Welcome to the second part of my Crete travel report! This time I'm taking you to the area east of Iraklio that I visited last year. While we stayed in Chersonissos, I sadly wouldn't recommend that place to anyone since it's full of tourists, but, thankfully, we rented a car so that I can show you some more of my favourite places on this wonderful island - I hope you enjoy 💙

On our first day we went on a trip to Spinalonga which is a former lepra colony. In order to get there you have to take a ferry from either Elounda or Plaka. Both are lovely fishermen's villages which is why I recommend to stop in Elounda first and then take the ferry from Plaka. That's what we did and it was certainly worth it 💖 The ferry is 8 € (return ticket) and departs every 10 to 15 minutes from the harbor.

Visiting Spinalonga was very interesting and we were lucky with the weather since it was sunny but not too hot. I'd recommend sturdy shoes though since you have to climb a bit to get the most spectacular view from the island 😍

When you go and visit Spinalonga you may also stop in Agios Nikolaos which is a lovely little town about 10 to 20 kilometres from Elounda. Once you're there you can go for a walk on the harbour that reminded me a little bit of Venice and have a cool drink in one of many cafes next to the water 🌊

One of my personal highlights on this trip was Chrysi Island. Chrysi is a beautiful, uninhabited island located a couple of miles south of the southern Cretan shoreline. It has been blessed with astonishingly beautiful nature and wonderful beaches that are equal to Balos beach lagoon and Elafonisi nature reserve. In order to get there, you can take a ferry from Ierapetra. The cruise lasts about one hour and a return ticket is between 25 and 30 €. If you get there early, you can stay the whole day since the last ferry departs from Chrysi around six o'clock in the afternoon.

Finally, while exploring the most wonderful beaches you shouldn't leave the mountains unattended and when it comes to mountains Crete has plenty to offer. In comparison to my trip in 2015 I have to say that the mountain range east of Iraklio is very different from those fantastic mountains behind Rethymno. They are higher and feature some of the most majestic peaks behind which you'll get another glimpse of Cretan culture at its best.

We began our trip in Kritsa which is quite near Agios Nikolaos. It's a mountain village which is typically Greek but still a little bit too touristy for my taste. However, from there you can set out to explore the Lathisi Plateau that was also one of my highlights on this trip. The mountains on Crete are majestic, extremely high and so beautiful. I absolutely loved this part of the island.

Last but not least, we visited a Greek monastery in the mountains. Entrance was 2 € and absolutely worth it 💕

So much for the second part of my travel report on Crete. I hope to go back in the future so that I can post more pictures of this lovely island but until then I'd love to hear whether you've been to Crete yet and if you have, do you have any recommendations of where to go next? 😊 Let me know in the comments down blow. Until next time and Happy New Year!

Love, Sarah