• Trip Duration (from Rethymnon and back) - Full-day loop

Enter the following locations into your navigation system, step by step:

Kourtaliotiko Gorge (drive south on the island).

Moni Preveli (Orthodox Monastery)

Preveli (Palm Beach)

Damnoni Beach (or Kalypso, Ammoudaki, Ammoudi, Schinaria)

Plakias (town with options for swimming, lunch, or shopping)

Myrthios or Sellia (villages with places to sit and enjoy the sea view)

Kotsifou Gorge (drive north on the island – currently temporarily closed, you must return the same way through Kourtaliotiko).

• Travel (by car)

  There will be a separate article about "driving in Crete" prepared for you here. For now, we will limit ourselves to saying that the starting point for today’s trip will be the busy intersection in the town of Rethymnon, where the main road (the motorway) intersects with the road to Spili / Agia Galini. This is just a reference point, and it doesn't matter if you are coming to Rethymnon from the east (e.g., from Bali or Panorma) or from the west (e.g., from Chania, Georgioupoli, or Kavros). From this starting point, you will either follow the navigation or the road signs. It is ideal to set Kourtaliotiko Gorge (the gorge) as the first destination in your navigation (Waze, Google Maps, or Mapy.cz), which is 22 km away from the starting point in Rethymnon.

Rethymnon (on the map above, point A).
Kourtaliotiko Gorge (on the map above, point B).
Moni Preveli (on the map below, see point A).
Preveli Palm Beach (on the map below, point B).
Damnoni Beach (on the map below, point C).

At Kourtaliotiko Gorge, you can stop at several places, either just for a photo and continue on, or you can stop at the stone gate (a little above the canteen) and descend the stairs to the chapel of St. Nicholas (Ag. Nikolaos). Next to it flows a small river through the gorge. You can also see nice and refreshing waterfalls at the bottom. You can continue on to Kourtaliotiko Waterfalls (enter it into your navigation system).

Next, head towards Preveli. I recommend visiting the Preveli Orthodox Monastery first, which also has a small museum. Upon entering the monastery, please respect the dress code (cover your legs and shoulders). The entrance fee is about 4 EUR / person. The monastery offers beautiful views of the Libyan Sea.

Preveli Palm Beach has two access paths:

The one closer to the monastery, where there is a paid parking lot at the end (about 5 EUR / car / day). From there, you must descend long stairs to the beach.
The farther one, where you need to bypass the river and approach the beach from the east side. The descent to the beach is shorter and less strenuous. I recommend this option for families with children or for those who don’t want to take a long descent down the stairs.

I recommend visiting Preveli Palm Beach outside of the busy summer holiday months. If you visit this beach in July or August, either go very early in the morning or come in the afternoon when the crowds of tourists have already left.

To get to “Damnoni Beach”, drive through the village of Lefkogia (where there is a turnoff to one of the more secluded beaches, Schinaria). At Damnoni, you have several options: either settle in one of the taverns or go swimming. If you find this beach too crowded, you can try your luck at one of the smaller beaches (bays) such as Mikro Ammoudi (Ammoudaki), Ammoudi, Schinaria, or the rocky beach cove at Kalypso Hotel.

I personally like Ammoudi Beach, which has coarser sand (that doesn’t stick to your body like fine sand), a small stream flowing into the sea, and is a bit further from the larger hotels, so it’s usually less crowded. The same applies to Schinaria Beach. Mikro Ammoudi is closer to Damnoni, and during the summer, you might sometimes see nudists there... Damnoni is a larger organized beach, lined with taverns, and boats leave for Preveli Beach (or back to Plakias) 3-4 times a day.

In the resort of Plakias, there is a long sandy beach with a gradual entrance to the water and mostly crystal-clear azure waters (depending on the waves). Small tamarisks grow along the beach, providing pleasant shade. The beach is organized and well-equipped, with sunbeds and umbrellas, and is also lined with taverns and beach bars offering beautiful sea views. Visitors can choose from a wide range of adrenaline-fueled water sports, including diving schools.

In Plakias, you will also find several small shops selling souvenirs and traditional Cretan products. It’s definitely worth taking a little walk through the resort.

For those looking for more peace, I would recommend a light lunch or a small snack at a small family hotel (the last one - no cars can go further). It is located at the very edge of the resort, almost under the rock (near the nudist beach). It is never crowded, and the service is friendly.

After spending some time in the village of Plakias, you can head towards the mountains. You can choose from two mountain villages that are in sight directly from Plakias. The closer one is called Myrthios, and the other (on the other side of Kotsifou Gorge) is Sellia. Both offer beautiful views of the Plakias Bay. I definitely recommend at least stopping for a good Greek coffee and a sweet treat. Not far from here is also the village of Mariou (where our excellent Plakias brand olive oil is pressed).

Your last stop can be made when passing through Kotsifou Gorge, where under the rock, you will find an attached chapel. You can light a candle there and continue your journey through the mountains to the northern coast of Crete.

Warning! This passage is temporarily closed. You will need to return via Kourtaliotiko Gorge or take a longer route heading west via Chora Sfakion (but this is quite far).

If you feel like it, and especially if you’re heading towards Kavros, Georgioupoli, or Chania, you can still make a stop in the mountains at the historic sites of Lappa or Argyroupoli (both can be entered into the navigation – just make sure to enter them before entering Kotsifou Gorge, as there will be no mobile network signal in the gorge).