Myrthos, South Crete

Mirtos or Myrtos is one of the jewels of Crete, a picturesque seaside village in southeast Crete, near Ierapetra in Lassithi Prefecture. It is the capital of a municipal department consisting of Mirtos and four other villages, and has a population of around 500 (2001 census). Most of the local inhabitants are farmers, a fact immediately obvious from the many greenhouses in the area. Many tourists visit Mirtos in the summer, and there are rooms for rent, small hotels, restaurants, tavernas, café-bars, minimarkets and a petrol station. There are no pharmacies, banks or cashpoints, but Ierapetra is nearby and has everything. You can reach Ierapetra by car, or there is a bus every two hours.