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Platanias is one of the tourist villages in the northwest of Crete along the main road and the sea between Kolimbari and Chania. The area is rather flat and it consists of one village / hotel after another. Real authentic Greece is not te be found here. It is more a world of concrete and fastfood restaurants. The village attracts the tourists because of its three kilometer long and 35 meter wide beach. It is sometimes refered to as the Chersonissos of the west, but it is less touristic than that and the beach is much larger, wider and better. There are many hotels, apartments and taverna's. It's a good place for people that want to be in a more lively surrounding and that are looking for a stylish hotel.

The village of Agia Marina is situated on the northcoast of Crete on a few kilometers (9) west of Chania. It is one of a number of villages in a whole row in this part of the island which are all connected to eachother. The whole stretch consists mostly of new buildings, the major part of it made of concrete and not very attractive. The number of signs and advertisements is larger than in the main shopping street in Amsterdam. It's not very appealing. The older part of the village, Pano Agia Marina - 500 meters upwards, has the more traditional buildings. This is the original part of the village. There is a nice 2,5 kilometer long beach that comes with the village, with a view of an island (Agii Theodori) at a 400 meter distance from the shore. On this island are the remains of a Venetian fortress that was build in 1574 to protect another village (Platanias) against attacks from the Turks. Understandably there are lots of hotels and taverna's in Agia Marina that you can choose from.

On the Akrotiri peninsula there are a lot of other smaller, more quiet and nice beaches to choose from like for instance Stavros and Kalathas. Stavros beach can be found at the north side of the Akrotiri peninsula (east of Chania). It is a sandy beach in a round bay with a river running through it, where parts of the movie "Zorba the Greek" was shot. One side is dominated by a large bare mountain. Next to the main beach is another more quiet beach. At the seashore next to the beach we also saw what seems to be the remains of an old city or fortress that was chisseled in the rocks (I was curious but couldn't find any info on it). In the rocks near Stavros is an old Minoan cave that can be reached by foot. In the village there are a few taverna's to choose from and there are small hotels, and there are apartments and studios for rent.

The beach of Kalathas is situated on the west side of the Akrotiri Peninsula, just a bit east of Chania. It is a small but nice sandy beach with a river running across. The beach is about 150 meters long and quite wide. It is a real sandy beach (no pebbles) and it is shaped a bit like a triangle. on the beach are umbrellas and sunbeds. The beach looks out over a small island in front of it. There are two taverna's at the beach (2007). In the area there are lots of new houses for sale.