Agia Galini Crete satellite map and holiday report

Greek island holidays | Agia Galini Crete

This long time Greek island resort favourite of tour operators, Aghia Galini is split into three parts, the village, the quayside and the beaches - quite an achievement for such a small place. The village is pretty enough with its whitewashed buildings perched on the steep hillside. But character is lost among the plethora of English language signs. It's a bit like being in the Lake District (the popular parts) but without the Cumbrian rain. Indeed, it is hopelessly Anglicised, with scarcely a Greek language sign in sight.
All roads lead to the large quayside which is backed by flower bedecked tavernas. The quayside would be pretty had it not been turned into a large car park. The beaches are found around the headland after a walk below the cliffs. The cliffs are netted to prevent accidents from falling rocks and there are barriers to prevent cars getting through.
The beach is a coarse, grey gravel, filled with sun loungers and liberally showered in fag ends. The dirty grey gravel drops sharply into a rocky seashore. The second beach has even coarser sand and you are looking at another half kilometre walk to get there. There are loads of beach tavernas, indicative of the popularity of the place, as are the premium prices. Finding a space can be a problem if you arrive late. The sands are backed by tavernas which serve reasonable, if pricey, food.
Although hemmed in by surrounding hills, Agia Galini is a surprisingly large seaside village with more than 1,000 year-round inhabitants. Suffering for some time from an overdose of tourism it is still a resort of some charm with well appointed hotels, apartments, camping sites, tourist agencies and other such.
It is actually a relatively new village, founded in 1884 by villagers from Melambes. In ancient times there was a small settlement here called called Soulia. There are several caves along the coast and plenty of excursion boats to take you there. There are also some Minoan excavations and Agia Trianda and Festos along the road leading north.