Sitia is another seaside town situated on the east of Crete in the Lassithi prefecture. Its is another town hardly touched by modern tourism

Serene Sitia

Sitia can be accessed by following the main national highway from Heraklion and sits just an hours drive away from Agios Nikolaos. The town has its own domestic airport, which you can fly into from Athens, but most people tend to use Heraklion airport.

The small seaside town of Sitia is famous in Crete now for its lovely sandy beach which is surrounded by small beach bars and Taverna’s. If you want to venture further afield and explore the area of Sitia, you have Toplou Monastery and Vai beach just a short drive away.

Colourful Houses on Spinalong Island in Agios Nikolaos

sitia

Sitia by the sea

One of the main reasons people visit the town has to be its excellent beaches, on the eastern coast past Agios Nikolaos the coastline becomes more rugged and beaches are harder to find. the beach is well catered for with showers, beach service and of course sunbeds available for daily rental.

Visiting the town for a meal you will find some excellent little Taverna’s, one we recommend is Cafe Aroma, sitting on the harbour side. Also find Zorba’s sitting just down from Cafe Aroma which is always full of locals grabbing a bite to eat or sitting down for a family meal.

explore sitia

Imposing beauty

For those interested in exploring the area of Sitia then there is a lot to do, including exploring the local cave systems, of which the best of these has to be Peristera, Pelekita and Oxo Latsidi with the latter being 300 meters long.

If exploring the caves is not your cup of tea then try visiting the gorge of Kato Zakros or the “Valley of the Dead”, so called due to the amount of Minoan burials found in the area. This is a great place for all budding archaeologists to explore and for those who have visited the palace of Knossos its an excellent place to see the other side of the Minoan culture.

Another excellent place to visit is the Toplou Monastery which can be found on the way to Vai beach. Toplou Monastery was built in the 15th century and was rebuilt after a huge earthquake that shattered the island of Crete. The monastery has some amazing paintings, fresco and icons dating back from the 15th century including portraits of amazing battles holding off invading forces.