Experience the best of Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos wraps around a hillside above Mirabello Bay in eastern Crete. At its heart is Lake Voulismeni, a small, almost circular pool linked to the harbour by a narrow channel and ringed by cafés and tavernas. Fishing boats and yachts fill the marina, and the town's small beaches, folk museum and archaeological museum lie within a short walk.

Boats cross to Spinalonga, a Venetian island fortress that served as a leper colony until 1957, and to the sheltered bays of Elounda, to the north. In the hills, Kritsa village has a church with Byzantine frescoes, the Panagia Kera, and the ruins of the Dorian city of Lato overlook the gulf. Gournia, a Minoan town site, and the Lasithi Plateau, known for its windmills, lie within easy reach.

Dakos, a barley rusk topped with tomato and soft white cheese, is the dish to look for, along with Cretan olive oil, graviera cheese, wild greens, snails and honey, and the clear grape spirit raki poured after meals. The warm, dry season runs from May to October, and spring brings wildflowers to the hills.