Situated in the far east of Crete on the plateau, high up in the mountains is the   village of Handras - reached by a winding path through olive groves. This is a traditional village, where it could appear that time has stopped still. Houses sit in the sunshine, each courtyard carefully tended, whilst ruins whisper of their past. Villagers call to each other that day’s greeting, carrying pots of food or bags of fruit.

The land surrounding us provides a fruitful and fertile plain on which the bounty is grown throughout the year. Greeks are engaged in harvesting that month’s current crop: oranges; lemons; olives; artichokes; grapes; tomatoes… The air is fresh and startling, the sun warming and the occasional breeze flutters through.

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Here you can see and be part of the real Greece and stay in a working and living mountain village that is open all year and not just dusted down for  tourist Season. We are ideally located in Handras for you to explore the surrounding area of Eastern Crete, travelling through mountains and olive groves to towns and villages, ports and harbours, beaches and coves and ancient sites.

From Sitia to the mountain village of Handras is approximately 25km, 580 metres above sea level. On this route you will drive on left and right hand bends that turn you around and give you gazes and glimpses of a great picturesque landscape. On your journey you will see the lushness of the green valleys and many of the olive trees on Crete, laden with the fruit to be turned into the world famous olive oil.

The mountains will fade into the background of your drive and large spaces of openness appear. The peoples land stretches out in front of you on which grow fruit and vegetables for all needs. Potatoes are a fine supper with lemon and Raki, sprinkled with salt; best cooked in an open fire. Large greenhouses are full of the most fabulous and tastiest tomatoes; you cannot beat them sliced thick, just as they are picked with pepper and vinegar.

As you drive up into the clouds along the twisting roads you will often see eagles and hawks gliding in the sky. Lizards can be seen basking in the sun on rocks that have seen many pass by.

Passing through little scattered villages you will see a cross-section of Greek life: old ladies dressed traditionally in black, carrying anything from wild vegetables to dry grass for the animals; people tending their land; old men sitting around tables, drinking coffee and talking whilst grazing on plates of meze. This is the true and likeable Greek way.

Onward and upward, climbing the hilly roads you will smell the mountain herbs that awaken your senses, fresh air will startle your lungs with the memory of the salty sea and you will be embraced by the saffron gorse bushes that flare up like a saffron screen.

Handras Photo Gallery: