Eurocars Crete: Rental Cars for Malia

You can pick up and return your Eurocars rental car for your holidays in Malia in Crete at the airport of Heraklion or the airport of Chania, or at the ports of Heraklion, Rethymnon and Chania/Souda, or straight at your hotel in Malia.

Malia is among the very first villages where tourism gained a foothold on the island of Crete in the second half of the 20th century. The Old National Road from Heraklion to Agios Nicolaos runs by the northern edge of the former fishing village and developed into the main road of the place.

Along this main road, shop by shop line up on both sides. Tourists will find here everything that they might need. The total absorption of the place by tourism becomes blatantly obvious here, and during the summer months the place is downright loud.

During 2012 and 2013, another section of the New National Road was completed after years and years of construction, now bypassing the village in the South. All the traffic which runs between Heraklion and Agios Nicolaos does not longer need to pass the heart of the village, and the notorious traffic chaos of Malia is finally a thing of the past.

More tourist enterprises concentrate along the roads that run from the main road northwards to the sea, mostly of gastronomic focus and among these many discotheques which are open until late at night. On the south side of the main road in the old village center there is a whole series of restaurants and tavernas as well, and things run somewhat more quiet and cosy here than on the north side.

If in your travel agency there is talk of Malia, it does not always refer to the closer surroundings of the village center. Hotels on the beaches of Stalida (3 kilometers West) and even in Sissi (6 kilometers East) are being listed under the label of "Malia" as well. Concerning the intensive nightlife this makes sense, as in this regard the two neighbouring villages belong to Malia's commuting area.

Most of the big hotels stand along the beach, and by its eastern edge there is a very old tiny fishing port. A big pier was built in front of two neighbouring spits of land, and moneyed tourists can nowadays park their yachts in the much bigger port that has been made up this way. There is also another small port at Sissi, and this one is very picturesque because it is mostly natural.

By the eastern village border of Malia there is an excavation site which is really worth a visit. If you have seen only Knossos and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion before, you will not believe how interesting a small town from the Minoan times can be.

The Minoan small town near Malia has been excavated under the direction of French archaeologists who very lovingly prepared several architectonic models of the site. You can exactly see what the dwelling houses looked like in those times and where the handicraft enterprises and the stocks of food were located. And when you enter the square in the town center and imagine how the Minoans celebrated their religious and secular feasts in those times, archaeology starts to become very lively.

Those tourists who populate the bars of Malia are not necessarily the same who are interested in Minoan small towns. But you can visit the excavation site by rental car from outside as well, as just in front of the entrance there is a big parking ground.

Questions about car hire for Malia which have not been answered in these pages can also be sent by e-mail to malia@eurocars-crete.com.