Agia Galini

Agia Galini (population 1200) is one of the bigger settlements on the south coast. It has a lovely small old town, perched on a steep hillside. The picturesque houses and vehicle-free streets retain their charm despite the mass tourism. The lower part of Agia Galini has the port and the main square, and its here that you’ll find most of the restaurants, pensions, hotels and bars that constitute the nightlife of the town. Agia Galini attracts a more solvent kind of tourist, evidenced by the amount of jewellers in town. Compared to many other destinations on Crete, Agia Galini has made more effort on its city planning to keep it attractive. In my opinion, the people here understand the challenges of modern tourism far better than any other town along the south coast.

Agia Galini’s beaches are nothing special. You can catch ferries to them from the new port in the town centre. The best of these daytrips is for sure a ferry going to the palm beach of Preveli. If you take the morning boat to Preveli, you can spend the day under palm trees and take a follow-on boat to Plakias in the late afternoon.

The above-average campsite is 2km out of Agia Galini, next to a good beach. There are many rooms and hotels with average prices in Agia Galini. I recommend Candia Rooms which has basic room with economical prices. In summer there are five buses a day to both Iraklio and Rethymno. The Rethymno bus passes through the country town of Spili.

Around Agia Galini

Spili: the mountain town of Spili has a big lion fountain in its centre, with water gushing out all nineteen carved lion’s heads. The Green House is a good, cheap hotel here. A few kilometres after Spili (coming from Agia Galini) you can change buses to Plakias – make sure to ask the driver before.

Timbaki: If you take a bus to Iraklio, you’ll pass through Timbaki. It’s a big town for the south coast, and the weekly Friday market is interesting.

Mires: Mires is similar to Timbaki, but bigger. If you’re travelling by bus, you’ll likely end up here, since it’s home to the regional bus stop, which has connections to Matala, Agia Galini, Lendas, Phaistos and so on. The weekly market (Saturday) is one of the best on Crete, and worth a look – you can buy almost anything, from cheap Asian cloth to donkeys.

Agios Pavlos: this tiny village with less than ten houses situated a few kilometres to the west of Agia Galini. It’s a nice place to go for a daytrip. There are daily ferries from Agia Galini in summer, and in 2008 there were a few ferries every week from Plakias. In Agios Pavlos itself, you can find a few rent rooms, a nice beach (with a few stones) and an excellent beachside taverna.

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