CRETE TRAVEL GUIDE

Crete Travel Guide
10 Beach
Rethymno’s town
beach starts just east of the
main harbour breakwater and
stretches eastward. Behind
it is an esplanade lined with
palm trees planted in the
1990s, and an almost
continuous chain of openair cafés and restaurants.
Rethymno
Practical information
• Map F3
• Rethymno Tourist Information Office, Eleftheriou
Venizelou
• 28310 29148
• Apr–Oct: 8am–6pm Mon–Fri, 10am–4pm Sat
• Fortress 8am–8pm Tue–Sun
• Museums Tue–Sun
Top tips
• Visit Rethymno in July to enjoy the annual wine
festival in the public gardens.
• Rethymno’s bustling harbour front caters almost
exclusively for tourists. Head for the quiet alleys
of the old quarter for cheaper, less crowded and
often more authentically Cretan restaurants.
Muslims and Hajis
Rethymno’s many Turkish features hint at a
multi-ethnic past. Until Crete’s independence in
1908, the town had a large Turkish Muslim
population. Many later moved to Rhodes, which
was then still under Turkish rule. The common
Cretan name prefix “Hadzi” is a reminder of that
era, originally indicating a Cretan who had made
the pilgrimage (“Haj” in Turkish/Arabic) to the Holy
Land.
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