Customer Reviews

Crete Travel Pack

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In preparation for my month in Crete recently, I bought three books...Globetrotter's Travel Pack/Crete, Berlitz's Greek Cassette Pack with Phrase Book and Wicked Greek for the Traveler and out of the three the one that proved most comprehensive and valuable was Globetrotter's Travel Pack. Nick Hanna does not fail the traveler in any aspect of his descriptions...from what sights to see, to accomodations, to where to find a great meal. I stayed with an American friend who has lived in the village of Kiparissos, outside of Chania, for 12 years (and who is considered to be horiata or native) and we were always, genuinely delighted and amazed at the detail Mr. Hanna provided as we adventured around the island of Crete doing the tourist trail with this lovely little book and map in hand.

Outside of the ocasional typo or incorrect telephone number (not unusual for Crete) Globetrotter and Mr. Hanna do a superb job of presenting Crete to the traveler on a silver platter. Bravo!!!!

I bought the first edition in 1996 and have been using it regularly since. Well researched on out of the way places - it's one of the few english-language guides to mention the two tavernas at the tiny Ayios Ghiorgios along the coast from Ayia Ghalini on the south coast, although you can walk it in 30-40 min rather than the 2hrs quoted if you ask the locals the way. Logical layout, decent maps, sensible advice, and not too much history and politics, which just adds bulk to so many guides. On the other hand, just enough about people and customs to be genuinley useful as a starter if you want to move from the north coast tourist strip. I bought the map separately and I don't recommend it. There are 4 decent scale (1:79,000) maps of the Chania, Rethymnon, Iraklio and Lassithi areas available locally. Highly recommended for a first-time visitor.