DK Travel : Crete : Editor's choice

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Akrotiri Peninsula

Monks have been drawn to Crete’s peninsulas – Akrotiri’s best monasteries are the abandoned Moni Katholikou and the Venetian Moni Gouverneto (see Moni Gouverneto).
Anogeia

Pleasant cafés and shops conceal Anogeia’s embattled past, when it was a hotbed of resistance against the Turks, who sacked it in 1821 and 1826, and the Germans, who levelled it in 1944.
Aptera

A Byzantine town built on the site of a Hellenistic city, remains here include Roman cisterns, Byzantine foundations, a Venetian monastery and a Turkish fort.
Archaia Eleftherna

Founded in 700 BC, ancient Eleftherna was a powerful Dorian city. Having vanished from history, it is now being rediscovered by archaeologists.
Archanes Archaeological Museum

The small farming town of Archanes has a surprisingly good museum with finds from nearby sites, including clay Minoan coffins, fragments of pottery, and a sacrificial dagger that may have been used in human sacrifice.
Cheeses (Staka and Mizithra)

Far more delicious than the ubiquitous feta are Crete’s own cheeses, such as mizithra , made from fresh sheep’s milk, and staka , made from whey.
Chora Sfakion

A major rendezvous point for excursion groups who arrive by boat having walked the Samaria Gorge. Once they have found their coaches, the town returns to its pleasant slumber.
Church of Agios Mikhail Arkhangelos, Asomatos

The Archangel Michael, leader of the heavenly host, is known in Greek as “O Taxiarchis” (the Brigadier) and is depicted in armour, sword in hand, along with other saints in the frescoes within the pretty 14th-century church at Asomatos.
Cinnamon

Cretans acquired a taste for spices during the Turkish and Venetian trading eras. Today, cinnamon flavours desserts like rizokalo (rice pudding) and sweet pies.
Coriander

Coriander is used fresh as a flavouring and garnish for stews, grills and salads.