Crete activities

Crete is a walker's paradise. The geographical diversity and wild beauty of the island are gradually making it into a choice destination for walking and hiking. The whole island is criss-crossed by trails, most of them now disused except by shepherds. It is possible to walk all day without meeting a soul and still reach a village where you can eat and sleep in relative comfort. If you're a true hiker as opposed to a rambler, you can discover areas that are practically unknown and totally uninhabited, with undisturbed flora and fauna, be it in deep gorges or high up on the mountains.

As you'd expect on an island like Crete, water plays an important part in anybody's holiday so there is just about every watersport you can think of (and probably a few you haven't). Most beaches will provide you with sailing, water skiing, parasailing, bananas, ringos and pedalos. But if you get your kicks underwater, Crete has some of the best scuba diving there is with good dive centres all over the island ready to help you enter the wonderful undersea world that surrounds the island.

One of the best ways to appreciate the island is get on a bike and travel the country roads that cross the island. Spring is a particularly good time to do this as it's not too hot and the countryside is just beginning to blossom with the sights and smells of flowers and herbs. You can either join an organised bike tour, or simply go it alone.