The Captivating Greek Island of Crete

The world has always rejoiced visiting Crete, the largest of Greek islands and also the fifth largest in the whole of Mediterranean. The island is spread over an area of 8,336 km² (3,219 square miles) in the Southern Greece, and forms one of the thirteen Greek peripheries we know about. It is also believed to have played a key role in the Greek nation's history, something quite evident even today, as we go through its archaeological past. There is a rich marine life, fine sea beaches and a great hospitality - of which the Crete hotels make up a key ingredient - to be explored and enjoyed by anybody willing to spend some quality time on this island.

Crete is land where the first great civilization of Greece, the Minoan, happened about 4600 years ago; more precisely between 2600-1400 BC. The Minoan archaeological remains at Phaistos and Knossos are two well known tourist attractions. Apart from that, the archaeological sites at the Samaria Gorge, Rethymno and Gortys do also describe a significant amount of the Cretan history. Most tour operators will cover these sites and offer you a great stay at one those well-administered Crete hotels.

Although, there is hardly any written record of the Cretan history available today, one can still gauge its immensity by visiting the remains of palaces, sculptures and paintings from that era. The capital city of Crete, Heraklion, accounts for about fifteen percent of all the tourist arrivals in Greece, and there were about 20 million visitors recorded in Crete alone last year. No doubt the local tourism has been the mainstay for many Cretans for long now, with jobs at the Crete hotels, in airlines, marine operations and those in the supporting roles falling on their sides.

The number of hotel rooms in Crete grew by 53% between the years 1986 and 1991, when the same was 25% for the whole of Greece. This should itself speak about the kind of bullish growth the Cretan tourism has witnessed over the last two decades. A majority of the Crete hotels will provide you with all those facilities, which are ascribed only with the luxurious brands. The facilities may include pools, chance to take part in sports, camping, living in serviced apartments and traveling by air or sea routs etc. Thousands sail into Crete on yachts every year as part of their holiday rituals.

A voyage to Crete may be summarized as the discovery of the ancient Greek civilization, its present-day beaches, sea resorts, flora and fauna, and also that of its five-star hospitality. You can select to either fly in or sail through the Mediterranean into the Cretan periphery depending on the kind of tour package you may have chosen to buy on any given day. There are more than a dozen locations to travel out to once you had finally started to settle in. More information could be gathered by checking out various Greece related websites, some of which are the facilitators of hotel rooms and private apartment bookings.