Smart Holidays info blog

Receive high discounts on your last minute bookings to Crete, Greece for the months of September and October. Discounts can go up until 35% on villa, apartment and hotel accommodation. Visit our special web page with all the super offers http://www.smart-holidays.com.gr/home/en/last-minute-offers

The summer sales are on for one month now and it looks that the tourist are really taking advantage of the special offers in the shops. The turnover in sales to tourists has increased compared to last year. In the battle to survive the Greek crisis, many shops have made price reductions  up to 50%. Especially clothes and food-ware seams to be attractive priced in Crete.
To find the shops who have discounts look for the signs with "discount" or "Sale" In the Greek the words: "εκπτώσεις" or "έκπτωση".

For many people it is a dream to one day in their life climb a mountain. The highest mountain on Crete is the Psiloritis with a height of 2456 meters. In the wintertime the mountain is covered with snow and ice, but during the summer this has melted. The mountain looks fairly impressive and can be seen from many angels on the Island. During the years the people living on the mountain discovered paths that where leading to the top. They were able to find ways to walk to the top without "climbing". There are several known paths now which, if you know them, are quite safe to walk. The starting points of the walk differ. The main ways up to the top are from Anogia and from Fourforas. Recently they opened a new entrance to one of the paths leaving from Livadia. This makes it possible to drive up to a height of 1700 meters with a car and from there on walk on a path of about 3km to the top.

If you arrive on the highest point of Crete, you will find the Holy Cross. For the Cretans this is an important memorial and many of them kneeled down in front of this cross one or more times in their life. Besides this, the top of the mountain gives breathtaking views over a large part of the Island. The sea on the north and south coast of the Island can be seen. If the weather is clear, amazing pictures can be taken form the many small villages on the slopes of the mountain.

Find the Psiloritis Mountain on this Google maps location: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Psiloritis,+Syvritos,+Crete,+Greece&hl=en&ll=35.248423,24.750137&spn=0.314022,0.676346&sll=35.21421,25.442963&sspn=0.600255,1.352692&t=h&z=11

 

It is advised to make a guided tour to the top of the mountain. The walks are different in duration and as with every mountain, the weather can change quickly. This can bring you in problems and knowing what to do and where to go can save you from this.

For more information visit the website of the Greek association of mountaineers Rethymno: http://eos.rethymnon.com/index.html

On August 7th, a large number of people will dance on the high way of Crete to remember the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The goal is to form a line of people stretching all the way from Chania in the west to Agios Nikolaos in the east of the Island. Last year thousands of people took part to express their love and care for each other and the world.

While the most of Europe is packed with clouds and in some places heavy rains, the weather on Crete remains excellent. With daily temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, the holiday season can not get any better then this. The beaches are full with people sunbathing and swimming, the countryside is the seen of people relaxing in the shade.
There is no expectation the weather is going to change soon. Normally is stays this good until the end of October.

For those who want to book a last minute to Crete, it is advised to book soon. Many quality hotels are already full and also finding a good apartment or studio is already difficult. Our local presence on Crete makes it more easy for us to still find an accommodation for you.

For the September and October period some special offers will be announced soon on our website: http://www.smart-holidays.com.gr/home/en/last-minute-offers

To see all our offers, visit the website www.smart-holidays.com.gr

Have a nice summer.

Crete is counting 621.340 permanent residents. In may 2011 there has been a new counting and this resulted in this number.
Greece is counting 10.787.690 permanent residents of which 49,2% are men and 50,8% women.

The different perfectures on Crete counted:
Heraklion 304.270
Chania 156.220
Rethymnon 85.160
Lassithi 75.690
Permanent Residents

In the summer season, when the tourists arrive, the island sometimes has about 2.000.000 people.