The Lefka Ori surround the plateau with the high peaks of Kastro on the west (2,218m), Tripali on the east (1,493m), and Agathes (1,511m) giving it the appearance of an amphitheatre. The plateau of Askifou was probably a lake in prehistoric times and the fertile patchwork fields yield wheat and potatoes. On this plateau in 1821 there was a major battle between the Turks and the Sfakiani revolutionaries that resulted in a victory for the locals. The fierceness of the battle and the heroic fighters are still remembered in local songs.

You may rent rooms in the middle village, Amoudari of Askifou. You may also eat the local Sfakia pita, delicious kefalotiri cheese, and local thymari (thyme) honey in the pleasant village square. A statue to a local revolutionary hero Polentas has recently been erected here and to Tsontas, a hero from the Macedonian conflict in the 1900s.