# Ziros & the Handras Plateau: The Honest Guide to the High Far East

> The upland shelf behind Sitia — windmill ruins, frescoed chapels, the ghost village of Voila and squares where visitors still get looked at twice.

- Canonical URL: https://honestcrete.com/guides/ziros-and-the-handras-plateau/
- Author: Fotis (Honest Crete, Heraklion)
- Area: East Crete · Category: Villages
- Last field-checked: August 2026 · Updated: 2026-08-03 · Published: 2026-08-03
- Coordinates: 35.0753, 26.1395
- How to cite: "Honest Crete — Ziros & the Handras Plateau: The Honest Guide to the High Far East (field-checked August 2026), https://honestcrete.com/guides/ziros-and-the-handras-plateau/"
- About the source: field-checked guides to Crete by two Heraklion-based locals. Prices are hedged ranges in EUR; small businesses are kept anonymous; editorial is never paid for and advertising is clearly labelled. Method: https://honestcrete.com/how-we-check/

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Behind [Sitia](https://honestcrete.com/guides/sitia-honest-guide/) the land steps up onto a shelf the coach maps leave blank: the Handras–Ziros plateau, an upland of vines, ruined windmills and stone villages where a visitor still registers as an event. Its set-piece is Voila — a genuinely deserted medieval hamlet with a Venetian tower and a working chapel among the roofless houses — but the real product is the whole high, quiet loop between coasts.

**The honest facts**

- **The loop:** from Sitia or the [Makrigialos](https://honestcrete.com/guides/makrigialos-honest-guide/) road, a paved circuit threads Handras, Ziros, Voila and Etia — 60–90 minutes of driving before stops, add the half-day it deserves with them.
- **Voila:** park at the chapel and wander the ruined lanes freely — tower, arched doors, two spring fountains still running; ten haunted, photogenic, respectful minutes minimum.
- **Etia:** a restored Venetian mansion (De Mezzo) anchors another semi-deserted hamlet — exterior always, interior on flexible seasonal hours.
- **Ziros & Handras:** living villages with plateia kafeneia and a taverna or two — lunch among farmers at €20–35 for two; frescoed chapels (Agios Georgios in Handras among them) via the key-next-door custom.
- **The texture:** windmill stumps on every rise, vineyards that make honest local wine, raptors working the thermals — the far east's [Amari](https://honestcrete.com/guides/amari-valley-honest-guide/), drier and emptier.

*Photo: Ziros on its slope above vineyards and grain**Photo: The plateau’s quiet capital above its vines — and the whitewash-and-bell detail the far east does best*

## The honest half-day

Climb from the Makrigialos side mid-morning, Voila while the light rakes the ruins, Etia's mansion facade, the Ziros square lunch as the anchor, Handras' chapel by key-luck, and descend to [Xerokampos](https://honestcrete.com/guides/xerokampos-beaches-honest-guide/)' coves or Sitia's front for the swim the plateau politely lacks — altitude and emptiness converted into an afternoon's perspective.

**The honest downside**

There is no headline sight up here, only atmosphere in quantity — checklist travellers will finish unfed; services are minimal between squares; and summer middays bake the shadeless ruins.

**Worth your time if:** deserted villages and roads-to-yourself are your kind of luxury.
**Skip it if:** the day needs guarantees — the coast's certainties lie twenty minutes downhill.

*Disclosure:* Photos on this page: both by C messier (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized for the web. Everything above was checked for the date shown at the top of this guide. Nobody pays to be featured in a guide — no business, no sponsor, no paid mention, ever. Adverts, where they appear, are labelled as adverts.

## Quick answers

**What is Voila?**

A ruined village on the Handras plateau - a tower, arched doorways and two spring fountains still running. Park at the chapel and wander the lanes freely. Ten haunted, photogenic and respectful minutes is the minimum.

**What is the Handras and Ziros loop?**

A paved circuit from Sitia or the Makrigialos road threading Handras, Ziros, Voila and Etia - 60 to 90 minutes of driving before stops, and worth the half-day it asks with them.

**What is at Etia?**

A restored Venetian mansion, the De Mezzo, anchoring another semi-deserted hamlet. The exterior is always accessible; the interior keeps flexible seasonal hours.

**What does lunch cost on the Handras plateau?**

EUR20-35 for two, eaten among farmers in the plateia kafeneia and tavernas at Ziros and Handras. Frescoed chapels, including Agios Georgios at Handras, open via the key-next-door custom.

**Why visit the Handras plateau?**

It is the far easts version of the Amari valley - drier and emptier. Windmill stumps on every rise, vineyards making honest local wine, raptors on the thermals, and a shelf of land the coach maps leave blank.

## The plateau, mapped

**Pick by the day you have**
- Handras (35.0814, 26.0994)
- Voila (35.0859, 26.1063)
- Etia (35.0773, 26.0747)
- Ziros (35.0753, 26.1395)