The village of Loutro is unique in Crete, hardly touched by tourism the village is completely cut off from any roads, and can only be reached by travelling on a boat via the small harbour or walking the small paths to the villages.

Magical Loutro

Loutro was once the port of the ancient village of Anopoli, and was the winter port for the town of Chora Sfakion. It is a natural bay and no matter how rough the winter weather gets you will always find Loutro very sheltered and calm.

You will only find one or two small traditional Cretan hotels in Loutro. The hotels in here are bookable locally over the internet, travel agents and tour operators don’t supply combined packages to this part of Crete but its easy enough to book hotels and find cheap flights separately.

It takes approximately 20 minutes to get to Loutro, usually on the ferry that departs from Chora Sfakion daily. You will find the ferry easy to catch as it runs about 5 times daily. If you fancy taking the more scenic land route then you can walk the path from Chora Sfakion to Loutro, but be warned your looking at two hours walk at a steady pace.

Loutro has a lot to offer as well, the most pleasant thing is the complete quietness and silence of the small coastal village, there are no cars or mopeds at all here and the village remains quiet even during the summer months. The beach is rarely full, and if you will easily find more beaches just a short stroll or hike around the coastline.

Colourful Houses on Spinalong Island in Agios Nikolaos

loutro

Anopoli Village

Anopoli Village is a traditional centre for the area, and remains a very old and treasured village in the hearts of the locals. Loutro used to be the harbour of Anopoli Village during Roman and Venetian times.

Anopoli is the birth place of Ioannis Daskaloyannis, (Daskalogiannis) the leader of the revolution of 1770 against the Turks. During this revolution Anopoli was the only place in Crete not occupied by the Turks.

Anopoli today has a Taverna or two, a small hotel and some roadside cafes for you to sit and relax in, a lot of people come to Anopoli to see the wonderful scenery and statues and monuments that are well placed in the small village.

loutro Beach

Beautiful sandy beaches

The most famous of these beaches is the lovely Sweetwater beach, a lovely long sandy beach about 30 minutes walk from Loutro. Also look out for Marmara beach which is further along at an additional 10 minutes extra walking. If you don’t want to walk you can always catch the morning boat from Loutro for a small fee.

Loutro also has quite a few naturist beaches which attracts a lot of tourists from all over Europe to enjoy the privacy the small inlets and coves that this area has to offer.

Apart from the beaches and stunning scenery you can visit the ancient village of Anopoli, now a centre for many festivals in the area. It flourished mainly in the Roman and the Venetian Periods. Anopoli was a revolutionary center against the Venetians but sadly the town was destroyed in 1365. Visiting Anopoli or Anopolis you will find basic accommodation and a lovely Taverna called O’ Platanos and its well worth a visit.

For those who fancy exploring even more that Loutro has to offer then you must experience the wonder that is Imbros Gorge, a much smaller gorge than that of Samaria Gorge but still well worth the visit. You can expect to see the Cretan wilderness and wildlife in all its glory. Also a bonus with Imbros Gorge is that you don’t need a guide and its much easier on the legs than Samaria Gorge.

To take in the archaeological side of Loutro and the area then pay a visit to the Venetian fortress ruins which sit overlooking Loutro, sitting on the peninsula between Finix and Loutro.

As a final thought about Loutro, what you will find here is peace, tranquility, the traditional way of life, excellent freshly caught fish in every Taverna and a chance to take some amazing pictures of this area.