Crete – a favourite destination

While away with groups, I am often asked if I have a favourite holiday. My answer is often that it’s the one I’m on now – plus Crete. Here are some reasons why Crete is a favourite destination.

Wonderful flowers. More than 20 species of orchid is routine. Many of these are at our regular site that is orchid heaven, familiarly known as Spili Bumps. The supporting cast is a strong one, including Cretan cyclamens, statuesque giant fennels, wild gladioli, tulips and distinctive flowers endemic to Crete such as Cretan wall lettuce, Cretan ebony and Cretan skullcap.

Crete orchid collage, all from April 2025.
Top row: hill orchid Orchis collina, bumblebee orchid, Italian (or naked) man orchids at Spili Bumps.
Bottom row: monkey orchid, few-flowered orchid Orchis pauciflora.

It’s not just us. Discovering wild flowers on Crete is described in a book called Unforgettable things to do before you die. Crete also features in Wildflower Wonders of the World by the late Bob Gibbons. His book of favourite flowery places has photos from the Kedros Foothills (= Spili Bumps) and Omalós Plateau – both places that we visit.

Tulips - Tulipa bakeri - on Omalós plateau.

Bird migration. Of course there are reliable resident birds on Crete, such as griffon vultures in Kourtaliótiko and Kotsiphou Gorges. We’ve seen a few rarities over the years: semi-collared flycatcher (Crete 2017), blue-cheeked bee-eater Crete 2022) and Temminck’s stint (Crete 2024).

Left: semi-collared flycatcher (digi-scoped). Right, top: squacco heron (Dawn Stevens). Right, bottom: blue-cheeked bee-eater (Rob Lucking).

But it’s the routine – if unpredictable – migrants that mostly come to mind. Flights of egrets over the sea; a sudden flock of purple herons rising from a marsh; a mixture of waders, always including wood sandpipers and often including marsh sandpiper; a squacco heron tucked into a river or small marsh.

Wood sandpipers plus a black-winged stilt.

People, tavernas and food

The friendly, family-run Hotel Sofia in Plakias is always a joy to return to. Nice breakfasts and DIY picnics are routine, and Vagelis is great and finding solutions to problems. Last time around it was simply the right hex key for a loose minibus door. Other times it’s included arranging for a new tyre to come from Athens, and help in a medical emergency.

A typical Honeyguide group - this one was in April 2025 - at Sofia Hotel.

Evening meals in tavernas a short distance walk from Hotel Sofia are part of the routine and the fun. These have their own cast of characters. One is Takis at Muses Taverna, who still remembers – and apologies for – one meal that arrived late back in 2015. Another is Stelios in Apanemo Taverna, who looks like he should star in a pirate movie, then provides us all with garlic bread starters on the house followed by generous and tasty main meals.

Plakias, April 2025.

Honeyguide know-how: after many groups over the years – 29 so far and looking forward to the 30^th – we know our itinerary well. That’s not the same as knowing Crete well – it’s a big island. Curiously there are no local guides on Crete, so it’s down to in-house expertise. Yet despite many visits, Rob Macklin and I both love returning, which tells its own story. 

Butterflies too. Top: Lulworth skipper and swallowtail. Bottom: eastern dappled white and southern speckled wood. The swallowtail and speckled wood are by Julian Lawrence.

Conservation: this holiday supports Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS, BirdLife Greece). We sent £830 in 2025, raised by the holiday, taking our running total of donations to HOS since our first Crete group in 1995 to £17,155.

More information about Crete via the Honeyguide Crete web page, from where there are links to other special Crete web pages, sets of photos and holiday reports. No single supplement on this holiday!

Chris Durdin