After the Crete Marathon: Aptera

The Route: Chania → Aptera → Souda Bay → Chania Logistics: Taxi or hire car from central Chania, about 30 to 45 minutes each way. The site is on a hill, so the drive does most of the climbing. Marathon Month: April Duration: Day trip

Chania ──(30-45 mins by taxi or hire car)──> Aptera
   ▲                                            │
   │                                            ▼
   └────────(30-45 mins)──── Souda Bay ◄────────┘

The Crete Marathon finishes inside Chania's stadium on a Sunday morning in April, and the Monday after is the day the stairs in your hotel become a personal enemy. Aptera suits that day because the hard part, the hill, is done by the car. What remains is a slow wander over level ground with a view of Souda Bay.

April in Crete. Daytime temperatures are usually around 20°C in April, with cooler evenings and a chance of rain, though conditions vary from year to year. The hillsides are still green and the wild flowers are out, which is the reason to come now rather than in August, when the plateau is bare and hot. The sea is cold. Nobody is swimming today.

Getting there is the only awkward part. There is no useful public bus to the site, so the choice is a taxi, a hire car or a guided tour. A taxi from central Chania is the least stressful option for legs that do not want to push a clutch pedal. Agree the return trip and a waiting time with the driver before setting off, because there is no rank at the top of the hill. Hire cars can be collected in town or at Chania Airport (CHQ), and the drive is on ordinary roads signed from the Souda direction.

The site

Aptera was a city for about two thousand years, from the Greek period through Roman rule and into Byzantine times. The visible remains are scattered across a plateau rather than gathered into one tidy archaeological park. There are Roman cisterns, a small theatre, and nearly four kilometres of fortification walls running round the edge of the hill. A Byzantine-era monastery sits on the site. Beyond it is Koules, an Ottoman fort from the nineteenth century, and a second Ottoman fort, Itzedin, stands on the shore at Kalami below.

Walk only as far as the legs allow. The paths are earth and loose stone, with some uneven ground near the cisterns and the theatre, and there is little shade. Take water and a hat. The walls make good benches and the view of Souda Bay is available from almost anywhere on the plateau, so there is no need to reach the far end to see it. Allow about 90 minutes for a gentle visit. Opening hours and admission have changed over the years, so check the current details with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture before travelling.

Souda Bay

Souda Bay is a working naval harbour, and photography near military areas is discouraged, so keep the camera on the water and the hills. On the shore below the site, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains a cemetery for Allied servicemen killed in the Battle of Crete in 1941. It is level, quiet, and takes twenty minutes to walk round. Most visitors stay a little longer than they planned.

For lunch, the tavernas along the bay serve grilled fish and the plain Cretan salads that taste better on a dry-legged Monday than they have any right to. Ask what came in that morning rather than ordering from the menu. Prices are modest by European standards, but check the bill before leaving, as a plate of fish is often charged by weight.

The taxi back to Chania takes the same 30 to 45 minutes. If the driver is waiting, you will be at the Venetian harbour in time for a late coffee. Chania's Archaeological Museum, in the Chalepa district, is a seated alternative if the weather turns, and its collection covers the same long run of Cretan history as the ruins you have just walked through.