Agios Nikolaos, Crete Island

Capital of the province of Lassithi, Agios Nikolaos is one of the longest-established resort towns located on the East of the island. Protected by mountains Agios Nikolaos enjoys a fabulous setting standing on a little promontory on the western side of the peaceful Bay of Mirabello This part of Crete is cooled by the Meltemi wind so there is none of the humidity you often experience elsewhere on the island at the height of summer.

Built around a small, hilly peninsula, one of the main attractions of Agios Nikolaos is the unusual position of its fishing harbour, an old Venetian working port built around the beautiful freshwater Lake Voulismeni, where according to the myths the goddess Athena came to wash, which today is surrounded by shops, tavernas and cafes. A word of warning when we came here my eldest daughters leg was in plaster, and being hilly with cobbled narrow streets it was not the easiest place to push a wheelchair.

June 1998

See My Travel Page for more information.

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We've just returned from eastern Crete. The euro or banking crisis induces many people not to visit Crete, so we were met with empty restaurants, cafes and beaches. At about 18.00 we had the bay at Vai for ourselves! (recommended for a honemoon). Knossos and the Zeus Cave at Pshiro were the only places with some tourists. The Russian tourists seem to be the largest, but they do not stay at restaurants or cafes.

Agios Nikolaus we found the nicest place. The lake and harbour are tourist traps, but two streets away, you can find local places. Try the streets around the big church and its place. Near Agios is the village of Kritsa worth a visit. The small church on the road from Agios N. is beautiful, but skip the Paradise cafe, loud music and terrible espresso.

We visited the Lassithi Plateau three times. Worth the climb, from Heraklion as well as from A. N. The restaurant of the Skapanis family, between Mesa Lasithi and Mesa Potami, was very nice.

Ierapetra is a small town with few interesting places. We spend there 2 hours.

The museum in Sitia, near the fountain on the round about, has a nice collection.

Walked through three gorges, Kritsà, Zàkros and Richtis.

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Apparently the Brits that hang out here/flock here to package holiday resorts where they can order British food and burn on white sandy beaches here call this place Ag Nik!

but anyway the amazing blue water amazed me! and this place is set around a supposedly bottomless salt lake which is now connected to the (very blue) sea to form an inner harbour.

I totally agree that this place is very picturesque - especially the route from Ag Nik on up along the coast to Elounda 8 km north - and I would recommmend this as a place to come and relax and roam around (particularly if you are happy to hire a car or a scooter) for a day or even a week!

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Agios Nikolaos, capital of the Prefecture of Lasithi, is one of the most highly developed tourist towns in Crete and one of the nicest.
It lies along the west of the Mirabello bay. The climate in the area is mild with extremely low humidity. It is an ideal place to relax and recover one's energy in some of the great bars and restaraunts. (Try the Amida bar which is moored in the Harbour

Agios Nikolaos is the administrative, communications, cultural and commercial center of the Prefecture of Lasithi and has approximately 8500 inhabitants.

The sea in Agios Nikolaos is superb and the surrounding area of the city is noted for its sandy beaches and beautiful bays.
The landmark of the city is a small lake, known as "Voulismeni" that is located in the center of the city, at the foot of the cliffs. Its shape is circular with a diameter of 137m.

According to the mythology, the goddess Athena used to take her bath in this lake. It is so deep that it was thought years ago to be bottomless but it has now been found to be 63m deep. It is said that at the end of the 2nd world war all the German tanks and amoured vehicles were thrown into the lake. Wether that is really true or not is unknown as swimming is not allowed and only The French diver and explorer Jaque Cloustuo has been allowed do dive in it. and was connected to the sea only recently, with a canal opened at 1870.
It is an especially picturesque site with many open-air cafes and restaurants along the bank. Small boats leave the harbor to visit the Venetian fortress of Spinaloga, near Elouda .
Every summer the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos organizes cultural events, music and dance events, theatrical performances, exhibitions, shows. Also, during the Naval week, artistical swimming, water skiing, wind-surfing contests are organized.

The place were the Town is used to be the ancient "Lato pros Kamares", which was the harbor of "Lato Etera", The Ancient City of Lato was once an important and powerful city, After Lato was abandend the port carried on and it also served as a harbor In the Roman and the first Byzantine period.During the Venetian occupation a fortress called Mirabello (beautiful view) was built on the site where the Prefecture building stands today. Nothing of the fortress remains.

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The landmark of Agios Nikolaos is a small lake, known as "Voulismeni" that is located in the center of the city, at the foot of the cliffs. Its shape is circular with a diameter of 137m and was connected to the sea only recently, with a canal opened at 1870.
According to the mythology, the goddess Athena used to take her bath in this lake. It is so deep that it was thought years ago to be bottomless but it has now been found to be 63m deep. It is said that at the end of the 2nd world war all the German tanks and amoured vehicles were thrown into the lake. Wether that is really true or not is unknown as swimming is not allowed and only The French diver and explorer Jaque Cloustuo has been allowed do dive in it. and was connected to the sea only recently, with a canal opened at 1870.

The Guide book said the Archaeology museum closed at 17:00 but when we arrived after walking up the hill it was closed, the sign on the gate said it closes at 15:00. Unfortunatly we never got the chance to go back.

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One of the main tourist destinations on the north eastern coast, Ayios Nikolaos is set around an apparent bottomless salt lake, connected to the sea to form a natural inner harbour. it's quite a stylish place, particularly round the lake and the road running north along the coast (where most of the upmarket hotels are to be found). It can be overrun by tourists during the season, but it's saved from overdevelopment by the lack of any decent beaches - the rocky headlands and surrounding hills sweep down the coast at this point, creating small bays without creating broad sweeps of sand that would have resulted in wall to wall hotels (as highlighted by the coastal road running from Heraklion east to Ayios Nikolaos).

It has a certain charm, particularly round the lake, and you're spoilt for choice regarding cafes, bars and restaurants. But it is a good spot for accessing other parts of eastern Crete as well as easy access to Heraklion and Knossos.

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Agios Nikolaos is the capital of the Prefecture of Lasithi and one of the most developed tourist towns in Greece with aproximately 8.500 inhabitants.

The landmark of the city is a small lake, knwon as "Voulismeni" that is located in the center of the city, at the foot of the cliffts.

It is a very picturesque site with many open-air cafes and tavernas along the bank.

This should really be called : Ag Nik - why you shouldn't believe all you hear about Ayios Nikolaos.

It has a reputation for being a 'lager lout' town. This is, fortunately, outdated, though no-one believes me. The lager-lout kids go on to Malia, but the town's reputation means that neither does it attract hordes of the "I'm trying to find the real Crete, man" type of tourist (4-wheel drives and baseball caps).

We've stayed here a couple of times. Apart from being a really pretty town, it makes a good base for exploring more out of the way parts of the east of the island (Lassithi, Kato Zakro, Sitia, Plaka).

Should you base yourself here? If you want complete peace and quiet, no. There are other places to go for that.

If, on the other hand, you want a place with good shops and restaurants (especially the Auoas on Paleologou, the very upmarket Pelagos on Koraka and a great internet cafe that overlooks the lake and sells Cretan books and CDs), pretty surroundings, a bit of night life and a lot of watching-people-pass-by, this place is ideal. There's a good archaeological museum and a couple of pleasant beaches too.

This is not a place for height of the summer, when everyone should avoid Ag Nik. And avoid, avoid avoid, staying anywhere on the edge of town: the preserve of large hotel complexes. Stay in town: somewher like teh Hotel Panorama overlooking the harbour or in teh residential districts. I should add that there is a small English community here, and some English girls who've married their greek sweetheart, so you will sometimes hear English spoken plus see a very few english bars (there if you want it, and easily avoided if you don't).

The 'real' Crete is an elusive thing...

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A really lovely place Agios Nicholas has plenty to offer shops tavernas a lovely harbour and just up the road to Elounda head into the mountains to a viewing point of the old lepar colony of Spinalonga an island just off the coast of Agios Nicholas where if you wish you can take a boat trip to the Island for around 10 Euro's