u/123avg456

I just returned from a full 7-day trip to Crete with my boyfriend, and it was amazing! The weather was absolutely perfect (ranging from 21°-28°C) and most places were not very busy in early May.

Here’s the highlights of our trip:

1. We stayed in Rethymno - it was a perfect “home base” for exploring the island on our days with the rental car, and for easy beach days and dinners in old town (which was beautiful). Also well connected with the buses which was so helpful! The fortress was one of our main trip highlights

2. We rented a small automatic car through Greenways Rentals and it was completely painless, so I would again highly recommend - for 3 days and with full CDW insurance coverage, it came to €48 per day. Would be only €38 per day without the CDW

3. Aptera archaeological site was AMAZING, however we unfortunately drove there when the road up the mountain from the main road was closed due to road works. This turned the 14-min remainder of our journey, into over 2 hours going around through the mountains, through Malaxa and Stilos. The one-way system on the main highway made it difficult to turn around or turn left. But this day ended up feeling super adventurous and we had a lot of fun on the rural roads!

4. We went to Heraklion for a whole day and after seeing the venetian walls, the archaeological museum, and having bougatsa and gelato in the old town centre, we didn’t feel that we need more time there or even need to visit Heraklion if we came back. Unfortunately we were too tired this day to also go to Knossos but wish we did, so if we go back we would definitely visit Knossos just not Heraklion again.

5. Underrated day trip - we drove to Amari Reservoir to see the dam, and had wonderful coffees at the cafe there. The owner was so so lovely and kind, and really happy to let me try and order in Greek. We then drove to Patsos Gorge which was gorgeous and the perfect length of hike for us, however we wish that we could have fit another hike into our trip. We will work our way up to Samaria!

6. Cash is preferred wherever you can, and definitely needed when you go out of main city centres. We were surprised to see such high fees on most ATMs, but I found that the AlphaBank ATMs had the lowest fees around of €1.80 (compared to €5.95 at Euronet)

all in all, we would absolutely come back to Crete but next time would like to rent a car for much longer and stay in smaller, local guest houses along the way. We wish that we could have had a taverna meal in the mountains, visited more remote beaches and some caves, went to Knossos Palace and Askifou fortress, and went to Spinalonga to see the abandoned leper colony. Plenty to fill up another trip!

I am by no means an expert on travelling in Crete now so would appreciate feedback for my future trips 😁

I have a Three+ voucher for a £1 drink from caffe nero, expiring tomorrow (sunday 10/05) at 11:59pm. unfortunately i am away on holiday and my friends are also unable to use it before then.

DM me if you’d like the voucher, only the one available

*TAKEN*

After tracking my calories since September, I have come to realise the several foods that cause me to exceed my daily calorie intake goal:

1. bread - I just can’t have bread in the house. I love toast, I love ripping a piece of baguette, i love having breakfast sandwiches. I could eat a half or even whole baguette with some nice salted butter easily and then be over 1000cals for what was supposed to be a snack. I have stopped buying bread and butter and replaced my sandwich bread with the Mission Carb Balance wraps (not an ad obvs - they are just great macros and tasty, but expensive!)

2. Sugar and oat milk in my coffee - replacing sugar in my morning coffee with sugar-free syrup, and my oat milk for semi-skimmed lactose-free milk has made my morning coffee go from 100-120 calories to only about 30.

3. mayonnaise - i used to want mayonnaise with everything- my fries or roast potatoes, burgers, mixed with sriracha over a stir-fry, in a chicken or tuna salad, on my sandwiches etc etc. I have switched to low-fat mayo using only a little bit on sandwiches, opting for ketchup or no sauce if i do have potatoes, and cutting with or substituting for yoghurt in chicken salads.

4. butter and oil - i just loved putting butter on everything when i cook, it’s how my family have always cooked and how i was raised. but until i started measuring out my food portions and tracking calories, i had no idea how many extra calories i was adding with the amount of oil and butter i was cooking with. i now rarely buy butter and oil but if i do have it on hand, i know to use a much smaller amount. I now use low-calorie oil spray that’s only 1 calorie per spray.

5. crisps (chips)- another danger for binge-eating! i have found that low-calorie air popped crisps in individual serving bags are safer for me if i am really craving something crunchy. i try not to buy big sharing bags anymore bc i will just overeat, or even if i finish my portion i poured out into a bowl i know i will “just have a few more” from the bag.

i feel like i have a way better understanding of portion size and the real amount of calories in food now. i am not super strict with it and still eat everything i want to, i just have made some changes and avoid buying certain things day-to-day. I’ve lost 15lbs since September which doesn’t seem like much but it has felt like a really natural loss and true lifestyle change! I don’t feel like I have been working my ass off trying to stick to a harsh deficit or grinding in the gym 5x a week, i knew that would be exhausting and unsustainable for me and i really have mad respect for those that can do that and keep up the motivation

Hello,

My boyfriend and I are arriving in CHQ at 21:40 on a Tuesday, so probably too late to catch the bus to Rethymno where we are staying.

Since it’s only the two of us, we are trying to avoid paying for a more expensive private taxi. I came across ShuttleDirect and Mozio, which seem to use TLT shared coach transfers.

Does anyone know whether these shared transfers are reliable and if one company is particularly better than another?

Thanks!