[June 2025] We spent the afternoon of our arrival and the next day walking around the town of Agios Nikolaos on the Greek island of Crete, where we were staying for this holiday.
We made plans for the week ahead and visited the tourist information centre and tour operator’s shop.
Agios Nikolaos, as we walked around, was much more touristy than we had expected.
I had thought it would be a more obscure and secluded place compared to the west side of Crete.
The town is home to Lake Voulismani.
It’s a tiny lake, barely larger than a pond, about 137 meters in diameter, but it’s the town’s symbol.
In other words, there are no other tourist attractions.
Since it’s connected to the sea, I thought it would be something like a fjord, but it seems it was only connected to the sea at the end of the 19th century, and was an isolated lake until then.
Legend has it that Greek goddesses bathed here.
Cafes and restaurants cluster around the lake.
We once went into one, only to find that a cocktail cost €12, so we settled for a beer.
Hmm, I was a little disappointed with the tourist prices.
There were plenty of fish to see in both the lake and the sea, and the water was certainly clean.
However, there were some areas with a fair bit of floating trash, which was a bit disappointing.
There was a small church on the lake’s shore, which was very photogenic.
In fact, there were also charming, old-fashioned churches inland, too.
What surprised us at the tourist information centre was the town’s affluence.
A very pleasant middle-aged staff member gave us a thorough information, and the free brochures and maps were very impressive.
When it’s placed on the table, it looks like a restaurant menu.
It’s available in a few languages including English and Italian.
The advantage of being in a touristy place is that it’s safe to stroll around at night and there are plenty of cafes and bars to drop into.
On our first night, we stopped off at a place called Palazzo on the beach for a mojito before heading home.
Cocktails there were €10.
