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At the mouth of a river, 20 km (13 miles) west of Rethymno, lies Georgioupoli. It’s a quiet resort, the hub of the village provided by a taverna- and cafélined square shaded by plane trees. Georgioupoli’s hotel and self-catering accommodation is spread out along an expansive sandy beach.

With its great sandy beach and close proximity to Irakleio International Airport, Malia was destined to become one of the island’s liveliest package holiday resorts. In July and August it is thronged, attracting a young crowd with its water sports and after-dark scene. But there are peaceful spots, too.

Biggest and busiest of the island’s resorts, Limin Chersonisos straddles the north coast highway, a long double strip of hotels, apartment complexes, bars, restaurants, dance clubs and shops. Catering mainly to package holidaymakers, it has now almost merged with the neighbouring resorts of Stalida and Malia.

A huge sweep of clean grey sand draws visitors to this little south-coast resort, but there are even better beaches nearby at Damnoni, which can be reached by boat or on foot. Plakias is one of the island’s quieter beach resorts, and its accommodation mostly takes the form of selfcatering apartments.

Matala’s coves of fine golden sand, surrounded by rocky red cliffs harbouring Roman cavetombs, made the place a magnet for hippy travellers in the 1960s. Its tourism is more orthodox now, but Matala is still pleasantly lowkey. A good base for exploring Gortys and Phaestos.

This picturesque south-coast fishing village took to tourism in the 1980s. Its pebbly beach (crowded in high season) is on a crescent bay, where a small river flows through a thicket of reeds into the sea. Places to eat and drink abound.

Makrigialos has the best and longest beach in eastern Crete, a swathe of grey sand and shingle beneath pine-covered slopes. The village and its neighbour Analipsi have melded into a single chain of tavernas and guesthouses.

On a headland crowned by a dilapidated Venetian castle, Paleochora is part fishing village, part resort. It has a crescent of yellow sand on the west side of the promontory and a longer, less crowded pebbly beach on the east.

A small resort, purpose built around coves on the north coast, Bali comes to life in high season, when its “Paradise Beach” glistens with sunbathing bodies.

The beach at Siteia stretches for miles east of the town and is backed by a ramshackle strip of hotels, guesthouses and cafés. This quiet port on Crete’s north coast seems to have escaped the tourist invasion relatively unscathed.