Crete

To the Greeks Crete seems the most authentically Greek of all the isalnds because of the lengh of its history and relative remotness from the ancient centres of war and diplomacy. Crete, for example, played no part in the Persian or the Peloponnesian wars.

'The big island' Crete is always called in the colloquial tongue, and big it is, spacious and full of the brooding presence of it's four groups of mountains.

The Cretans have seen everything - the collapse of the Minoan Empire, the rise of Venice, the slave markets of Turkey, Nazi parachutists and American hippies, nothing has been spared them. So for those wanting more than traditional holidays in Greece and Greek island villas, Crete offers a rich tapestry of history and culture waiting to be discovered.