The first place you encounter at the west – and that is accessible by road – is Cape Krios (Cape of the Ram) with an extensive beach with the same name.
Krios Beach
This beautiful beach, almost quite undeveloped and quiet, is a spot suited to rest and relaxation. Characterized by crystal waters and a beach of small pebbles (larger to the east), it stretches a long way, and can be seen as three run together. The infrastructure is limited to a single café-canteen, and in one small area umbrellas are provided for those who want them.
West of the main beach is an idyllic and secluded cove in which nudism is ‘permitted’ (i.e. tolerated).
One may camp here, but rooms may be rented and other tourist facilities are available.
West of the beach, up and at the tip of the Cape is an unknown and particularly beautiful beach – known as Lake Krios.
Lake Krios (Viena) Beach
The beach is sited within a craggy, quite sheltered bay of some size so that it resembles a sea-lagoon. Hence the Lake part of its name. The strand, if generally rocky, is yet much dotted with small sandy areas. Behind thick vegetation flourishes, in whose shadow you can protect yourself from the burning summer sun and set up your tent.
Here is where once stood the ancient city of Viena. On the shore stood an alleged Hellenistic to Roman temple or shrine, whose rectangular base can be discerned even today.
The beach and the impressive sea-floor are strewn with shells, and the columns of the old temple lie here and there in a number of places. The best part, however, lies on the sea-bed: ancient tombs - visible with the naked eye, they are most profitably explored with the help of a mask.
Right alongside the beach runs the European E4 Walking Trail: it goes on west to Kedrodasos and then Elafonisi, and to the east to Palaiochora. Locally, it joins the main Krios beach with that at Lake Krios: a 45 minutes walk.
If you prefer, however, you can make the trip by car or motorbike by a dirt-road that climbs up from the main beach, starting before the canteen, onto the Cape: keep straight on to the left along this road past a small church until you come to its end, and from there a small, but short, track takes you through a wooded area to the Lake Krios beach in some 15 minutes.
