South to the Libyan Sea

Some 12kms southeast of Aghios Nikolas on the road to Sitia is a relatively new beach resort of Istro we passed through this spot on our way south to Ierapetra. Istro has 2 or 3 decent sandy coves and we were able to admire the sapphire-blue waters from here.

A further 4 miles along the main road and we arrived at the extensive remains of Gournia spread over a low ridge, this is the most completely preserved of all Minoan towns.

We continued our drive and took the turning to follow the road to Ierapetra on the south coast. This road is dominated to the east by the massive Thrypti range. This is Crete's "waist"; at this point the island is at its narrowest, a mere 9 miles of land separating the Sea of Crete to the north from the Libyan Sea to the south.

En route and to our left along the Ierapetra road, we saw the dramatic, wedge-shaped cleft in the Thrypti mountains which is the Monastiraki Gorge.

We spent the afternoon strolling around the town of Ierapetra, exploring the venetian fort and relaxing on the beach before making the return trip along the same road back to Aghios Nikolas.