Villa Lemonia is just a 10-minute walk down the hill to Old Malia. It’s a pleasant walk, but remember as you are going down, it is uphill on the way back! You will pass small holdings where they keep chickens, sheep and goats and you will see lots of olive and fruit trees. You will get a beautiful view of the sea and of Malia town from the grounds.
Shops
From the villa it’s less than a 10 minute walk to Filippidis supermarket where you will be able to buy most things you will need during your stay. They will usually deliver for you if you have too much to carry. Then continue walking towards the main church(Agios Nektarios) and cross the road down towards the beach road there is a bigger supermarket called Halkidakis which has a wider selection. If you turn right at the big church the main road through Malia has lots of shops including a pharmacy, bakery, coffee shops and bars. There are many more souvenir shops, bars, restaurants and clubs down the beach road opposite the church.
Tavernas and bars
As you walk down the road from Villa Lemonia past the supermarket towards the church you will come to two of the top rated tavernas in the area, Geitonia and Avli, both have a lovely atmosphere, good service and excellent Greek food, we can highly recommend both but you will probably need to book. In between them are Stonehouse and Alexis which are also great tavernas. You are very fortunate as all the tavernas in Old Malia are fantastic and there is a enough choice to try a different taverna every night of your stay. If you walk up the steps from Avli you will come to a really pretty, Instagramable area of the old town, you’ll see Oliva and Odas tavernas covered in bright pink bougainvillea. If you continue up into the old town you’ll come to the popular and most photographed San Giorgio taverna and then as you wind through the narrow streets you’ll come to a small square. You can enjoy a cold local wine, cocktails and beers at Giannis Bar on a street corner where you can sit and watch the world go by or sit up on top of their pretty little roof terrace. The square has a little church, Honey Corner, a few interesting souvenir shops and 2 more tavernas Stablos & Elizabeth taverna and Platia who offer a good meze selection.
If you continue walking past the square you’ll come to Nostimo, another popular taverna with a reputation for good food. You can then either continue walking up to Kalesma taverna or turn left at Nostimo and you’ll come to Zorbas family taverna and pizzeria. Zorbas offer a wide range of Greek specialities but they also have a pizza oven so you can expect fantastic tasting pizzas too (and they deliver!). On a Friday during the season you can enjoy traditional Greek musicians who come to play and it can get very busy, so book ahead!
If you walk further on from Zorbas towards the road to Krasi there’s another fantastic taverna called Milos, where you can sit in their pretty little garden and enjoy Greek specialities.
If you carry on past Zorbas you will come back onto the main road through Malia where there are several cafes and bars.
Opposite the main Malia church on the corner of the crossroads you have two popular bars Galaxy and Kaza who are both open all day, have sport screens and offer pub food.
Once you continue past Galaxy and Kaza you are walking down the main drag of Malia’s bars and restaurants and clubs and there is a lot of choice as the road continues for just over 1 kilometre! This area can get quite busy at night and is popular with young people during July and August. Once you get to the beach, you have a wide choice of beach fronted restaurants and bars. The first one you will see will probably be Thalassa where you can watch amazing sunsets with a cocktail or dinner!
Getting around
Crete has an excellent bus service with modern, air-conditioned coaches that regularly run along the main road through Malia. There is a bus stop just opposite the pharmacy on the main road (turn right from the church) and buses leave about every 30 minutes to Stalis, Hersonissos, the airport and Heraklion. You usually get on the bus by the middle doors and there’s a bus conductor to pay for your tickets and it is very reasonable. On your return there are two stops in Malia, one a few minutes walk from the church and one further down the street. The airport takes about 50 minutes and drops you right outside the terminal. If you are getting the bus from the airport simply turn right when you come out of the airport building and walk across the road and you will see a bus ticket self service machine.
Going in the opposite direction you can get buses to Potamos beach which is just outside Malia and to Agios Nikolaos on the far Eastern coast.
There are many car hire places in Malia and prices are reasonable depending on your requirements.
Taxis sit just outside the main church. Be warned they do tend to have fixed prices even for short journeys so can sometimes work out expensive, but it there’s a few of you, it’s worth while.
Beaches
From Villa Lemonia it’s about a 25-minute walk to Malia beach, just walk down towards the church then follow the main beach/bar road down towards the sea. It’s a busy area with bars and restaurants along the beach who all offer sunbeds and umbrellas to rent. As you walk along the beach it becomes a lovely flat and sandy beach, with a shallow entrance into the warm seas, great for families and people who are not so confident in the sea. There’s a tiny little church (Afentis Christos) just a short distance out to sea on a small island and you can swim out to it when the conditions are calm. Further along there are plenty of water sports on offer including jet skis, paddle boarding and parasailing.
If you want a quieter beach, about two kilometres out of Malia you will come to Potamos beach which is a lovely sandy beach with very good tavernas at either end, Potamos Beach Restaurant and Kalyva. You can hire beds and umbrellas and it generally is quieter, although it can get busy at the weekend with Greek families. If you don’t fancy the walk in the hot sun, you can get the bus that stops on the main road just before Potamos beach, just ask them to stop there. The snorkelling is also good at Potamos beach.
Around Malia
A good way to get your bearings is to join the tourist train around the area. It leaves from the main bar/beach road past Halkidakis supermarket. There’s usually a Malia tour and sometimes they run one up into the mountains to visit the villages of Krassi and Mochos, well worth a visit.
If you are interested in ancient Greek archaeological sites, Malia has its own, just near Potamos beach where they have uncovered the ancient Minoan summer palace ruins.
Malia has a small port and there’s just one boat trip that runs daily at 11am to some of the local coves and beaches, which is always a pleasant way to spend an afternoon when it’s very hot!