Plakias: The South Coast Base for Beaches and Gorges

South of Rethymno the road climbs into the foothills, threads the sheer walls of the Kourtaliotiko gorge where vultures circle the rim, and drops you into a wide bay where the mountains run straight into the Libyan Sea. This is Plakias, a village that grew from a handful of fishermen's huts in the 1960s into the most useful base on Crete's south coast, while somehow refusing to become a resort. There is one long main street, a working bakery, dive schools, and a beach that stretches over a kilometre to dunes at its eastern end.

The beaches

Plakias beach itself is the warm-up. Ten minutes east, Damnoni delivers a broad sweep of pale sand with water that shifts from jade to deep blue, and beyond it a string of coves, Ammoudi and Skinaria among them, each smaller and quieter than the last. Skinaria is the local snorkelling favourite, with some of the clearest water on the island. West of the village, Souda beach hides behind a headland with tamarisks for shade and a couple of unhurried tavernas. None of these requires more than a short drive or a decent walk over the cliff paths.

Gorges and villages above

The hills behind Plakias are laced with walking routes. The Kotsifou and Kourtaliotiko gorges frame the two road approaches, both worth slowing down for, and a steep old donkey path climbs to Myrthios, the balcony village directly above the bay, where you earn a long lunch with a view across the whole coastline. Twenty minutes east lies Preveli, the famous palm-lined river beach below its monastery; our Preveli guide covers the steep path down and why the monastery matters to Cretan history.

Practicalities

There is no fast way here, and that is the point. A transfer from Rethymno to Plakias takes about 40 minutes through the gorge; from Chania Airport allow around an hour and three quarters, and a touch more from Heraklion. The local bus to Rethymno runs a few times a day in season, but timetables thin out sharply after September, so check locally before relying on it.

Who it suits

Plakias works for walkers, divers, families who want space rather than waterslides, and anyone allergic to the north coast strip. It also keeps an oddball claim to fame: its youth hostel, set back among the olive groves, has long advertised itself as the southernmost in Europe. Nights are about taverna tables and the sound of the sea rather than clubs. If that reads like faint praise, the south coast is not your coast; if it reads like the whole point of Greece, start planning.