Chania, Crete

Located on the western end of Crete with a wild and beautiful coastline, the prefecture of Chania is by far the most mountainous area of Crete and is home to the imposing mass of the Lefka Ori (White Mountains), which are about 40 km long. Of these peaks that are formed, the tallest peak called Pachnes, which is measured at 2.453m altitude and has snow to the end of May! The mountain range offers four mountain shelters Kallegris, Svourichti, Tavri, and Volikas for the hiker. The south side of the island, lapped by the Lybian sea has the distinction of having the longest sunny days in Europe due to its closer proximity to the equator than the rest of the continent.

The north of Chania prefecture has very welcoming seas and the land mass ends in three peninsulas, a characteristic hard to miss on a map. Here tourist development is very intense naturally making this side of Chania more populated by far. However it is here that you will find exceptional, very modern and very well equipped hotels with friendly personnel always ready to do your bidding. This prefecture is 2,376 km2 and has a population of approximately 156,000 divided amongst its five districts, with the prefectures capital Chania housing 52,000 of them. There are over 500 villages strewn on the sides of the mountains and across the mountain plains of Omalos and Sfakia and those that are near the sea are a major point of interest to the average vacationer who just wants to relax or party or both. The Cretan lake of Kournas is only short way out of Georgioupoli (east of Chania).

Generally Crete’s climate is governed by the continental mass of Africa to the south which allows for the usually mild Mediterranean climate and even in autumn and winter, the winds usually blow north to northwest while the summer months, light breezes make it quite comfortable except for the occasional heat wave that pushes in from the Sahara to the south. It is however a divine gift of endless sunshine that allows one to start their holiday from March all the way to the end of October.

The prefecture of Chania also has the distinction of the highest number of springs welling up from the ground and slopes of the mountainsides. This is the reason for this bountiful vegetation and inordinately large number of fruit bearing trees, citrus, olive and grapevines to name just a few, dominate the agricultural landscape. The climate is of course a great ally to the swimmer where the sparkling clear seas of Chania prefecture always earn the European “Blue Flags” signifying the highest quality of waters and beaches, make this prefecture one for all ages almost all year round, if one has no problem with the northern winds.

The beautiful temperate climate and the lay of the land make the prefecture of Chania quite the paradise for thousands of plants and animals that have made it home.

The extent of herbal variety for such a small land mass is staggering and due to the climate it is the culinary and medicinal herbs that dominate the mountainsides with their sheer numbers.

If you want to make a day of it and know you herbs, hike out there and get some for yourself, if you are not the hiking type, you can obtain them dried or freshly cut in the Public Market or local shops where these special medicinal herbs can be found and others too numerous to be named. It is a peculiar that in Crete you can find a sum of 17 unique plants, 4 of which exist in the prefecture of Chania and nowhere else!

As a hiker if you are lucky enough you may come across the proud and fiercely independent – much like the Cretans themselves – longhorn Cretan wild goat, the "Kri-Kri", which lives freely in the Samaria Gorge which is the only place it can be found. You may also spot a Cretan eagle and many partridges which are hunted in season, hares which are also hunted, ferrets, skunks, weasels, hawks a.s.o. can also be seen on the plains of Crete.

Evidently, nature conservation is a serious matter in Crete because the endangered turtles (caretta-caretta) live on the north shores of Chania and there is a very stringent protection policy in place for this ancient creature.