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Elounda Area Information
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Original content © simply Crete Holidays ltd 2006

    Elounda is located some 9km north of Agios Nikolaos and is reached via a good new road which has an
    observation point at its summit followed by a winding drop, past the turnings to the large hotels( Elounda
    Beach, Elounda Gulf, Elounda Mare, Porto Elounda), into the town itself. The area which is
    conventionally known as Elounda is, in fact, a smaller village called Schisma which houses the harbour and
    main square. In the summer many pleasure boats depart from this area for the island of Spinalonga. Sadly,
    the area is now experiencing large amounts of building work for new villas, due to the expanding real estate
    market,
    and many traditional visitors find this intrusive.

    Although the luxury hotels P.R departments have painted a 5 star picture of the resort, the main harbour area
    is often densely populated with package tourists and day visitors from other parts of the island.
    Do not expect to find high quality restaurants or accommodation outside the luxury hotel strip. Basic
    tavernas and satellite television bars are the norm around the harbour area although you can find some gems
    if you know where to look.

    The area has some of the most spectacular scenery in Crete and the smaller villages of Kato Elounda and
    Epano Elounda still exude their natural charm due to some sympathetic renovation work. Other villages,
    such as Mavrikiano, are suffering from extensive new building developments and have lost their original
    attractiveness to a great extent.

    Even visitors who have stayed in Elounda many times often neglect to discover the wildlife and history of
    the area, much of which is to be found by the salt pans to the south of Schisma. The sunken city of
    Olous is nearby and the canal and old windmills are also worth a visit on your way to the preserved mosaic
    floor of a Byzantine period basillica. The peninsular of Spinalonga (the island with the fortress is actually
    called Kalydon) is an excellent place to walk and see wild flowers, birds and wildlife

    Elounda remains a wonderful place to stay and there are still some very good accommodations available,
    particularly in the Tsifliki area between Schisma and Plaka. Often depicted as a family resort by some tour
    operators, Elounda is probably more suited to couples of all ages.
Places of interest in Elounda
Original content © simply Crete Holidays ltd 2006