Gavalochori is a village situated in the Apokoronas area and not far from the sea side resort of Almirida. It can be reached on the Almirida - Gavalochori - Vamos route. The village is of historical importance. It is named after the Byzantine family of Gavalodon. In the village there are remains from the Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish periods, and artefacts found in Gavalochori proof that the village was inhabited in earlier times (Minoan, Neolithic and Roman times). On the village square of Gavalochori there is a World war II memorial. In Gavolochori you can visit the Historical and Folklore museum, which is housed in a building from Venetian and Turkish origin and has original stone arches. Here you can learn a bit about the history and the culture of the village. There are items of pottery, coins, costumes and weapons on display. Opening times are Mon - Sat 09.00 - 13.30 and 17.00 - 19.00, and Sunday 10.00 - 13.0 and 17.00 - 19.00. If you want you can also make a stop in Gavalochori for lunch or diner, because there are a couple of tavernas here.

The Venetian wells of Gavalochori can be reached about a 1 kilometer walk from the sign in the village that is pointing to all the sights. The narrow road leads uphill until you reach a T-junction. Here you turn left. On the left side (yellow arrow) there is some round structure (unknown but could be Venetian or older) and as you walk on you will see the Venetian wells on your right hand side. Walk even further any below you can see what looks to be a Venetian (or maybe even Roman?) bridge. We also tried to find the Roman tombs, but without any success. I was told they were build upon and hard to find. We could see some sort of caves (just a couple) in the gardens of two houses which looked like Roman tombs (compared them to the ones we had seen in Argiroupolis) but one of them was used to house chickens, while another had a collection of rubbish in it.

Gavalochori is a nice place for a short stop and a walk around. You can take a look at the churches in the village or have an excellent lunch or dinner at Gavelianos Kafenion, where you can sit in the shade of large trees and see the village life passing by.

Villa Giorgos is set in a very secluded spot in the middle of a pine tree forest. The villa is situated on the outskirts of Gavalochori and close to the coastal resort of Almyrida. In both villages you can find good taverns, super markets and a bakery. Especially the pastries of the bakery in Almyrida are worth a detour! Villa Giorgos is situated on a hill at the end of short dirt track. The villa has several verandas with a splendid view of the forest that surrounds it and there are distant views of the sea in front of Almyrida (Souda Bay). It's very, very quiet. Behind the villa is the private pool with the sunbeds and the parasols, chairs and tables, a swing and a barbecue. The pool is surrounded by trees and is not overlooked, so we skinny dipped.

The downstairs space of the villa is one large living / diner and there is a downstairs toilet. One part of the villa has the couch and the comfortable chairs, the other part next to the very nice kitchen has the dining table and chairs. The kitchen is very complete and has a large fridge, a dishwasher, a cooker, coffee machine, toaster and everything else you could wish for. There are doors leading to a veranda with a table and chairs in case you want to eat outside.

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This lovely intimate villa is situated on a hill near the seaside resort of Almirida. We stayed here in September 2008 and we absolutely loved it. It was cosy and comfortable and the views from the terraces and the pool were fantastic. The villa had everything you could wish for: amazing views from the terraces and the pool, a beautiful bathroom, a living space with comfortable couches, a dining table and chairs and three bedrooms with extra large extra comfortable beds with loads of pillows. The beds were over two meters long because I could fit in without any problems and without my feet sticking out (yes people, I am a tall, tall guy). I loved this place because it felt so homely and everybody was feeling so happy in it. It makes you want to buy your own villa on the island.

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This beautiful large stone villa with private pool is located on a hill just above the village of Gavalochori, in a region called the Apokoronas. It is about half an hour to forty five minutes away from the city of Chania and the trip from the airport is approximately one hour. The villa has three bedrooms and a separate studio that can accommodate four people. The maximum number of people that can stay in the villa is ten. Prinolithos villa is in a very quiet and very private position, so ideal for those who seek tranquillity and and want the possibility to to sunbathe and swim without swimwear. The views from Villa Prinolithos and from the infinity pool are extremely pretty. You look out over several villages, including Gavalochori with its four churches, the villages of Aspro and Plaka, the green nature, the Souda Bay and the Akrotiri peninsula. In the woods around the villa are many birds and especially in the mornings it is a cheerful twittering and whistling.

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This is one of the two restaurants in the village Gavalochori, and it is rather a good one. It sits on a corner near the war memorial. The tavern looks nice with seating under large trees and surrounded by pots of plants and flowers. It can be very busy because it is locally known as a very good restaurant. They also serve original dishes such as stuffed zucchini flowers and okra in tomato sauce. The bread is fresh and delicious and comes in 1 piece. They serve a delicious Illy coffee. The waiter was a guy from Australia who had been working in the kafenion for three years in a row (in 2010 he had disappeared though), and he is very friendly, but also the other people walking around are very nice. This is a good place to see the village life and to experience something different than in a lot of the other taverns that only focus on tourists.

Our verdict: quite good - an 8,5 out of 10