
Expect luminous landscapes enlivened with trees in bud, wildflowers in bloom and cloudless blue skies.
Our base for a week of gentle guided walks is Arosmari Village Hotel on the fringes of Vamos, an unspoilt 18th-century village set beneath the backdrop of the snow-draped White Mountains. Arosmari’s cluster of sensitively converted stone and cypress-wood cottages comprise kitchenettes, open-plan living rooms, wood-beamed bedrooms and shady terraces.

With your feet mildly throbbing from the day’s guided walk, you can easily while away an afternoon here. Mornings, however, are all about activity. Following a splendid buffet breakfast, we have a range of fairly easy treks led by expat Jonathan Peat. Our first day sees us heading west to the flower-covered plateau of Megala Chorafia near the Minoan city of Aptera.
This is by far my favourite walk of the week, not just for its panoramic views of the Mediterranean and fascinating archaeological ruins, but equally for the lush flora underfoot: Jerusalem sage, tiny wild orchids and blue pimpernels.

Each daily walk includes a fabulous lunch at the sorts of taverna you would never find without the help of insider knowledge. At Taverna Moustakas in Stilos we feast on never-ending meze, salty lamb chops and a punchy local wine.
Inland from the coastal city of Chania, we admire a perfectly preserved fifth-century BC Hellenistic bridge as we pass through fields peppered with wild asparagus and cyclamen, on the way to tiny Maza.

Memorable picnics are laid on by Jonathan’s wife, Myriam – particularly welcome after one strenuous walk along ancient Venetian pathways in the Omalos plateau. The landscape here is sparse. Goats cling to craggy cliff-faces, while griffon vultures and buzzards circle above. Similarly dramatic is our walk at Akrotiri where we scrabble down a vast ravine dotted with abandoned monastery churches and hermit caves. The air is rich with the pungent odour of wild thyme and mercifully we have this dreamy slice of the island entirely to ourselves.
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