Agios Nikolaos in Lassithi | Cretan Locations

Agios Nikolaos is the capital of the prefecture of Lassithi and one of the most developed tourist areas.

It is built around a picturesque lake at the north-western side of the Mirabello bay, the biggest bay in Crete.

The beauty here is endless with the seasons succeeding one another and a unique climate.

Thanks to the beautiful coasts, the great sights and the cosmopolitan life, this live city hosts every year thousands of visitors without losing one bit of its tranquillity and traditional hospitality.

The town center of Agios Nikolaos is a bottomless lake, which is actually not a lake because it is connected to the sea.

People used to believe that it is bottomless because it goes all the way to the other side of the earth (old myth).

But it is deep enough for the retreating Germans to dump all their tanks during WWII, and nobody has seen them since.

Now the descendants of those same Germans can frolic in the sea and in the pubs with the descendants of the British people they fought, while being served by the ancestors of the farmers who defended their land with muskets against those tanks at the bottom of the bottomless lake.

Indeed Agios as it is called in it's shortform, is an interesting town, somewhat less so in the summer when it is so packed with tourists that the local buses can barely get through the streets. Nearby is the Elounda Beach, one of the most well known and successful resorts in the country.

There are enough sandy coves and beaches along the coast so you can get away from the crowds if you want though you probably won't find solitude unless you head inland.

Beaches in Lassithi