Lasithi Plateau is a plateau with avg. altitude 820m in Crete (Greece).
Understand
A rewarding day trip by car from Malia. Hotels in the area are overpriced.
Lasithi Plateau, a mountainous municipality, is the westernmost of the 4 municipalities in Lasithi Prefecture. In the south of Lasithi Plateau is the 1 Limnakaro Plateau. This small plateau is used for shepherding. It lacks permanent residents but does have a Byzantine church dedicated to the Holy Spirit.
The residents of Lasithi Plateau are still influenced by conservative concepts and by the precepts of the Orthodox Church. Their attitude toward foreign visitors can vary greatly but is never disrespectful.
Talk
The spoken language is the Cretan idiom of Greek, with additional languages spoken by young people, owners and staff of hotels, tavernas and museums.
Towns
- 1 Tzermiado is the capital of the municipality of Lasithi plateau, and the largest also.
- 2 Agios Georgios is the second largest.
Get in
The plateau is accessible through a two paved and some unpaved roads climbing in the slopes of Dikti mountain, so you get'n by car, bus, motocycle, bicycle. The most well-known paved road climbs up to 900m, and enters from "seli ampelou" at NNW side of plateau. The other paved road, passes from the villages of Mesa and Exo Potamoi, the unpaved roads are known only to the locals
Get around
There's a paved ring-road that runs the circumference, and serves the 15 villages, the Mesa Lasithaki served by a junction from Mesa Lasithi, other junctions serving the Diktaio Andron, some facilities, and connecting it with the rest of the island's road network. Because the plateau's economy runs primary on agriculture, an agricultural road network developed for access in the fields, and transporting the loads, some of these roads widened and paved, making those roads good shortcuts.
See
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- 1 Diktaio Andron (cave of Psichro). The place where Amalthea is said to have nurtured the infant Zeus with her goat's milk. The cave itself is in a lovely location with breath taking views at the top, but small and unexciting. It takes you 15 minutes climbing to get the entrance. However you can hire a donkey at €15. Don't forget to bring bottled drinking water with you. €8 per person.
- The post-Minoic settlement Karphi
Do
Depending on the time, there are lots of things to do in Lasithi plateau. But first of all, forget bathing on the beach! Instead, you can participate:
- in the preparations for the potato planting (late April-early June),
- in potato harvesting (mid-to-late August-mid September),
- in the sheep shearing
- in the sheep's milking,
- in festivals,
Also you can do:
- hiking,
- mountain biking,
- ball sports (football and basketball)
- cultural immersion, and especially winter...
- snow activities
Buy
Markets (small, medium, and big) do exist in (almost) every village. Except from souvenirs there's nearly nothing else to buy, however because of first sector economy you can buy potatoes (Lasithi Plateau produces around 200,000 tonnes of potatoes), carrots, cucumbers, etc., directly from the producer, and various types of dairy products (feta, graviera, kefalotyri, athotyros, tirozouli, the Dikti yogurt) made by the diary (and from the shepherds too) from the milk of sheep and goats.
Eat
There are many tavernas and restaurants serving Greek cuisine.
Drink
Τhirstiness strikes hard in this area on hot summer days. Fortunately, there are coffee shops and cafes locally. The coffee shops are mostly gathering sites for elderly people and the cafes, for younger ones, because they have billiards tables, betting and coin operated PC's. More English is spoken in the cafes.
Nightlife on the Lasithi Plateau is rare, with only one nightclub open.
Sleep
- Argoulias Guest house (in the Village of Tzermiadon), ☏ 30 28440 22754, 30 697 223 4275 (Mobile phone). 2 studios and 9 stone-built apartments equipped with kitchenette and central heating.
- Lasinthos Apartments, "Agios Georgios" Village, ☏ 30 28440 89101, 30 6932-736626 (Mobile phone). 4-star hotel. Overrated.
- Dias Rooms ("Agios Georgios" village), ☏ 30 28440 31207. Rooms to let.
- Kourites Hotel (Tzermiado village), ☏ 30 28310 55828. 2-star hotel. Overpriced rooms and food.
- Zeus House (Agios Konstantinos village). A stone made house 240 m² for six persons. €250.
- Dictaeon Andron Rooms (Psichro Village), ☏ 30 28440 31504. Rooms to let near the Dikti cave.
Connect
Some villages have a free WiFi Hotspot. Some tavernas and cafes also, ask for the code.
2G, 3G, and 4G are also available if you have data plan
Stay safe
You will generally be safe if you take normal health and safety precautions for rural areas, with one exception: The greatest danger in this area is falling into open wells. For irrigation, wells are opened, with their depth reaching the 16 m, so keep children away and approach with caution.
Go next
- The villages of Minoa Pediados
- The villages of Merampelo
- The Saint George of Selinari
- The villages of Viannos