Western Crete

South of the Cyclades, Crete is with 8450 km2 the largest and most populated Greek island. Located between the Aegean and the Lybian sea, it is a mountainous island dotted with ruins from the mysterious Minoan civilisation, with lively towns where Venetian and Ottoman styles blend with modern concrete chaos.

Over a four-week period in May and June 2026, we travelled around the west of the island, shooting hundreds of 360° panoramas, focusing on towns, archaeological sites and a few charming seaside villages.

We decided against visiting beaches plagued by overtourism, such as Balos and Elafonissos, going on long hikes like the one through the Samaria Gorge, or climbing Mount Psiloritis to cool off in the last patches of snow. We preferred to combine photography with dolce vita!

From the major towns on the north coast (Heraklion, Rethymno, Chania) and the seaside villages on the south coast (Paleochora, Agia Galini, Matala), via a number of archaeological sites (Knossos, Phaistos, Aptera) and some surprising places (Komolithi, Agia Sofia, Argyroupoli), our strolls allowed us to discover a fascinating island and delve into the great mysteries of history.

July 2026 - You can start to discover the first series of these countless 360° panoramas right now, but bear in mind that this section is still under construction and will be expanded further in the future.

So far, only a small selection of the panoramas we’ve shot along the way have been processed and uploaded to Google Maps and Street View. As each panorama is processed individually, the old-fashioned way, it will take us quite a while to get everything online! But you can already make some wonderful discoveries...

To be continued...