There are many advantages to hiring a car whilst you are on holiday in Crete. It gives you the freedom to go wherever and whenever you like to visit the marvellous places of interest that are literally dotted all over the island. You can stop where you please and enjoy the scenery as well as eating at a Taverna or restaurant that is off the beaten track. It is in these places that you will have the added bonus of sampling some of the best traditional Cretan dishes and their unique wines.

For the traveller who wants to plan ahead, you can book you hire car from the comfort on your home by going on the Internet. This makes things that much easier on your arrival in Crete because your car will be waiting for you as you get off the plane or even the boat should you choose to get to Crete by way of the sea.

The price of petrol varies from area to area with the lowest price being found in Heraklion. The reason that fuel costs more in the other areas is because of the transport costs involved in getting petrol delivered to these other areas of the island. Also in Heraklion the gas stations are owned by the bigger petrol companies whereas in other places they tend to be smaller companies such as Avin and EKO.

To give a rough idea of much you must expect to pay for petrol and diesel when you are on holiday in Crete you can go on the Internet and check out the current prices, but as a rough guide expect to pay €1.563for unleaded, €1.824 for super unleaded and about €1.337 for diesel. These are approximate prices that you will find at petrol stations in Heraklion.

There are some useful tips that are worth knowing when hiring a car in Crete and these are that the minimum age required to hire one is 21 years old, there are some rental companies who will not consider renting a vehicle to anyone over the age of 70. Drivers under 25 may be asked to pay a surcharge when they rent a car. Seatbelts are mandatory and a child who is 4 years old or younger must be safely secured in a child seat. All drivers who wish to hire a car must have held their licences for longer than 12 months. Drivers who are from outside the European Union must have International driving licences or European Driver’s Permits.

As elsewhere in the world it is always worth checking the exterior of the car before setting off from the rental agency. Third party car insurance is mandatory with an optional theft protection that can be taken out if the hirer wishes to do so. The collision damage waiver works much the same as it does all over the world and this said is always worth taking out in case of accidents.

It is most visitors dream to live on this idyllic island in the Med and many have successfully made the transition from the hectic bustling life in other parts of the world to settling down to a much quieter and peaceful existence in Crete.

A popular way of eventually diving in at the deep end and decide to make the move is to buy a piece of land away from the towns and coastal regions, up in the mountainous areas that are so incredibly scenic. The lovely thing about Crete is people really do embrace visitors no matter where they hail from. Once the land is purchased the next stage is to build a house on it. But not just any house, it is normally the house people have always yearned to live in and as for the architecture well it has to be typically, traditionally and beautifully Cretan.

There are some lovely old traditional houses that occasionally come onto the market. Situated in rural Crete, way up in the hills and mountains regions which tempt people to move here all the time. Life is just so much nicer at the slower pace that all Cretans approach it at. Rushing does not come naturally to the calm and peaceful population. They have learnt to flow with the seasons and embrace everything that the island and life has to offer them.

This all sounds like paradise and it really is.

There are nice stories of foreigners who have integrated into village life, exchanging recipes and all sorts of other things that differ between the cultures. It is refreshing to know there are still people around who want to learn, to meet and to appreciate the different things that every nation has to offer. Cretans are the masters when it comes to embracing new cultures they have been doing so for centuries, right back to the ancient days when the Minoans inhabited this beautiful island.

There are rural villages that typify the traditional rural Cretan way of life, it hasn’t changed for generations, village life has remained the same with villagers maintaining their religious beliefs and traditional ways of life that is what makes them so genuinely charming and is the reason everyone who has the pleasure of visiting a rural village immediately falls in love with the people, the villages, the olive groves and the incredible landscape that surrounds them.

From the delightful village of Theriso to the village of Krista, there are villages that exude everything that makes Crete such an idyllic place to spend some time. Of course once a visitor has caught the bug there is no stopping them returning to taste more of the hospitality that all Cretans have to offer. Being on the island of Crete changes people, and it changes them for the better, so it is perfectly understandable that we would all like to move here and enjoy our lives to the full.

It does not take much to get Cretans singing and dancing so an occasion such as this is the time to be lively and the atmosphere is one of happiness and joy. Baptisms or Christenings are a serious matter for Cretans but this does not mean that the occasion is sombre or tense, in fact in true Cretan style the whole affair is one of relaxed and leisurely calmness.

Villages churches tend to be small in Crete, so with so many guests arriving to take part in the celebrations it is quite normal to have people milling around outside and wandering in and out of it during the ceremony. It is a great time for everyone to catch up with each other and with so much to talk about it becomes a very social affair indeed.

After the child has been blessed by the holy water, they are dressed in beautiful traditional baptism gowns and guests then approach the parents to offer them congratulations and to offer their christening present, normally this is an envelope in which they have place some money. In return the guests receive a framed picture of the child or sometimes a small amulet.

The whole party then begins with lots of food and wine being served to all the guests. The traditional dinner which includes mezedes, Pilafi with lamb that has been boiled is then followed by delicious roast lamb served with potatoes and plenty of typical Cretan salads. Of course there is a copious amount of village wine called ‘Marouvas’ which is drunk in abundance by all the guests. This festive meal lasts a long time and will go on for hours as everyone enjoys the happy occasion

and will usually end in a lot singing and dancing well into the night.

Weddings too are a wonderful time to celebrate in the most traditional of ways in Crete. Should a visitor be fortunate enough to come across a wedding in a village then the experience will be something that they will cherish. Villagers take advantage of this occasion to dress in their best clothes, they then parade through the streets to live music. The village square is the centre of the festivities and guests along with the whole village dance and sing all night.

The feast that takes place just after the wedding and this is known as ‘glendi’, it is one of the happiest festivities to watch and be a party to. These feasts can last for hours or even days with lots of eating and drinking to the unique traditional music of the Lyra. The Grand Finale of the occasion is truly something that every visitor to Crete should see, as every guest at the ‘glendi’ leaves for home with Wedding Bread.

This is a traditional gift the newlywed couple offers all their guests. These Wedding Bread gifts are beautiful, the bread is braided into all sorts of shapes such as leaves, roses or heavenly stars. They are such wonderful pieces of art work that you cannot help but admire them. The bread has a lovely aroma which traditionally represents the sweetness of marriage and love between the newly married couple

The snows that fall on the mountain ranges, yes it does snow in Crete, can be up to 3 metres deep. This is the growing season with almond trees and anemones flowering in abundance all over the island. Orange and other citrus trees are laden down with fruit.

For those who want to explore ancient Crete by visiting museums and archaeological sites or museums, this is definitely the right time for a visit. Finding lodgings is not hard but aim to stay in the towns rather than in tourist resorts.
For the next two months, March and April, the weather can be changeable so one day may be gorgeous and the next cold and rainy with nights much cooler or even quite cold.

But after the rains the island bursts alive with colour and it is at its greenest. Greeks celebrate their Easter during the month of April and in Crete as elsewhere in Greece, it is the most important feast of the year. Visitors arriving in Crete will be welcomed to the island in one of the most hospitable ways that is unique to the traditional ways of Cretans.

By the end of April the temperature of the sea begins to warm up and the weather starts to improve. Visitors to the island during the months of May and June love the display of wild flowers that cover the land.

This is the best time to visit if you are thinking of hiking through the mountain ranges or other beautiful areas of natural interest.

By the time we arrive in July the weather has really got very hot and going into August the temperature keeps on rising.

This is when the tourists from all over the globe descend on Crete to lap up the incredible weather that the island has to offer them. This is the time of seemingly endless days of sunshine that lead into the balmy evenings we all love so much about Crete. This is the time that all sun worshipers adore visiting the island.

The months of September along with October are the nicer months to visit Crete. The weather is still wonderful but the intense heat of the two previous months has dissipated. The sea is still gloriously warm and as the heat has cooled so has the number of tourists. The landscape is dry from the heat and it is amazing to witness how two or so months of sunshine and lack of rain can change a

landscape so dramatically.

Charter flights stop arriving in Crete at the end of October so it spells the end of tourism on the island making November and December very quiet months indeed. The weather is more reliable than in January, February and March with the seas around Crete still pleasantly warm, but be prepared for a few days when it might just rain.

People from all over the globe have marveled at the amazing and very characteristic nature of the flora to be found only on Crete, there are 140 endemic species on the island so it is hardly surprising that it is known as one of the most exciting areas in Europe for wild flowers to be seen.

The island of Crete is a haven for birds that migrate annually; it is home to the Kri-Kri, the shy mountain goat. It is a refuge for many insects and animals and it is here on this delightful island that visitors can come and enjoy all the beauty that nature has to offer them. It is a paradise for the wildlife that is to be found here and it is heaven for the traveler who enjoys bird watching.

Just walking through some of the most scenic areas of Crete is a way of spying the many creatures that inhabit the island and these include badgers and small mammals such as the Cretan shrew and the Cretan spiny mouse along with hares and hedgehogs. The island is also home to many reptiles, frogs and exotic insects that are as brightly coloured as the flowers that bloom all over the island.

Back in 1996 the Cretan wild cat was discovered on the island by an expedition of Italians from the University of Perugia. Until then this wild cat was thought to have been extinct so it was very exciting for Cretans and the rest of the world to find that this was not the case. For Cretans who had always thought this as a legendary ‘ghost animal’, it suddenly came to life and was very real indeed.

With the abundance of exquisite flora and the delightful and varied species of mammals, reptiles and insects including butterflies that can be seen, taking a tour around the most remote parts of Crete is a real joy for animal lovers who visit and fall in love with this unique Mediterranean Island.

There are wonderful holidays that cater purely for tours around Crete which focus entirely on the wonderful flora and fauna that is found here. These tours are professionally organised affairs and they offer visitors the opportunity of seeing and learning about the many species that are endemic to the island.

Their haunting music which often sounds a little sad at times is as unique as the island is itself. It is lively and passionate and foreigners from all over the world enjoy the emotions that it stirs in them. It is thought to be based on early Byzantine music with other influences that were adapted from many other cultures over the centuries but it is so distinctly Cretan

with its mysterious and eerie sound that it is exclusive to this vibrant island.

For Cretans music has many meanings which are based on events from their past. The songs tell of the things that have happened on the island between the inhabitants and invaders or marauders. Songs are written for every occasion with themes of love or loss and liberation. Their love songs are up tempo and lively which is why all Cretans adore dancing to them in their spirited manner – long ago Homer referred to this style of dancing as wonderfully ‘acrobatic’, and this is certainly very true.

Their favourite instruments are the lyra and the laouto although on occasion they include a percussion instrument to add depth and more feeling to the song that the musicians are playing. Music brings joy and sorrow, it shouts out to their enemies that Cretans are strong and independent but most of all it makes everyone happy with the life that they are leading on this unique and beautiful island in the Med.

Being natural poets all Cretans write lyrics to their songs which reflect their wit and feelings. The poems are known as ‘mantinades’ and are sung or even spoken.

At times when the occasions calls for it, two songsters will have a poetic duel of witty remarks that they sing to each other. The duet lasts until the wittiest man wins and the event always ends in roars of laughter and applause from the audience who have been entertained by the humorous improvised lyrics.

The songs and music of Crete can be heard in every bar and taverna around the island but one of the best places to be entertained by this unique style of music and dance is in Chania at the Kafe Kriti where traditional verses and songs have been kept alive for all to enjoy. The walls are decorated with instruments and visitors can learn the steps to many of the typical dances that accompany many of the songs. The atmosphere is electric as everyone joins in the fun and laughter that goes on well into the balmy nights.