half an hour to an hour of where they landed. Sitia is **135 km** from Heraklion, which automatically writes it out of one-week itineraries. โ **The second**: **the headline sights are in the west and centre** โ Knossos, Samaria, Balos, Elafonisi, old Chania โ so itineraries are built around them. โ **The third**: **the wind**. The east is windier, and some beaches are difficult on many days. โ **What you gain from all this**: **empty sites** (Gournia, Lato, Zakros), lower prices, tavernas that serve locals, and the feeling of being in the Crete people live in rather than the one put on for visitors.
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