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Agios Nikolaos

Agios Nikolaos (or Áyios Nikólaos), about 43 miles (69km) east of Heraklion, was formerly known as a holiday destination for package-tour groups but is now a cosmopolitan resort with high standards of harbour-side café-bars and top quality restaurants. The night clubs and karaoke bars are a thing of the past in this relaxed, yet busy, town.

Ideal for couples of all ages, Agios Nikolaos is an excellent base from which to explore the eastern part of the island while on holiday. The town itself does not boast any major historical or archaeological sites, but it does have one major curiosity: the deep pool in the environs of the harbour, called Lake Voulismeni, has many tales and legends attached to it, and was once believed to be bottomless.

Ágios Nikólaos also has a fine Archaeological Museum, worth visiting while on holiday for its growing collection of Minoan artefacts. The museum houses finds from the cemetery of Aghia Photia, dating back to 2300 BC, including more than 1,500 vases. Besides all the Minoan finds the museum also has the skull of a young Roman athlete wearing a gold olive-leaf wreath, dated to the 1st century AD.

Many visitors on holiday in Ágios Nikólaos take the excursions to the fortified islet of Spinalónga to see the ruins of, and hear the fascinating story of what became the last leper colony in Europe.

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