Nightlife

CRETE HAS THE MOST LIVELY NIGHTLIFE OF ALL THE GREEK ISLANDS.

There is a wide variety of entertainment choices, for all tastes and all ages, from wild foam parties to traditional evenings with Cretan music and dances.

Summer in Crete and in Greece means “tables outside”: The guests meet the local people and everyone joins the party. After the sunset, people start gathering in “ouzo shops” and “taverns” (which are usually next to the sea or have a view to the sea) to enjoy “tsikoudia” (traditional local drink) or ouzo and special snacks.

The night continues in various music halls, discos, clubs, bars, “bouzouki” or “Cretan Lira” places (halls with live Greek or Cretan music) in the beautiful narrow streets or at the coastal zone of the island until the morning. For those who want something more relaxed, there are various art festivals and cultural events, like theatre performances, concerts with any kind of music and dance and summer cinemas.

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CHANIA

Cosmopolitan nightclubs and stylish bar-restaurants, small atmospheric bars and picturesque cafés where you can enjoy a drink, or maybe a cocktail, or just a good cup of coffee. Some are hidden among the alleys of the Old City in historic buildings or courtyards, others are on the waterfront overlooking the sea. Chania has it all, whatever your preference, whether it’s a relaxing drink, or endless partying. Chania is a bustling vibrant town!!

The old town, the old port, Splantzia, Hatzimichalis Dalianis, or Akrotiri, are just a few of the areas you can wander around until you find the perfect fun place: Cafés, bars, clubs, a live Greek and international music scene, including a number of jazz bars, all invite you to experience the city’s nightlife to the full.

A few kilometers outside Chania, to the west of the city, are the summer resorts of Agia Marina (8 km) and Platanias (11 km). Agia Marina has a beautiful beach, a number of good tavernas and an unparalleled nightlife, which altogether offer an experience definitely not to be missed. In Platanias you will find an exciting nightlife, bars, restaurants, a long sandy beach, and numerous hotels spread out along the coast.

RETHYMNON

Rethimnon offers a multivariate nightlife all year long. Visitors may taste traditional Cretan flavors in restaurants and taverns, along the promenade as well as close to the sea in Koubes area. In the old harbour visitors may taste fresh fish in sea food taverns. Alternatively one can look for small but tidy and hospitable “rakadika” shops with traditional/folk music in the lanes of the Old Town.

Many coffee bars are in the promenade (Eleftheriou Venizelou Str.) where one may choose his/her own music style for entertainment or have a drink in the area of old harbour within the Pasarela, Fortezza Castle and old harbour areas.

Clubbing in Rethimno is different according to the season. In winter time most of the clubs operating mostly in Melissinou Str., in the Old Town whereas some others are in old harbour area. International (pop, house, latin) or greek (folk, cretan, pop) are on the mainstream music list. In the summer most beach bars are outside Rethimnon, 5 kms east, in Misiria and Platanias areas with international music. To the west one may find fewer bars in the area of koubes.

HERAKLION

Town Center

At Korai Street (parallel to Daedalus), which is situated at the center of Heraklion city, visitors come acrross with a pedestrian street full of coffee bars with Greek and foreign music throughout the year. The street attracts mostly young people. In the central market of Heraklion (1866 Street starting from the Meidani and reaches Kornarou Square), visitors can find shops for souvenirs and products of traditional Cretan diet during the day and in the evening one can taste Greek ouzo to the city’s taverns, listening to Greek traditional and contemporary folk music.At Chandakos Street (located just below Lions Square and ends at the promenade of Heraklion) are also gathered cafe bars for lovers of Greek music, jazz, latin and rock music.

In the square of Agios Titos (Orthodox church of St. Titus on the road August 25) but also in the parallel pedestrian streets, there are many taverns and coffee bars that are open until dawn and can shape unique memories in all visitors. Near Agios Minas (cathedral, patron saint of Heraklion) and to the surrounding walkways tourists can find old “dermitzadika”, which are the oldest taverns serving Ouzo at Heraklion with traditional food and raki. In the coastal boulevard (west of the Venetian fortress of Koules, street Sophocles Venizelos) are gathered all the nightclubs. During the summer they are open aired, offering astonishing sea views. Accompanied with Greek and foreign music, visitors can enjoy the sunrise while sipping a drink.

Just outside Heraklion

For the youth, there are areas of the Peninsula (28 km east of Heraklion) and Malia (34 km east of Heraklion), which have a vibrant nightlife. There visitors can find a large number of pubs, clubs, bars, beach bars which they organize summer events with internationally renowned DJ’s. Another nearby nightlife destination with a little more relaxed atmosphere is the beach of Agia Pelagia (18 km west from Heraklion). There visitors can find several coffee bars with foreign and Greek music as well as beach bars with more relaxed music.

LASITHI

The most famous Cafes, Bars and Clubs are located around the lake of Aghios Nikolaos, in the city center and along the coastal road in front of the port. There, one can be entertained by listening to music and dancing until the morning. In Kitroplateia square one can find a variety of taverns to drink ouzo and eat “mezedes”. The main coastal road of Ierapetra and Kyrva Street attract the local people and the visitors who wish to enjoy themselves in the cafes, bars and clubs which are open till the morning. Makrigialos, Sitia and Palaíkastron also offer intense entertainment, particularly in the coastal zone.