Crete and Greece
Restaurants, bistros and hotels
When planning a holiday in Greece, there are several choices available to you, depending on your tastes and budget: A flight + hotel break? A tour organised by an agency or prepared by yourself? Hire a car on arrival at the airport and set off to discover the country with a minimum programme? In any case, Crete and Greece offer a wide range of destinations, types of holiday, quality tourist services, hotels, airbnb, activities, discoveries, culture, nightlife, etc.
At the restaurant
As the English, Scandinavians and Germans are the majority of Western tourists in Greece (the French only come in 3rd or 4th place, depending on the year), in some places the Greek restaurant menus are so adapted to the dominant clientele, that the language of Molière is not enough to get to know the cretan diet. For a local population of 600,000, Crete welcomed in 2016 more than 4.5 million visitors who spent 3 billion €, which amounts to an income of 5,000€/inhabitant! On the one hand, it's a windfall, but fortunately they don't all come at the same time...
In general, avoid places that are too touristy and visit the kitchens when you are invited to do so to choose "de visu". Here we order all the dishes at the same time, starters, greek salad, the main menu. Among the meats, choose the lamb that is raised in Crete; fresh fish is rare and sometimes expensive, since it has to be fished further and further away and there is no shortage of fish lovers in summer. The " greek owner's wine The "national" dish is rice pilaf (rice cooked in the juice of old poularde or lamb from the garrigues, and served with this meat). The "national" dish is the rice pilaf (rice cooked in the juice of an old poularde or lamb of the garrigues, and served with this meat) that can be tasted on feast days at the Cretans provided that you are invited!
In the restaurant or in the tavern (don't try to find a difference except for the luxury restaurants, but you don't go to Crete for that...) you can have a complete meal from 12 €. Here, you don't reserve a table, you have lunch between 1 and 3 pm but the restoration is possible at any time of the day. Do not forget the tip...
At the bistro
Every village has at least one bistro, place to meet, relax and talk, but only frequented by men...
Every village has at least one bistro, a place to meet, relax and talk, but only frequented by men... Often, even in small villages, there are two, frequented by men according to their affinities or, until recently, according to their political philosophy. You will meet mostly men, playing cards, "Tavli" (Backgammon) or teasing the "komboloi" (a kind of rosary, which, for the Cretans, and Greeks in general, is not an object of piety, but by sliding between the fingers the grains of amber threaded in a necklace, one occupies the hands and sometimes accompanies more or less deep thoughts ...).
Aux heures les plus chaudes de la journée, entre 14 h et 17h, beaucoup de magasins ferment, et beaucoup de crétois font la sieste. Les visites de l’après midi commencent après 17 heures et se prolongent tard dans la soirée. Encore aujourd’hui, le bistrot du village est en même temps une épicerie, un centre de diffusion des informations venant d’Organismes divers mais aussi un distributeur de courrier. En dehors du café grec, vous pouvez boire un bon Nescafé frappé ou un « Freddo espresso », des cafés frappés avec des glaçons, ou déguster le schnaps local, la Tsikoudia ou le Raki. Attention, ne levez pas trop le coude si vous n’avez pas l’habitude.
At the hotel
Mis à part certains sites qui, en été, deviennent très touristiques, et ceci surtout entre le 15 juillet et 15 août, le taux moyen d’occupation des chambres n’est jamais au maximum. En d’autres termes, vous ne risquez pas de dormir à la belle étoile sauf si vous le souhaitez, ce qui peut d’ailleurs être un beau projet. A côté des hôtels classiques, vous y trouverez des airbnb, très répandus en Grèce, pour tous les prix et les standings. Avant l’arrivée récente des airbnb, c’était les chambres d’hôte, que l’on appelait « domatia », désignés souvent par le terme anglais « rooms to rent ». Ce type d’hébergement « chez l’habitant » était très prisé par certains, pour le climat de sympathie et d’hospitalité crétoise qu’il générait, étant donnée la présence physique des hôtes. C’était souvent spartiate, mais propre et bon marché. En basse saison, on pouvait même discuter le prix sans offenser le propriétaire. Aujourd’hui tout ceci est remplacé par les airbnb, qui, étant donnée l’épidémie récente, offrent l’avantage d’éviter le contact physique quotidien avec une autre tribu.
In general, all airbnb accommodation, from the moment it is on the platform, is authorised and declared. They are inspected by the tourist authorities and prices are public and displayed. It's also worth pointing out that most small hotels and airbnb properties are not heated. You might say that this is normal in a country with a temperate climate like Crete. But the problem can arise at the start of the season, particularly in April, when the nights can be chilly! So pack a jumper and bring your body closer together... There are around fifteen campsites and three youth hostels in Crete, in Heraklion, Rethymnon and Plakias.
(Editor: Nikos Papadogeorgakis / Degeorges Nicolas)
Rent a car in Greece: Crete (Heraklion, Chania, Rethymnon, Agios Nikolaos) – Athens – Rhodes – Corfu – Mykonos – Santorini – Thessaloniki – Preveza/Aktion/Lefkada – Patras/Araxos – Kalamata – Paros – Syros – Kos – Naxos – Lesbos – Thassos – Zakynthos/Zante
