This tour takes us to the eastern side of the island. Our first stop will be Sitia for a coffee break and on the way you can admire the lovely gulfs and beaches. In Sitia itself we admire the amphitheatre style in the way the city was built. In the middle of this nice port town is a large Venetian fort to be seen.

The next stop will be the Toplou Monastry. Moni Toplou is an attractive monastery about 18 km East of Sitia. It is built high on a rugged plateau on the way to Erimoupoli or Vai, and its architecture resembles a fort due to the fact that throughout history it had to defend itself from bandits, pirates, and invaders. Moni Toplou literally means "Monastery with the gun", thus named by the Turks because it had in its possession a small cannon.

The monastery is dedicated to Panagia Theotokos and today it functions as a museum of Byzantine icons and engravings which we vistited one day on our way back to Sitia from Erimoupoli. The collection of icons is very interesting, and the engravings are more interesting from a historical point of view.

The monastery was founded in the 15th century but was devastated during the earthquake of 1612 and it was rebuilt by the Venetians, but it was destroyed again by the Turkish occupation of Crete.

The day trip ends in Vai, the well known "bounty" palm beach, which deserves this name because of the palmtrees, the crystal clear water and the beautiful sandy beach. The palm beach of Vai has an unique African Scenery. There is more than enough time to have a swim, have lunch in one of the tavernas. On the way back we will take a different sightseeing tour and have a short stop in Sitia. After the short stop we will go straight back to the hotels.

All the guides are certificated guides and available languages are English, German and Dutch (and with some excursions French)

All excursions can be booked on www.kritinet.com or at the local travel agency "Kritinet Travel" at the mainroad of Agia Pelagia

Emails can be send to info@kritinet.com

Price: € 38 p.p.