Plateau to plateau. Lassithi area

Kritsa Car park

Starting Point. Turn right out of the car park and right again at the sort of T junction and up the main through road which gets a bit narrow further up.

Right hand turn

Uphill right hand turn after going through the main Kritsa through road

Turn left

Turn left and just follow the road

Views

Just photo's of the view. Road still tarmac at the moment

View

Views, and a few tight hairpins on the raod

View

Just views of the scenery

Info Sign

Parked up here to view the outside theatre, still used by the locals for entertainment.

More views

More Views

Start of 4 x 4 road

After miles of uphill travelling around numerous bends you finally descend and negotiate a few tight bends into the small village of Katharou, which the valley is named after. There are three local Tavernas here, should you want to refresh yourselves before continuing. Alternatively carry on with the local Taverna Stereos on your right, pass the small church and you finally enter the start of the 4 x 4 trail

The start

Here starts the actual off road trek. The trail covers both rugged terrain and concrete roads.

Keep going straight

Ignore any turn off's and keep going straight. The road is fairly wide and on the whole most of the traffic runs one way.

View of gorge

Gorge to the left

Havgas gorge Stop & view

Parking area here. Small trail to the edge of the gorge to admire the view.

View

Road view

Dust

Trail kicks up a lot of dust when dry, especially when following other vehicles

Stopped to admire the view

Vultures and goats in this area. Stunning view across the plataeu Worth stopping for photo's

Turn right off the main trail to view the sculpture

Small excursion to view a memorial made by Nigel Radcliffe a resident in Kritsa. The plaque is dedicated to the rebel leader Captain Kazanis, with his band of rebels including Rodanthe disguised as Spanomandis. To know more about this true story of the heroine of Kritsa and the history behind it, I suggest you read the books "Kritsotopoula" & "Rodanthe's gift" by Yvonne Payne

Road leading down

Towards the memorial

Memorial

Parked the car here and walked a little further down to view the monument This was an actual area where the rebels stayed After viewing return up the same route to join the main trail

Return back

After viewing monument. Doubled back to where we turned off and carried on straight ahead

Straight ahead

view

view

Main road that you join to the left coming up.

When you hit the road, turn right and a couple of bends later you will see the Taverna

Taverna

The official end. Stopped at Taverna Skapanis. Nice Taverna to enjoy a snack or meal and enjoy the view across the Lassithi Plataeu The choice is yours whether to carry on to the left towards Ag Nik or Neapoli or turn right and go through the villages around the Lassithi valley. The caves of Zeus and many small villages and numerous Tavernas await you.