The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
INSIDER CRETE: TIPS FROM OUR LOCAL EXPERT
Dinner dance
For a concentrated dose of local life, look out for posters advertising Cretan music evenings – glendis. Held out on the village square in summer, the great-value ticket price (around €15) generally includes a set menu: starter, main meat dish and dessert, along with a carafe of raki or local wine. The festivities and dancing start around 10pm – be prepared to party until dawn.
Street food snacks
Greek street snacks are super cheap: order a filling gyros pita stuffed with chicken or pork, bundled together with rough-cut chips, fine slices of onion, tomato chunks and dollops of yogurt tzatziki for €3-€4, for a filling, affordable lunch. Vegetarians should order patatopita, the meat-free version. Other cheap and tasty veggie snacks include spanakopita (spinach pie).
Neighbourhood watch
Clustered around 1821 Square, Chania’s Splantzia district is a concentrated slice of the city’s Turkishoccupied past. Visit the 14th-century church of Agios Nikolaos, with its bell tower and lofty minaret; tuck into meze dishes (right); and browse the book stores and knife-making workshops along the flower-strewn Maxaradika street.
Timing is all
Most archaeological sites and museums are usually open all day, or at least until 3pm. To avoid the coach-tour crowds, however, visit around noon when tourists will generally be having their lunch. For sights that are open in the evening, plan to visit around 5pm when most day trips have ended.
Souvenir watch
Traditional stivania boots can be made to measure at Nikos Terezakis’s Chania store, Gilotes-Stivania.
For authentic local crafts head for Verekinthos Arts and Crafts Village, where you can purchase leather, glass and jewellery items, as well as old-fashioned toys made from tin or wood.
Laws and etiquette
Cretans are relaxed about sartorial style, but they appreciate modest clothing (no shorts or crop tops) in churches and other religious places – you are expected to remove headgear when entering. Nude sunbathing near families is considered rude, and is only acceptable on designated beaches.