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Οροπεδιο Λασιθίου (Lasithi Plateau)

If you want to see Crete in a different way, you should definitely see this place. The road to Lasithi Plateau will offer you a different view of Crete that you are used to. The tourist beaches are swapped for mountains, peace and quiet and beautiful pictures of inland Crete. You will visit a perfectly plane surrounded by mountains and dotted with windmills. Of course, we cannot forget the cave where Zeus was born.

There are many main roads and small villages around the Lasithi Plateau. You can park in either of these villages. If you become attracted by a different site that the village, the road is wide enough for you to be able to park your car on it. Lasithi Plateau will provide such amazing sightings that it is enough just to stop there at sunset and enjoy.

Your visit to Lasithi Plateau will give you a a great chance to try out the typical greek taverns but not the ones in the city centres which try and rob you of your money. Every tiny village has its own tavern where you can get a great meal. They mainly use their home-grown products and the honesty can be felt from the staff too. The prizes will pleasantly surprise you as they are much lower than the ones near the sea. Our recommendation is the tavern Rea in the village Agios Georgios which is a restaurant owned by a married couple - a cook and a butcher, so you can probably imagine how fresh all of their products are. Other tourists recommend Kourites tavern in Tzermiad on the other side of the plateau making it really far away from our main goal - Psichro.

On the way to the Lasithi Plateau you will get into a small town Krasi with a huge variety of traditional stone mills, which are preserved in a relatively good condition and are mainly visible from the road. Here you wil have a lot of beautiful views, which are worth the watch. The most attractive one is the very plane Lasithi Plateau, which is perfectly straight as a football field and strewn with pinwheels, that are painted white. There are also a lot of wind pumps to pump water, which were used as a source of water for centuries.

In the town of Psichro is also the Diktaian Cave, which played a huge part in the greek mythology. Apparently, Zeus was born there. If you are interested in this cave, you will pay a fee of … euros but will be without a guide.

35.183333 N, 25.466667 E

It is quite difficult to get there by bus, it does go there but only two times a week either really early in the morning or in an inadequate time. We will miss out the assumption that you will want to spend 5 days there (that is the interval of the bus departure and arrival) and we will only talk about driving there. As it is situated a lot of meters above sea level, you will drive through many turns and narrow roads.

After the main thrust of Heraklion - Agios Nikolaos turn after the city of Herosnissos towards Mochos / Karst and after passing Krasi continue by the signs to the village Psichro that it is located on the edge of our goal - Lasithi Plateau. In the surroundings of Lasithi Plateauthe way is quite intuitive, the main road runs along the edge just around the platform, in the event that you get off it, it is practical to have a map.