Arkadi

As you approach Arkadi from the north, through the rolling lands at the base of Mt. Ida, one of the contenders in the dispute over the alleged Cretan birthplace of Zeus, you'll follow a gorge inland before emerging onto the flat pastureland that surrounds one of Crete’s most beautiful and important monasteries. The approach is even more dramatic from the south, as you traverse the uplands of the beautiful Amari valley before dropping into the mountain plateau that the monastery and its vast holdings occupy. If you are heading east back to Heraklion, consider visiting Eleutherna, with stunning views of the local area, and pass through Fodele; a pretty village set in orange and lemon groves with a shady taverna-filled square and a small museum in the supposed birthplace of the painter El Greco.