Skotino (Agia Paraskevi) Cave 6 Oct 2026

As my flight to Birmingham was not until 2200 I decided to go on a morning hike, especially as the storms had gone away.

Two of the ladies in the group had been to Skotino cave (aka  Agia Paraskevi cave) the previous day and said how nice and empty it was and was just an 8 mile round trip, following the roads and signposts, so this was to be the one. It was discovered by Arthur evans but hadnt used any concrete here, unlike Knossos!

I took more of a hiking route, crossing the old main road by our petrol station and keeping going up the hill past the Nola villas. I only saw one person and a bus full of soldiers on my journey.

The view to see on the way up

It took only 1h20 to reach the church of Agia Paraskevi built above the cave, before entering the cave  used to worship Goddess Artemıs (Diana)

The cave entrance

The view looking out of the cave

I decided to go back a different way, passing through Skotiono, down Makelarianou Gorge which showed signs of flood water damage and through the village of Gouves.

Flood damage in the gorge, 4" deep mud and displaced rubble

Gouves old town house

 I was just in time to go for lunch with 2 other group members found wandering along the seafront!

Total of 10.4miles

Elounda, Spiralonga Fort and Agios Nikolaos 5 Oct 2026

Todays bus journey went via a to Elounda. Although the sun was shining the wind was still strong so the itinary had to be adjusted to avoid a choppy boat ride from the east coast of Kalydon.

We started with a walk east from Alounda, past the salt flats , crossing the causeway (bridging a channel built by the french so they wouldnt get trapped in Alounda bay) to Kalydon, returning via the same route

We then caught the boat to Spiralonga Fort where we had a guided tour of the fortifications and the old leper colony

 Return was via a coffee and cake stop near the (manmade) lake in Agios Nikolaos

Malia Palace 4 oct 2026

 After the cancellation of the 2nd optional walk I decided to visit the Malia Palace. This was easy as there was a bus route that started at the bus stop by the petrol station ("Gouves 11") and terminated at the gates of the palace and only cost 2.40Euro. Consulting the bus timetable it went every 30 minutes, impressive for a Sunday!

The palace was huge but very 2 dimensional compared to the 3D knossos palace, but was very interesting and much fewer visitors then Knossos

Grain silos

Warehouse for storing liquids, runoff to collect leaks!

Part of the covered area

I decided to walk back along the coast, using the beach when possible (avoiding the busy centre of Melia) until i got bored. I encountered the pot on Potamos Beach the beach and the little church on the island

The glazed grooves were to stop ants getting in 

The offshore church

Complete route 6 miles