A Cretan idyll

The beachside taverna of Agia Fotini on Crete’s south coast "feels very much as it would have done 30 years ago", says Aida Edemariam in the Guardian. It is a family business – once a carob warehouse, then, from the 1950s, a kafenio serving fresh fish and watermelons to the locals, who would come from nearby villages to swim in the sea beside it.

Now it has a few "simple" rooms for visitors – a welcome development, given that it is "a good 30-minute drive, on unlit mountain roads, to the nearest town". Days can be spent lazing on its veranda, with the waves at your feet, or exploring its beautiful surroundings, including the fine Minoan ruins of Festos and Ayia Triada. Rooms at Taverna Agia Fotini (+30 693 711 8958) start at €35. ·