| Brief description:- |
A picturesque village located on the south coast. |
| Village of Agia Galini
This village is located on the south coast of Crete in the prefecture of Rethymnon. It is a terraced village and is backed by the Vouvala Hill which reaches 944 metres in height. The name Galini means Peace or Tranquility and the bay of Masara is known for it's calm sheltered waters during storms. Many of the original families in the village would have originated from Melambes, which is situated near the top of vouvala. As fishermen they used Agia Galini as their base as it enjoyed year round mild weather. Today the village is a popular resort, but unlike any on the North cost it can never extend to mass tourism as the nature of the landscape building restrictions work in its favour.
On entering the village the main road winds down to the pretty harbour where there are a variety of local fishing boats in various colours. Here is the main carpark and as you look back from here the whole village rises up the hill with sparkling blue shuttered white buildings with dappled colours of cerise and purple bougainvillea adorning many building. A short walk from the main village from here sweeping around the cost is the beach with its many taverns.
The village enjoys a variety of restaurants and taverns all of which have excellent food and best of all no one waiting outside to hassle clients to eat in their establishment. There are also various bars and cafeneons and of course a good supply of tourist shops, mini markets and all the other necessities that are needed like a post office, doctor, bakeries and fish shop. This is a village that has repeat visitors, some who have been coming for many years and also visit during the winter as Agia Galini enjoys approximately 330 days of sunshine. The average age group being from thirty something upwards as there are no mad nightclubs or loud music bars that cater to the clubbing age group. There are various types of accommodation available from quality hotels to pensions, all varying in price. A host of archaeological sites are near by and include the famous Festos, Gortys and Agia Triada all easily reached by car or bus. . Matala with its caves and Zaros know for its trout are all within easy reach without spending hours in the car. There is a good bus service and also one can go on daily boat trips to various beaches along the coast. It is about one and a quarter hours drive to the airport in Heraklion. Twenty minutes to the market town of Timbaki and one hour to the town of Rethymnon on the north coast. In addition, there is a sailing school and a diving school also some well known yoga schools in the area (Kalamaki, Agios Pavlos and Triopetra) and also one can enjoy art classes, bridge classes etc.,
This is a very friendly village and even though there is tourism, it is a very safe place to be, people generally don’t bother to lock the houses or their cars and the children play safely on the village streets without a care in the world. Many of the foreigners that have chosen to live here permanently have been accepted into the villager’s hearts and become their extended family.
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