With its floating citadel and desert terrain, Spinalonga Peninsula (or Kolokytha) protects the coast, from Elounda to Plaka. It is reached by a causeway that starts at the port and crosses an isthmus across which the French dug a canal in the late 19C. Near the bridge, guarded by old windmills, the vestiges of the saltpans can be seen; they were exploited until the 1970s. The different paths lead to little chapels and adorable creeks.