Traditional Products, Crete Island

In Melame town there is a lovely little jewellers selling mainly silver jewelry. They have some beautiful handmade amber jewelry - I got a beautiful bangle with three lumps of amber on it for about £30.

Crete produces a very wide range of herbs and spices which are availible in local Markets and shops. All these herbs have been used since antiquity both for culinary applications and medicinal practices, with ancient texts thriving in respective references. Many of these amazing herbs of Crete (including the "dittany") grow on steep slopes and mountains while picking them requires knowledge of their habitat and physical stamina. Drying of the herbs is a natural process, usually in cool places and away from direct sun light.

What to buy: (origanum onites), basil (ocimum basilicum), tilia cordata , marjoram (origanum marjorana), thyme (thymous sibthorpil), mint (mentha), rosemary (rosmarius officinalis), laurel (laurus nobilis), chamomile (matricaria chamomilla), sage (salvia officinalis), mountain tee ("maloteras"), etc.

I found the best handmade cotton carpets in a little shop near Panaghia I Kerà (nearby Aghios Nicolaos - North Est area) and in some shops in Spili village. Play attenction to the woof, it must be cotton too, avoid sintetic, it will crumple the first time you put it in a wash machine.

What to buy: Handmade cotton carpets, with local design, dolphins and geometric.

The shop is located inside Moni Kaliviani. The sisters sell their products to support the monastery. The needlework are handmade and really very good. I am proud about the one I brought home.

What to buy: Needleworks

What to pay: Well, as the needleworks are real handmade craft, don't expect to pay them as fake.. in my opinion they worth the money they ask.

4 more images

I like to shop for oil and herbs in local grocery stores especially in small villages far away from the touristy coast. You will find better prices since the merchendise is targeted for the local population.
I usually have a small cartboard box with some bubble wrap to transport the oil back on the airplane.
Another great tip is to have with you small cooler with an ice pack so you can buy some cheese and olives on a last day and bring it home with you.
You can put the cooler in your luggage if it is a hard cooler and it won't get squashed ot take it on the plane with you if it is not prohibited ( the rules change so quickly, but we were able to do so in 2006)

What to buy: Buy, herbs, like oregano, tyme, etc.
Cretan Honey is a great Christmas gift.
Buy Oil for the rest of the year.
Bring back with you some cheese and olives to share with your less lucky family members.

What to pay: All those goods on Crete are still much cheaper than in other European countries, so if you are not shopping in touristy store you have nothing to worry about.

3 more images

Excellent wines you can find at the winery Economou at Ziros - Sitia. After a wine tasting you can also choose what to buy. Fantastic red wine (vintage 2000).
The prices are very good.
(PLEASE READ MY TIP THINKS TO DO FOR MORE INFO)

What to buy: Red - white- rose wine.

There are a lot of big and small shops on the whole island. You can find there a lot of good and nice ideas for gifts for your friends, or for yourself. If you like the jewellery ( I like it:) you can find very good jewellery with old design or very modern one. There are a lot of good and interesting honeys there and also nice soaps which can be good idea for present.

What to buy: Honey with Thyme, nice Greek jewellery

What to pay: the prices are not very high although some items are quite expensive like jewellery for example

A shop where you can find lot of special Cretean products like for example soap, sponage, cookies...

What to buy: A great suvenir from Crete is a thyme honey with nuts. Veeery tasty. Ohh and that type of honey doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.

What to pay: 2-8 euro