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Many visitors to Crete arrive in the island's capital, Iraklion (Heraklion), but it's not an outstandingly beautiful city, nor one where you'll want to stay much longer than it takes to visit the Archeological Museum and nearby Knossos . Iraklion itself, though it has its good points - superb fortifications, a fine market, atmospheric old alleys and some interesting lesser museums - is for the most part an experience in survival: despite a recent makeover of central areas by the city hall it remains modern, raucous, traffic-laden and overcrowded. The area immediately around the city is less touristy than you might expect, mainly because there are few decent beaches of any size on this central part of the coast. To the west, mountains drop straight into the sea virtually all the way to Rethymnon, with just two significant coastal settlements: Ayia Pelayia , a sizeable resort, and Bali , which is gradually becoming one. Eastwards, the main resorts are at least 30km away, at Hersonissos and beyond, although there is a string of rather unattractive developments all the way there. Inland, there's agricultural country, some of the richest on the island, a cluster of Crete's better vineyards, and a series of wealthy but rather dull villages. Directly behind the capital rises Mount Iouktas with its characteristic profile of Zeus; to the west the Psiloritis massif spreads around the peak of Mount Psiloritis (Idha) the island's highest mountain. On the south coast there are few roads and little development of any kind, except at Ayia Galini in the southwest, a nominal fishing village long since swamped with tourists, and Matala , which has thrown out the hippies that made it famous and is now crowded with package-trippers. Lendas has to some extent occupied Matala's old niche. Despite the lack of resorts, there seem constantly to be thousands of people trekking back and forth across the centre of the island. This is largely because of the superb archeological sites in the south: Festos , second of the Minoan palaces, with its attendant villa at Ayia Triadha , and Gortys , capital of Roman Crete.
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