FAQ's_en

Crete is the biggest island of Greece, characterized by the mountains in the West and great views, sandy beaches, all the thing tourists aRE looking for, but also still very original Greek. Here are the main points of interest:

1) on Crete the original Greek life, it’s culture, the traditional Greek cuisine, is still very much present. This iis often not the case anymore on other Greek islands because of tourisme.

2) Crete is at the origine of the western civilization as we know it today. The center of the Minoan civilization in   Knossos but also in Phaestos and on other locations. Both Venetian and Ottoman Empire are still visible in the major cities.

3) There are 3 major cities, Heraklion, Rethymnon and Chania, ideal for city trips. It is very nice to walk around and capture some of the culture.

4) western Crete has about 50 gorges and many tourist love the walk them discovering the Cretan nature and great views.

this and much more activities we described on our website: vacation tips.

At our rental villa Villa MAQUIS, we work with a « Key box » with numeric code. In the box you can find the key of the villa and the remote control of the entrance gate. We send our guests the code per email just a few days before their checkin. Of course don’t forget to put the keys back into the box when you check out of the villa.

ps: the entrance key of the villa is a very secured key and cannot be reproduced.

for holidays during high saison, July or August, it is best to book in December or January. This way you will have the highest probability to get the exact dates that you prefer. For periods out of these months, we advice you to book before Easter.

We made an entire website page for you to describe the weather on Crete

Crete knows 3 distinct periods, the period between Easter and end of June, high saison July and August, and the moths September and October. The early period before the summers is the most beautiful period because of the fabulous white mountains that are covered with snow until mid May and the very green environment of the APOKORONAS (where Villa MAQUIS) is located. During July the temperatures rise +35C and most of the heatwaves come, but during this month also most of the local festivities are happening in the area. In August temperatures decrease a little and the water is very nice for swimming, From September the temperatures tend to drop to 25-28C and it is very  nice to swim in the hot water of the pool and the sea, but the area is very dry and the green disappeared and turned brown.

We created a full website page for our guests of Villa MAQUIS with a portfolio of activities in the area. For everyone something….

For our guests of Villa MAQUIS we created a full page on our website with places to visit. For each of you, something to discover…

it is worth while to discover the real Greek life and get to know the Greek culture. Villa MAQUIS is situated in the authentic Greek-Cretan villa page of Vamos. The village is proud to stay original. Just go and see the tourist office in the old center, the English-German speaking ladies are very helpfull and will propose several original activities to take part in the Greek life.

Cooking lessons with a local lady in an original setting.

Picking olives in the mountain garden of Manolis, a walk through his garden and discover the the local herbs and  “greens” the wild vegetables.

Be a bee keeper for a day with Stavros from the local cafenion In the square of Vamos.

Take a look at vacation tips on our website to discover more local activities and authentic Greek restaurants.

In entire Greece we can recommend not to book an ALL INN formula. in contradiction to Turkeys, this formula is not well developed. We recommend to discover the local non touristic restaurants. For this leave the coast line (5km). You will be surprised of the value for your money you will get.

For your stay at our holiday house VILLA MAQUIS, there are NO additional costs to pay. Included is the cost for water consumption, energy (electricity, air conditioning), cleaning and laundry, all tourist taxes are also included.

It is possible that you will receive a visit from the Greek tourist inspection. They will ask you questions regarding your lease, just give an honest answer. They can also ask you to show the rental license (rental license EOT or AMA). These papers are to be found at the back of the ring folder (VILLA MAQUIS information folder) which you have undoubtedly already found.

Advice regarding the use of the air conditioning:

The 4 bedrooms each have an individual thermostatic control. Put this on an hour before you go to sleep. Ideal at 24 ° C this way you avoid waking up sick in the morning. A cold from an air conditioner can last for months, I believe from experience.

Turn off the air conditioner during the day and open the windows (with the fly window closed). The air conditioner has interlocks and with open windows the airco is blocked to avoid warming up our planet.

Coming from within the EU you only need an identity card (ID). Make sure the validity date has not passed yet nor will expired while you are in Greece.

Children over the age of 12 must also have an ID card.

If you wish to rent a car, you must also bring your driving license and a credit card for the guarantee.

Guest who are coming from out of EU need to consult their government or embassy for detailed information.

Attention, you will not be able to pay by card in many restaurants and bars. 

There are plenty of ATM's in the area, but you will always pay about € 3 per withdrawal and the amounts per withdrawals could be limited.

For one week I usually take between 500 € and 1000 € for 2 people. Depending where you go out for dinner/lunch.

Cash machines nearby

* VAMOS center opposite of the school at the PIREUS bank

* Kalyves: in the center at the PIREUS bank or a little further near the church at the PANCRETAN bank.

* Almirida: at Flisvos (car rental)

Of course it is best to rent a car when you stay in our holiday house  "Villa MAQUIS". Car rental fees are considerably higher than in Spain for example (due to the high taxes of the ministry on cars).

We recommend renting a car that is slightly higher off the ground. A FIAT PANDA, SUZUKI Ignis, S-cross or Vitara. These cars allow you to drive without risk of hitting a rock on the Greek country roads.

Attention:

It is not always clear how much the deposit is that you have to pay as downpayment. That is why we recommend that you take a rental company that has its office at the airport itself and not a little further on. Once there they ask for a deposit in Cash of about 1000 € or more when this is not clearly mentioned in the car rental contract.

There are 2 rental companies that do not ask for a downpayment;

* AVIS (you can make a reservation via the website) and they have their office in the airport building

* AUTOCLUB, a local company where we have rented dozens of times, they have an extraordinary reputation. No downpayment and low prices. email info@autoclub-rentals.gr, ask nar Olga (speaks good english and state that you were sent by Rudi and Nancy). Be sure to make your reservations in time because the number of cars is limited during high saison.

In our holiday home "Villa MAQUIS" on Crete, we make sure that a general cleaning is done on the same day that you arrive.

The necessary number of beds are made up and towels are provided for each person present.

There is also a towel for the pool available per guest, but we ask you not to take it outside the villa.

Cleaning takes place every seven days. If you stay 10 days,for example, the intermediate cleaning will be done somewhere in the middle of your stay.

Manolis, our Greekpool boy, makes sure the pool is cleaned twice per week, most of the times very early in the morning.

Our holiday house "Villa MAQUIS" is located near the village of VAMOS (1,2km). The typical Greek village, through its historical importance, is a complete village with many schools, shops, bank, bakery and butcher. The inhabitants and many expaths are living there the year round. 

Kalyves is the biggest village of the area and offers all kind of shops and a supermarket. It is located at 6 km and very easy to reach.

Download a map of VAMOS and a map of KALYVES with indication of the different shops here :

The waste in Crete is not sorted, so it is best to throw everything in 1 bag. One exception are glass bottles, which you can dump in a yellow waste containers.  One is located near the church of VAMOS, close to restaurant Bloumousifi.

Point of attention : make sure that your waste is properly cleaned up, crumbles and other organic stuff is attractive to mices and other vermin that sometimes secretly visit the kitchen and are still difficult to get rid of.

After BBQ or using the outdoor kitchen, make sure to clean up especially the BBQ because organic fats attract the bees. Many of these little friends can come to visit you at breakfast in the morning.

Throw waste bags in the waste container that is situated in the carport. Put a stone on it so that the cats that visit us during the night do not empty it.

Dump regularly your waste in one of the many street containers, no matter which one. There is one at the entrance of the rural access road that you take to the villa.

Tap water or city water in Crete is drinkable.  Usually in the restaurants and bars you get a carafe of tap water for free upon arrival. The tap water contains a lot of lime and is purified with the addition of chlorine. You can sometimes taste it.

We therefore recommend that you drink bottled water. A 1/2 liter bottle of SAMARIA water costs 0,50 € cents all over Greece. So for a large bottle you pay 1 € or a little more.

The water supply in Crete can be a problem in the summer months. Usually there are shortages and the municipality alternately interrupts certain zones or adjusts the water pressure. These interruptions can last a few days (2 to 3 days, but rarely longer).

Worse are the local farmers who sometimes dare to shut off the water supply to the villa from the distribution tap on the street. It must then be opened manually again.

Our holiday home "Villa Limani" has water storage of 3 x 1000L in the storage cellar. This is city water. With this amount, a family of 6 people should be able to continue without problems for 3 days.

However, it is possible that this water has been standing still for a while and that is why we advise you not to drink from the tap water, but to use some for your personal hygiene. We also prefer bottled water for coffee, but that is a personal choice.

We have made a list of things to bring on vacation, but we did not include personal stuff like clothes. Please download it here:

As guest of "Villa Limani" the luxury holiday house on Crete you will certainly rent a car. But maybe you are confused when you see Greeks driving on the roads, are the priority rules the same?

When we came to live in Greece we began to doubt if the priority rules are different then in the rest of Europe, so we checked the priority rules again to be sure.

Greeks have the tendency to give their priority to the other drivers as a gesture of kindness. So when they stop at an intersection, they let the others go first although they have priority. But on the other hand they expect the others to do the same, so when they do not have priority they count that the others will give them priority. So in fact the rules become just opposite.

There is one EXCEPTION in the busy city center. As many streets are one direction, the priority is taken almost blindfold. So when driving in the city center, be very careful and stop where you should.

With the car, a tourist should be very careful, because when getting involved in an accident, the police will certainly intervene. And because Greeks protect each other there is a possibility that you will have problems although the accident is not your fault.

Parking your car is no problem ( when you find a spot ). Everywhere there are signs forbidden to park but everyone is doing it. There is no control except when you need to pay. You better take a ticket because police is checking them.

Good Advice : stay calm and be a gentlemen in traffic, even when the person in front of you stops, gets out of his car to have a little chat with a person he knows. Just wait and don't blow your horn, remember it is vacation and this is part of Greek culture that you are now experiencing.