Megala Chorafia is a lovely little village - I stayed there in a villa about 5 years ago. At that time there was in the region of 3/4 tavernas. The one most popular with visitors was right on the little square at the centre of the village - it's owned by a husband (Cretan) and wife (English) who are also co-owners of Pure Crete holidays and most people staying in their villas tended to eat there. It's certainly the best situated for people watching but I refused to eat there again after they served me up re-heated cod leftover from the night before - the worst meal I've ever been served up on the island!

The taverna across the way is much more popular with the locals, the food was excellent and everybody will make a big fuss of you for having joined them there. So after the cod incident we either ate there or went down to one of beachside tavernas or restaurants in Kalives. We ate there on the night of a local festival and were surrnounded by locals who insisted we try titbits of the various dishes they were having - mostly stuff that wasn't on the menu! But at that time, though they did have a menu written in the Latin alphabet and not just the Greek one, the staff didn't speak much English so if you didn't know you're way around a Greek menu it could sometimes be potluck what you'd get! All part of the holiday was far as we were concerned but it clearly put other UK visitors off.

There's another one just a little way down the street on the way down to Kalives which we only ate in the once - the food was only so-so and we felt no urge to go back. Either way you have for such a small village a reasonable selection of tavernas within walking distance of most of the village - though that walk at the end of the evening will be uphill if staying in one of the villas with the best views of Souvla Bay Kalives is only a short drive away and has a wealth of lovely tavernas and restaurants but is too far to think of walking back from of an evening.

The big drawback is that at that time there wasn't a single shop in the village - the nearest supermarket is on the main coastal road as you turn towards Kalives. And the nearest other shops are actually in Kalives itself - there's a couple of lovely jewellers, some boutiques and at that time a small but interesting gallery selling art and crafts made by local artists. I'm assuming that you'll be hiring a car - I can't imagine being able to holiday in Megala Chorafia without one - so you will need to get into the routine of shopping for any food you want on your way back into the village after a day out at the beach or sightseeing. We didn't find this a problem because we spent most days either on the beach at Kalives or Almerida or or out and about looking at the historical sites and so were always passing the supermarket above on our way back. Or we'd shop in the big covered market in Chania if we were out that way. Even if you don't need to buy any food, the market is still worth a visit!

We did go to Vamos - we ate there with friends on a couple of evenings - and the food was execellent but I can remember little else about it and didn't need to check out the shops. It did seem to be bigger than Megala Chorafia and so would probably have more facilities but I wouldn't bank on it. Someone else on the forum might have better info on Vamos for you.

SM

Thanks for your info much appreciated