Ierapetra and Chrissi: Europe's Southernmost Town and Its Desert Island

Stand on the seafront at Ierapetra and there is nothing between you and Africa except the Libyan Sea. This is the southernmost town in Europe, a claim the locals wear lightly, and it shows in the climate: more sunshine hours than almost anywhere in Greece, winters mild enough that the plain to the west disappears under greenhouses growing tomatoes and cucumbers for half the continent. Ierapetra is a working town first and a resort second, which is precisely its charm.

The town itself

The waterfront promenade runs for over a kilometre past cafes and tavernas to the small Venetian fortress of Kales, built to guard the harbour in the early 17th century and still standing square against the sea. Behind it, the old Turkish quarter of Kato Mera keeps a mosque, an Ottoman fountain and lanes that have resisted every makeover. The town museum holds a superb Minoan clay sarcophagus, and local lore insists Napoleon spent a night here incognito in 1798 on his way to Egypt; the house is pointed out, the evidence is thin, the story is told anyway. The long town beach starts right at the promenade, and the locals' favourites, Livadi and the coves towards Ferma and Agia Fotia, line the coast road east.

Chrissi, the golden island

Eight nautical miles offshore lies Chrissi, a flat, uninhabited islet of golden sand, cedar trees twisted by the wind, and shallows the colour of a swimming pool. For years excursion boats ran daily from Ierapetra harbour in summer, and the day trip was one of the best in Crete. The island's fragile ecosystem has since come under formal protection and access rules have changed more than once, so check locally whether boats are currently running and under what conditions before you build a day around it. If Chrissi is closed, boats sometimes serve Koufonisi, another desert island further east with its own ancient ruins.

East along the coast

Ierapetra anchors the unhurried southeast corner of the island. Twenty minutes east, Makrigialos curves around a long, shallow, family-perfect beach; fifteen minutes west, whitewashed Myrtos sits above dark sand with a devoted repeat clientele. Both are covered in our Makrigialos and Myrtos guide, and short hops like the run from Ierapetra to Myrtos make car-free combinations easy.

Getting here

The drive from Heraklion crosses the island at its narrowest point, barely 14 kilometres separate the two seas here, and takes around an hour and a half. A transfer from Heraklion Airport to Ierapetra means arriving rested rather than wrestling the mountain bends yourself. Come in June or September and the town belongs to its residents and a modest scattering of regulars; come in spring and you may swim while the rest of Europe is still wearing coats.