Women-Only Hospitality Exchange in Crete

Solo travel

Had my first solo trip to Crete this august for a few nights stay. I landed in a hostel (wanted to experience that too) but I wouldn’t say it was a good rest. I liked the port side of Heraklion though, besides museums and historical sites i am not sure there was much left to see. After a 3h bus ride to Chania i finally landed to the seaside, visited the local port and lighthouse area before heading out to the camping side( another 20min bus ride). My goal was to see a falling side from a tent this summer and also se the beach. I did all here. To my surprise the camping site had great facilities (better than the hostel) and even organized a nice live music evening at their restaurant. There was a pool with bar/terrace too and all 3 sandy beaches +lidl were within a 10min walk radius which was super convenient. The 2 days i stayed there i met a great bee friend and had some good laughs and drinks by our tents. On my way back i stopped in Rethymno where i planned to visit more of the port venetian fortress but was too exhausted to carry my bags and discovered the bus station had a bag locker rental service which was great! The person there helped manage my locker and recommended a good site to go for a quick sea swim by the port which was great refresher (but a bit fishy smelly water). The restaurant close-by wasn’t welcoming, so after 6 wasted minutes i went back to the bus station, changed and had a quick snack before going back to Heraklion, this time staying at a near to the airport hotel which was great. Right across from it there was a taverna the person from hotel reception recommended and it was the best lamb chop bbq i tried and the desert from the house was yummy (raveni i think it was called) The trip i had wasn’t that great but for a last minute solo trip it was more than i expected. Hope to redo it and take more time to meet and enjoy good vibes with good people. There wasn’t much i could visit; i even googled monastery to find my steps in front of a hitel that was built over an monastery in Chania.. i walked mainly on the main streets but didn’t feel unsafe especially considering i was clearly a tourist with my backpacking on. Next time i want to take the day trip to go hiking and another trip for ferry to another island. Food was affordable, depending on the location, i spent from 3-6€ for a pastry to 23€ -30€ for a 1 person meal(plus beer/tea/ouzo included) at restaurants.