Hersonissos, located 26 km from Heraklion and its airport Nikos Kazantzakis, stretches along the waterfront of Malia Bay. Next to him, a little to the west, sheltered another pretty resort Agios Nikolaos.
Hersonissos is the unofficial capital of island tourism, one of the most fun and noisy resort places in Crete. There are expensive restaurants and traditional taverns, boutiques and souvenir shops, discos and clubs. In the port area, a long “strip of bars” runs along the coast, mostly Irish and Dutch. So it is not surprising that the most frequent guests at the resort are the Dutch, Irish, British and Germans.
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Tourists with children will hardly like noisy Hersonissos.
How to get to Hersonissos
Hersonissos is located just 25 km from Heraklion, so getting to the bustling town is not difficult. Aeroflot and Ellinair fly here on a regular basis, and numerous charters join in the summer. From the airport to the city can be reached in 20-25 minutes by taxi. You can save money by heading first to Heraklion and already there taking a bus to Hersonissos (40 minutes on the way).
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History
Hersonissos is one of the oldest villages in Crete, located in a picturesque region where turquoise waters meet the charming rocks of Lassithi. The name “Hersonissos” comes from the Greek “peninsula”, which rises from the west above the Malsky Strait.
This area was first inhabited in the Minoan period, around 1500 BC. e. On the beach, at Anisaras, west of the port of Hersonissos, there was a Minoan settlement. Unique finds of that time were made here.
How to navigate in the city
The ancient picturesque village of Hersonissos is located 2 km south of the port, on a hill with stunning views of the sea. Here, traditional houses coexist with green streets, workshops and cafes, churches and taverns, where guests of the resort can taste national dishes and drinks.
The modern port of Hersonissos is the second part of the resort; both luxurious resort complexes and small cozy apartments lined up around it.
Beaches
The only “but” of Hersonissos is that in the city itself the beach is, of course, urban and, as a result, not the most charming. However, 0.5-1 km from the center there are real paradises. For example, the sandy beach of Drepanos located in the east, which is located at the Nana Beach 4 * hotel and boasts a blue flag.
A little further west, near the Lychnostatis Museum, there are other nice beaches, followed by Star Beach with a water park. Near the Silva Beach 4 * hotel there are several more sites that have received a blue flag for the purity of their waters.
The largest and most centrally located beach of Hersonissos stretches from the Creta Maris 5 * hotel and offers a wide range of water sports.
In the west, blue flag beaches deserve special mention: near the Annabelle Village 5* hotel, Aldemar Knossos Royal 5*, Aldemar Royal Mare 5* and Aldemar Cretan Village 4*.
Other beaches of note are opposite the New York bar, the sandy beaches of limanakia to the east, and the nude beach.
Entertainment and attractions of Hersonissos
The ruins of ancient theaters, mosaics, a paleo-Christian basilica, a Roman port and an old fish tank are some of the main attractions of modern Hersonissos. For example, to the north of the Eri Beach 4 * hotel there is an ancient basilica, and a little further to the west there is a Saracen fountain with amazing mosaics.
The resort has a mini-golf course, karting and a small water park Aqua Splash, an open-air museum of national life and an equestrian base, two medical complexes and a thalassotherapy center, a diving club and several water sports centers on the beaches.
Shops are open until midnight, and taverns and disco bars (by the way, with free admission) – until the morning. At the same time, the most popular nightclubs are Amnezia and Matrix.
Southern Greece
Southern Greece unites a considerable territory of the picturesque Peloponnese peninsula, as well as Attica and the capital, the city of Athens. The main resorts here are Loutraki and the island of Evia. There are also coastal areas of Athens, Glyfada and Vouliagmeni, but the last two are less and less sold on the Russian market. In Glyfada, accommodation has become very expensive (a three-ruble note there corresponds in price to a five-star one in Loutraki). In Vouliagmeni, prices are not lower – VIP vacationers and business tourists mainly go there.
The main resorts of Southern Greece
- Lotraki
- Evia
- Glyphada
- Vouliagmeni
- Lagonissi
- PeloponnesePeninsula
How to get there
The duration of the flight from Moscow to Athens is 3 hours 40 minutes. From Athens, you can get to any town and resort by bus, or by renting a car.
Throughout Southern Greece, as well as throughout the country, KTEL buses (Koino Tamio Eispraxeon Leoforion) run. Every major city has their own ticketing agency, as well as ticket offices at train stations. The fare is relatively low and is under the vigilant control of the state. Travel time to Sparta – 3 hours, Patras – 2.5 hours, Kalamata – 4.5 hours.
Beaches of Southern Greece
The beaches of the region are traditionally very clean, mostly large and small pebbles. The water is extremely clear, due to the absence of sandy “haze”. The beaches in the coastal areas of Athens – Glyfada and Vouliagmeni – are sandy.
Entertainment and attractions of Southern Greece
Sightseeing tour of Athens with a visit to the Acropolis, Cape Sounion – the “boundary of possessions” of the goddess Athena and the god Poseidon, trains to Corinth, a one-day cruise around the islands of Aegina – Poros – Hydra, a trip to Delphi (on the way – stops in the picturesque villages of Arachovo and Levadia), Argolis – the opportunity to see the well-preserved ancient theater of Epidaurus, Mycenae, Nafplio, and much more. Saints Meteora are Christian monasteries with unique frescoes, icons and a library where ancient manuscripts and other holy relics are kept (travel time from Athens is 5-6 hours).
