crete or corfu?

[telbert]

Help me out here please fellow Urbs. Never been to any part of Greece before but now we're looking at 10 -14 nights June /July for me and the missus. We're looking for good beaches and good weather , excellent food and drink, some nightlife(but nothing too mental) and some local culture. Any info or recommendations gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[mx wcfc]

We went to Corfu a couple of years ago. They had some fairly nice beers in Corfu town.

Didn't see anything which might qualify as a beach though. there was gravel and rocks and sea.

Beware the star system. When we complained about our hotel, we were told it was "4 star for Greece". It was basically Butlins standard with free lager.

There are some pretty bits of coast - you can hire a motor boat and wander up the coast to little restaurants by the sea.

And you can pop over to Albania for a day trip. I got an Enver Hoxha mug for my Stalo mate, but the halibut factories had all closed down.

Wouldn't go back tbh. Maybe we were on the wrong side of the island or something.

 

[Spymaster]

Why Crete or Corfu?

The two are very different. Corfu is one of the most northern Greek Islands and is smallish and green, Crete is the most southerly, the largest of the Greek islands and gets parched every summer. Both have good beaches but Crete shades it in terms of history and also has a tiny tucked away village (Loutro Loutro - holidays guide - Hotels in Loutro village - Sfakia Crete) that's only reachable by boat that's great to hang out in for a few days.

 

[Santino]

Corfu is nice but Crete is AWESOME

 

[twentythreedom]

Either but Crete at a push. There are other islands too

 

[telbert]

Why Crete or Corfu?

The two are very different. Corfu is one of the most northern Greek Islands and is smallish and green, Crete is the most southerly, the largest of the Greek islands and gets parched every summer. Both have good beaches but Crete shades it in terms of history and also has a tiny tucked away village (Loutro Loutro - holidays guide - Hotels in Loutro village - Sfakia Crete) that's only reachable by boat that's great to hang out in for a few days.

TBH almost everyone that I've asked about a Greek island holiday has said Crete or Corfu are probably the best for what I want,although after a bit of research tonight I can see they are quite different.I think I'm leaning towards Crete now and I'm looking at Stalis .

 

[Pickman's model]

I'd go crete and agios nikalaos

 

[Stanley Edwards]

Can you show us the brochure? Or, brochures?

Can't decide until I've browsed the brochures.

 

[nogojones]

Corfu is quite small. It's nice, but with a car you'll have seen everything on the island in a week. Crete, Although I ain't been there will most likely have much more of everything

 

[Spymaster]

TBH almost everyone that I've asked about a Greek island holiday has said Crete or Corfu are probably the best for what I want,although after a bit of research tonight I can see they are quite different.I think I'm leaning towards Crete now and I'm looking at Stalis .

Crete's probably the better choice for a first trip to the Greek islands because it's so large that you can do something else if you're getting bored at the beach. I'd recommend hiring a car and visiting Chania port and Heraklion. Plenty of beaches between them on the north coast. Drive over the mountains to the south coast and the beaches and villages are very different. Crete was also the site of a major WW2 battle and British evacuation so there's a lot of that history too if it interests you. There's a fascinating little museum on the road to Sfakia which is basically some fellas house that he's filled with WW2 relics that he's collected from all over the island. Knock on his door and he'll show you around but he doesn't speak English so he just points to the items saying "English" or "German".

Best beaches are on the south coast. We liked Agia Gallini and around there.

 

[skyscraper101]

Crete. Excellent. Had a great time there a few years ago. Would definitely recommend.

Corfu. Horrid. Went to Kavos last year and was fucking awful full of club 18-30 bellends.

HTH

 

[miss direct]

There's a lovely gorge to walk through in Crete but probably not in the height of summer.

Don't judge Corfu by Kavos alone! Crete has Malia, which is much the same...

 

[Pickman's model]

Crete's probably the better choice for a first trip to the Greek islands because it's so large that you can do something else if you're getting bored at the beach. I'd recommend hiring a car and visiting Chania port and Heraklion. Plenty of beaches between them on the north coast. Drive over the mountains to the south coast and the beaches and villages are very different. Crete was also the site of a major WW2 battle and British evacuation so there's a lot of that history too if it interests you. There's a fascinating little museum on the road to Sfakia which is basically some fellas house that he's filled with WW2 relics that he's collected from all over the island. Knock on his door and he'll show you around but he doesn't speak English so he just points to the items saying "English" or "German".

Best beaches are on the south coast. We liked Agia Gallini and around there.

Yeh but pa you're forgetting lasithi and the cave where zeus was born, not to mention knossos and spinalonga

 

[Pickman's model]

Spinalonga of course former venetian fortress later leper colony

 

[not-bono-ever]

if you like the clear blue sea kinda Greece, then Crete is the best of the pair IMO. I do diving and snorkelling and Corfu is a bit murky. As mentioned, you can take the ferry to Sarande in Albania to escape the masses if that sounds interesting. I think Corfu is the old man of Greek mass tourism these days, one of the first places to open up to the charter market and it is looking its age these days

 

[Spymaster]

...it is looking its age these days

Most of the Greek islands I've visited in the last 10-15 years have clearly seen better days. All are looking pretty shabby except perhaps Santorini.

 

[A380]

Crete bags of ancient history, dry, pine forests, whitewashed buildings. Great snorkling. Always windy so it doesn't seem that hot on the south coast.

Corfu lots of more recent (c 15th C on history) very green, Venetian and British historic buildings, side trips to Albania.

I liked them both, just depends which one you fancy most.

 

[Gromit]

Crete seems to be one of the cheapest places to book lately. Make the most of it I say.

I didn't see a lot of it but liked what I did see.

 

[telbert]

Booked 12 nights in Stallis,Crete mid june. Looking forward to the authentic food & drink, local culture, architecture etc, but most of all laying in the sun scorching with a cold drink close by.
Thanks to all for the info.

 

[Duncan2]

Booked 12 nights in Stallis,Crete mid june. Looking forward to the authentic food & drink, local culture, architecture etc, but most of all laying in the sun scorching with a cold drink close by.
Thanks to all for the info.

Also if you get up in the hills-maybe on a moped-look out for the vultures-about the size of a hearth-rug.

 

[planetgeli]

Samaria is the gorge in Crete worth walking. Malia is indeed the Brit pisshead area to be avoided. Hire a car, Crete is pretty big.

We got delayed for 24 hours on Crete. Put up in an all-paid for hotel where my gf stole everything. The hotel was in a place called Shell. Owned by Shell. Yes, really.

Despite Malia (and Kassiopi on Corfu) Crete pisses on Corfu.

Santorini? Get you posh boy. (See post 16). Nothing wrong with Skiathos for a week (it's tiny, a week is enough). I have beautiful memories of taking MDMA in Thassos too. Could have done being warned you get there via an army base on mainland Greece mind....

 

[Riklet]

How was Crete in the end? Any tips?

Going in September for 8 days... should be awesome. Never been to Greece before so I'm quite excited!

 

[Pickman's model]

How was Crete in the end? Any tips?

Going in September for 8 days... should be awesome. Never been to Greece before so I'm quite excited!

Have fun! Where in crete you stopping?

 

[telbert]

Crete was great. We stayed in Stallis. Almost all the restaurant/ bar owners said it had been getting quieter year on year because of the big AI gaffs opening all over the place but it was alright for us. Bars open no later than about 1.30/ 2.00am. Good restaurants, never had a bad meal( and I'm someone that will pull the restaurant staff if food or service is not what it should be). Very friendly local. Great beaches. Only downside was waiting for the flight home. Heraklion airport is a fucking dustbin.
Enjoy.

 

[Geri]

Corfu. Horrid. Went to Kavos last year and was fucking awful full of club 18-30 bellends.

HTH

I went there when I was 21 and it was hideous.

In this day and age though, surely you would check it out before booking?

 

[Chilli.s]

Another vote for crete, great place. And a vote for Agia Galini (town/village) on s. coast.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Another vote for crete, great place. And a vote for Agia Galini (town/village) on s. coast.

I went to Agia Galini many years ago, and it was lovely. I bet it's changed a bit since then.

 

[High Voltage]

Going back to Rethimno at the end of this month for 14 days - weather's looking excellent at the moment - we're staying, once again, in the old town - can't wait

 

[Chilli.s]

I went to Agia Galini many years ago, and it was lovely. I bet it's changed a bit since then.

Me too!