Piskopiano sits on a hill above Hersonissos, a 15-minute walk or a short drive up from the coast road, and is the place where local life kept going while the resort below boomed and the village kids moved down to the beach. Narrow whitewashed lanes climb between bougainvillea-draped houses to a small platia with a couple of old-fashioned tavernas under plane trees and a bakery that has been here since long before tourism arrived.
The Lychnostatis Open-Air Museum at the foot of the village is a recreated traditional Cretan settlement — windmill, raki distillery, stone houses with original furniture, herb garden, and demonstrations of weaving and basket-making. It does a good honest job of showing what village life looked like fifty years ago, and is well worth the modest entry fee. Piskopiano makes a useful evening alternative to the beach strip — quieter, cheaper, and with views down to the lights of the coast.