DESTINATIONS CRETE | GREECE & CYPRUS Cretetreats y travelweekly.co.uk


With wine, spa and superb sea views, eastern Crete offers a well-balanced diet of indulgence, writes Jo Cooke


ou can’t help but love the Greek islands – and Crete is the cream of the crop. The furthest south, it has a long season, lots of sunshine and being the largest island of all, you’re never short of things to do.


While many of its siblings can be summed up in a


day’s island tour, you’d need weeks to get to all the nooks and crannies of this baby. The trick is to pick a corner, base yourself there, and then explore. I joined a charismatic bunch of travel agents heading


to the northeastern side of the island, via an Aegean Airlines flight to capital Heraklion.


CSSICAL CRETE Heraklion seamlessly blends classical and contemporary. The 16th-century city walls soar above the waterfront, complemented by Castello a Mare, a fortress that extends along the harbour. Continue west and you hit the swanky promenade, with its coffee shops and cocktail bars. It’s clear the residents here have flair – and always have done, if Heraklion Archaeological Museum is anything to go by. It’s packed full of bejewelled and gilded artefacts. Heraklion may be the current capital of Crete, but


in antiquity it was its near-neighbour, Knossos, that ran the show. A grand Minoan palace marks the spot, reconstructed to resemble its 1900BC counterpart. This was the des-res of past millennia, a cutting-edge abode


for royals and their courtiers. Grab a tour guide at the door, and marvel at the columns, frescoes, pottery and clever mod-cons, including an ‘air-conditioning’ system. The grapes on those frescoes are a clue to a Cretan


tradition that dates back some 3,500 years, too: winemaking. We were whisked off into the hills by local firm Politis Transfer Services to the Douloufakis family’s winery, where four generations have crafted a robust


While many of Crete’s siblings can be summed up in a day’s island tour, you’d need weeks to get to all the nooks and crannies of this baby


syrah and perky chardonnay. There are tasting rooms in the village of Dafnes, or you can sample their wares, as we did, while dining on home-cooked meze dishes at a shepherd’s hut surrounded by rolling vineyards. All of this is within easy reach of the Aldemar


Royal Mare. This five-star pad, set on the long and undeveloped Anissaras beach, was our base. Together with sister properties, Aldemar Knossos Royal and Aldemar Cretan Village, guests pretty much have Anissaras all to themselves, plus it’s just 25 minutes from Heraklion airport. “This is a great location, and the


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