Crete

The route descends a rocky gorge past the ruined Katholiko Monastery to the saint's cave, where the liturgy is held — a demanding but rewarding walk. It is a serious religious occasion rather than a tourist event, set in one of the most atmospheric corners of the Akrotiri peninsula near Chania. Wear proper footwear and bring water, as the path is rough. Confirm the liturgy timing with the monastery beforehand.

Tsikoudia is the Cretan spirit — clear, strong, an EU protected product, and offered freely at the end of almost every meal on the island. From mid-October the villages of the Heraklion region fire up the kazani (copper stills) to distil the year's pomace, and the distillation becomes an event: neighbours gather, meat goes on the grill, the lyra comes out, and the first raki is tasted hot off the still.

This is a tradition rather than a single ticketed festival, so the way in is through the villages — if you are in the Cretan countryside in late autumn and see smoke and hear music, that is very likely a rakokazano, and visitors are typically welcomed warmly. Some villages run organised raki festivals; the best-known dedicated one is actually in the Chania region to the west, so treat the Heraklion experience as informal village hospitality rather than a fixed event.

Honest note: dates here are an indicative season window, not a single scheduled day.

Elos sits in a lush valley of chestnut and plane trees, and the festival fills the village with the smell of roasting chestnuts, communal tables and lyra music well into the night. It is a genuine highlight of the western-Crete autumn and well worth the scenic mountain drive from Chania. The festival rotates around several Innachorion villages across the last two October weekends, so check which village hosts which date. Dress warmly for the evening mountain chill.

Screenings and events take place across city venues, mixing feature films, documentaries and shorts with industry talks. It is a real draw for film-lovers and brings an off-season cultural buzz to Chania. Programming and exact dates are published in summer, so check the festival site for the year's schedule. Treat the late-October window as indicative until confirmed.

Courses run through spectacular Sfakia terrain including the Aradena gorge and coastal paths around Loutro and Chora Sfakion, with serious elevation. It is a demanding event for experienced trail and mountain runners, set in one of Crete's wildest landscapes. Sfakia is a long drive south from Chania, so plan logistics and accommodation carefully. Confirm the exact dates and race categories on the event site.

Expect schoolchildren, local associations and flags along the seafront on the morning of 28 October, with shops shut for the holiday. The day has particular resonance in Crete given the island's wartime history. It is a civic occasion rather than a tourist draw, but it offers an authentic view of community life in the off-season. The exact parade route and time are set by the local authority a few days beforehand.

Nationally, Ohi Day is observed with student and armed-forces parades, flag displays and Orthodox services; Rethymno holds its parade through the town with most shops, museums and services closed for the day. What makes the date distinctive locally is the Four Martyrs (Tessaron Martyron): George, Angelis, Manouil and Nikolaos, crypto-Christians from the Rethymno area beheaded at the Porta Guora gate on 28 October 1824 for refusing to renounce Christianity. They are venerated as guardians of the city, with the Church of the Four Martyrs on Tessaron Martyron Square at the heart of the commemoration, where relics of three of the four are kept. If you visit, you can pair the civic parade with a stop at the church. Both the holiday and the martyrs' commemoration fall on the fixed 28 October date and recur in 2027.

The morning runs to a fixed pattern: a church service at the Cathedral of Saint Minas, a memorial and wreath-laying (often at the Daskalogiannis statue), then the parade of schoolchildren, sports clubs, scouts and military units through the centre — good viewing around Kornarou and Eleftherias squares. Flags fly across the city.

For visitors it is more a window into Greek civic life than a tourist spectacle, and the practical takeaway is that the centre is closed to traffic through the morning and most shops and sites shut for the day. Plan a relaxed morning around the parade or head out of the centre.