TRAVEL GUIDE | CABANA TRAVEL | WORLD OF CABANA

From the myth-steeped ruins of the Minoans to family-run farms, mountain herbs and palm-fringed beaches, Odyssia Sifounaki Daskalantonaki, executive director of Grecotel, shares her deeply personal guide to Crete. Discover the places, flavors and traditions that define the Greek island, from a lagoon-side resort shaped by ancient palaces to long, laughter-filled tables where Crete’s generous spirit comes into its own. 

BY ODYSSIA SIFOUNAKI DASKALANTONAKI | CABANA TRAVEL | 27 OCTOBER 2026

My Favorite Hotel: Amirandes

Amirandes, in northern Crete, holds a special place in my heart for how it masters beauty, both in its architecture and design, and also in its people, its hosts. It is definitely the most luxurious resort on the island, but I love it for its unpretentious elegance. My mother designed it to emulate the ancient palaces of Knossos, so she made the raw materials the subject: stone, wood, water, air. The palm trees continue the line of the interior columns; the water carries the sea inwards, through the heart of the resort.

The vast lagoon welcomes you after an easy 10' ride from the airport — stone walkways, courtyards, a labyrinth you move through slowly. This is where civilizations converged: merchants and myths, ibis feathers and palace frescoes, the Nile and the Aegean exchanging secrets across open water. The archaeological site of Knossos nearby allows anyone to not just witness the myth but to live it.

Then there's the unserious pleasure of it, which matters just as much. It's one of the most fitness-friendly hotels in Greece. Afterwards, visit the Library – a real room with a collection of books, for those seeking to dive deeper into the history ad hoc – then dine at Minotaur, surrounded by genuine Picasso ceramics, or out on the floating deck that rises from the lagoon at nightfall and vanishes into it by morning.

My Favorite Restaurant: Agreco

I'll admit the bias upfront: my grandfather is my boss. But even if he weren't, I would still pick his farm, Agreco, near Adelianos Kampos outside Rethymno.

I wish I could eat there every day. Everything is fresh: from wild asparagus, to bourneles (the fat, oval figs he grows, my favorite fruit in the world); vegetables stuffed with rice, from onions to potatoes to squash blossom and peppers; wild greens cooked perfectly and finished with freshly grated tomato and garlic. All the truest Cretan dishes, running on into the wood-fired meat classics, eaten looking out over the vineyards and the sunset. 

Meet the wonderful hosts George, Yannis, and Alexis, the farm's agronomist — everyone has been there for more than a decade or two, and it is their daily life you would be a part of.

My Favorite Cafe or Coffee Shop: Fournos Mamagkaki

Not quite a café, Fournos Mamagkaki is the best bakery on the island and has been here for decades. It is as local and traditional as Crete gets. The savoury pies are the thing, and the Cretan biscuits after them.

My Favorite Cocktail Bar: Ali Vafi's Garden

Ali Vafi's Garden in Rethymno town has the best vibe, with a huge selection of wines and, of course, great cocktails. The place is also so magical: an outdoor courtyard with trees and vines growing everywhere. There is live music sometimes, instead of old CDs.

My Favorite Museums and Galleries

Two, and I can't choose between them. The Archaeological Site & Museum of Ancient Eleutherna (Rethymno) and the Heraklion Archaeolgoical Museum (Heraklion)

The Heraklion Archaeological Museum shows you that before Greece, there was Crete. And before Crete was a destination, it was a civilization — the first of Europe. People have lived on the hill at Knossos since around 7000 BC and the Minoans built their first palace on top of all that around 1900 BC, giving Europe its first civilization. Nearly everything found there is here. So do the museum first and the site second: the originals are in Heraklion, and what stands at Knossos are reproductions.

The excavation site of Ancient Eleutherna, and right next door its museum, are on the slopes of the tallest mountain of Crete, Psiloritis. Professor Nikolaos Stampolidis, also the Director of the Acropolis Museum, has been excavating the site for 40 years. He dedicated his life to both the people and ruins of the two neighboring towns, Eleutherna and Ancient Eleutherna, and captivates you the moment he starts to talk about the discoveries there. Make sure you have a bite at Filio's Tavern if you visit, and if you are there in the winter or spring, ask for an omelet with wild asparagus.

My Favorite Shop: Agreco

Less a shop than an obsession. For two years, I have been learning the technicolur world of Cretan herbs. Psiloritis grows a myriad of endemic species — plants that live natively and exclusively here. You will find them for sale all over the island. At Agreco they still make sarantadentri, which translates as 40 trees. The name comes from the old belief that a bee gathers from 40 plants to make honey complete, and that a remedy, to be whole, should do the same. It follows the Cretan formula: dittany and sage, thyme and rosemary, mint and myrtle, chamomile flowers, rose petals, lemon leaves, and the spices and seeds that finish it — all picked by hand at the right week of the year. It brews dark and smells of the whole mountain at once. It is a panacea for any discomfort or fatigue.

And don't leave without jars of pickled artichokes and honey. Crete does both better than anywhere.

My Favorite Garden or Green Space: Lasithi Plateau

Lasithi Plateau is a unique green space and ecosystem. A century ago some ten thousand windmills stood here, white canvas sails turning to draw water up for the fields. Most are gone now, replaced by pumps, but what has remained is the soil. Everything the mountains shed washes down onto the plain, and the result is absurdly fertile — potatoes, apples, beans, onions, and everything else is grown on small family plots, nothing genetically modified, largely as they always were.

My Favorite Beaches

In eastern Crete I would pick Vai Beach, but for western Crete, Preveli. The sea at both is bliss but I go for the palms. Both host a vast amount of the native Cretan date palm. Vai is the largest natural palm forest on the continent; Preveli's grows in the throat of a gorge, where the Megalopotamos river runs down to the sea. Jump in the river and the sea if you go to Preveli and remember that in Crete the wind tells you where to go. So don't over-plan, just download the windy app.

My Favorite Way to Spend a Weekend in Crete

Crete is hard to do in a weekend – the distances are long, so you need five full days minimum – but my ideal Saturday or Sunday would be this: wake up, grab a coffee on the road, and swim wherever the wind tells me to. Eat lunch near the water, at a taverna or a canteen or, if you are lucky, in somebody's house. Then spend the evening at the farm, watching the sun go down and eating with everyone I love at one very long table.