Greece

A road trip across the island of Crete, the largest in Greece and cradle of the Minoan civilization — seven days from east to west among legendary beaches, millennia-old ruins and fishing villages where time flows at the rhythm of the Mediterranean.

Heraklion, the capital, is the starting point. The Palace of Knossos, just outside the city, is Crete's most important archaeological site and perhaps all of Greece: the seat of the mythical Minoan civilization, of King Minos and the legendary Labyrinth of the Minotaur. The throne room, the storerooms with great pithoi (oil jars), the frescoes depicting dolphins and bulls — everything tells of a sophisticated civilization four thousand years old. The Heraklion Archaeological Museum completes the visit with original artefacts.

Along the north-east coast: the picturesque Agios Nikolaos, built around its inland lake (Voulismeni), which legend says is bottomless, connected to the sea by a canal. The lakeside cafés, fish restaurants and relaxed atmosphere make it a perfect base. Vai beach, at the eastern tip of the island, is famous for its wild date palm grove — the largest in Europe — creating a unique, almost tropical landscape in the heart of the Mediterranean. Elounda, with its sheltered bay and view of the fortress-island of Spinalonga.

The western side reveals the most spectacular beaches. Balos, reachable by sea from Kissamos or via a steep dusty path, is a lagoon of pink-turquoise waters of unreal beauty — fine sand, shallow warm water, and the islet of Gramvousa with its Venetian fortress in the background. A place that seems straight from the Caribbean.

Elafonisi, in the far south-west, is the other iconic beach: pink sand from shell and coral fragments, shallow crystal-clear waters you wade across to the islet. The sunset colours — pink, golden, turquoise — are among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean.

Chania is Crete's most charming city: the Venetian harbour with its sixteenth-century lighthouse, the narrow streets of the Turkish quarter, the waterfront restaurants where you dine on fish caught that very morning. Falasarna, on the north-west tip, rounds off the tour with its wild windswept beach and blazing sunsets on the horizon.

A trip that confirms: Crete is not just a Greek island, it's a continent in miniature.