Balos

Balos is one of those landscapes that, when you see it for the first time, makes you wonder whether it truly exists or if someone designed it.

At the edge of the Gramvousa peninsula, in northwestern Crete, a wide lagoon stretches between three shores and two islets, with waters ranging from white in the shallows to deep turquoise in the deeper parts. The sand has an almost silvery color, spilled like salt across the floor of nature.

Access to Balos is possible in two ways: a one-hour hike down a rugged path from the parking lot at the top, or by boat from Kolymvari or Chania. Many visitors choose the boat to avoid the exhausting uphill climb on the return journey, but those who descend on foot discover that the view from the cliffs above the lagoon is just as breathtaking as the beach itself.

Near Balos rises the island of Gramvousa, with a Venetian fortress at its peak that weighs the history of every gaze that touches it. The fortress was the last stronghold of the Venetians in Crete before falling into the hands of the Ottomans, and was later used as a pirate base. Its silhouette on the horizon adds a sense of epic grandeur to the already otherworldly landscape.

In the summer, Balos fills with people, its fame has reached every corner of Europe but the nature of the place is so vast that it never completely loses its air of isolation. At the start or the end of the day, when the other visitors leave, Balos reveals its true self: immense, silent, and almost unbearably beautiful.