2015
ANEKORAMA |
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credit for photos and illustrations
Juan Salmoral/flickr
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The Cretan
west coast does not include
many luxurious tourist “centers”, but it
maintains its authentic, rough character;
it’s a high end destination for nature lovers
and romantics. Starting from Chania,
drive westwards towards Kissamos on
the National Highway for 43 km and in
30 minutes you will reach the capital of
Kissamos Municipality.
At the innermost part of the bay defined
by peninsulas Gramvoussa and Rodopos,
Kissamos (or “Kastelli”, as the locals call it)
is small but beautiful. Noisy Telonio beach,
a pedestrian street along the coast, full of
bars, cafés and restaurants is the center
of the town’s summer life; the small, pic-
turesque fishermen’s port, 1.5 km far from
downtown, is amust dining stop (at Gerot-
segos fish tavern) of the passersby. The Ar-
chaeological Museum which hosts local
findings from the Hellenistic and Roman
eras stands out among the cultural sites,
together with the little church of Ai Giannis
Damialis, built in a cave of a rock since the
10th century and restored in 1947. Basical-
ly, Kissamos is an excellent value for money
destination (5th worldwide on last year’s
Lonely Planet list) and the ideal base for
explorations of gorges, ecological routes,
and beaches ofWesternCrete – all of them
are very close.
BEACHES – SIGHTS
You can enjoy themby successive daytrips
or through a single fascinating trip, starting
of course from – the renowned worldwide
– Balos. About 17 km far fromKissamos, at
CapeGramvoussa, there is a beach in a set-
ting of fantastic beauty with fine, white or
golden-pink sand and a lagoonwithwarm,
shallow, blue-turquoise-green waters, de-
scribed by travel agents without exagger-
ation, as “a natural miracle”, and “an exotic
setting of unbelievable beauty”.
To arrive here, one has to drive 7-8 km
on a tolerable dirt road that begins from
Kalyviani village and ends in an improvised
parking at the edge of themountain, above
the beach (Kalyviani’s renowned taverns
Cretan Daily Cruises ships
leave daily from Kissamos
and after a one hour trip in
beautiful Kissamos Bay they
reach Imeri Gramvoussa Island
with its famous Venetian castle
(1579) on top of a hill. The
ship leaves after a 2 hour stay
in the island’s clear waters
and, in 20 min., it reaches the
blue-green waters and white
sand of Balos lagoon, where
passengers disembark and
enjoy theenchanting exotic site
for 3 hours.
cretandailycruises.com
cruise to Balos
& Gramvoussa
1
Chrisoskalitissa
Monastery.
2
Balos’
beach.
3
Ascent to
Gramvoussa Castle.
4
The shipwreck
seen from
Gramvoussa Castle.
5
,
6
Elafonissi.
