Sougia Crete

holiday report and Sougia Crete map

Sougia beach Crete

SOUGIA is a relatively remote and long pebble beach found on the south coast of Crete.
In recent years it has become quite popular but at 1km long the beach rarely feels crowded even on busy summer weekends.
Sougia, Crete, is located about 75km from Chania over the White Mountains of Lefkas Ori. The remoteness has kept it off the main tourist trail, although it is becoming an increasingly popular weekend retreat for Cretans.
The road north out of Sougia winds up through the pass at Agia Irini and there are a couple of public buses each day. Most visitors to Sougia beach arrive by boat or come on foot from the neighbouring resort at Paleochora.
Although almost completely made up of pebbles, with a sharp drop into the sea, the stones on Sougia beach are small, making it is not as uncomfortable to lie on as on some beaches.
There were a few sunbeds laid outside the Paradise beach bar when I last visited. The eastern end of Sougia beach is also very popular with naturists.
There is a small village at Sougia, with plenty of low-key accommodation and some very good tavernas (I counted 10) with menu prices that are well below average for Crete.
Sheltered at the end of a deep valley, Sougia is well protected from the winds and was recently voted to have one of the cleanest beaches in Greece.
The resort is also popular with walkers as there are some very good trails, notably to the hill viallge of Lissos and through the dramatic gorge at Agia Irini.