1st Greece trip and international European adventure

Forget Santorini if you have only 8 days. Crete is full of interesting places that will keep you busy for all 8 days. You will probably need to take a couple of days to recover from your flight and I would spend those days in Chania. Lots to see there - Minoan ruins, Venetian harbour, museums etc. Rent your car in Chania, when you have recovered from your flight. Roads in Crete, especially in the mountains, can be twisty and you need to keep your wits about you. If you decide not to drive, you could investigate the bus service - look at the KTel website to see where buses go. Paleochora would be a good place to stay in the middle of where you want to be. Get a good guide book; I really like the Rough Guide to Crete. Has good maps of towns and cities and also of the ancient monuments. My favourites are Aptera just outside Chania with great views over Souda Bay, and Phaestos, one of Crete’s great palaces with views over olive groves and mountains.

Rethymnon is a nice day trip from Chania, I am glad I went, the Venetian fortress is impressive and the old town is pleasant if somewhat touristy, but not somewhere I would consider a must do.

Crete is wonderful, the people are friendly, the food is good and so is the wine! Enjoy it, you will want to go back and visit the eastern part of the Island!

I was driving a couple of weeks ago in Crete from Chania to Elafosini, Paleochora. Driving is manageable albeit it will be a lot of mountain roads up and down and hairspins. Some road does not have guard rails, so it's a little bit I would not say scary, but not comfortable. But big buses take some of those roads, so it is manageable just take it easy. Only in the daytime. Google maps worked perfectly for me. I purchase a local SIM card with internet and it provided me all the info necessary to navigate. Plus you can download maps before getting out of Chania.

My opinion on this like yes, Crete is wonderful, full of nice, interesting places, food, gorges, villages, etc. but Santorini is Wow!, simply breathtaking. You see what I mean - nice vs wow. go to Santorini. Out of our 20 days in Greece, Santorini and Meteora were just above all other places in the beauty and magic. Just my and my wife's 2 cents.

I’d say grab those tickets (if you didn’t already). And as lanlubber said, spend the entire time in Crete, especially since you’re flying in and out of Chania. A ferry to and from Santorini will eat up two half days.

There is plenty to do and see in Crete to occupy 8 days. We are planning almost a month there in September.

Keep an eye on Covid regulations. Currently you must have a negative test, taken the day before you return to the US, in order to fly home. For details, search this forum for Covid information.

We spent two weeks in Chania and had plenty to do each day. We had a rental car. We visited Falasarna and Elafonisi Beaches the same day. It was not hard to do this. The only problems was getting past herds of goats in the roads which are common to come across.
Paleochora is on the southern coast not a good location for a base.

In my opinion it is not realistic to think you can do all of that in such a short period of time. Based on the flights you mentioned, you do not have 8 full days. If exploring Crete is your main objective then focus on that and save Santorini for another trip. Crete is large and you will only scratch its surface with the days that you have allotted. I can recommend the tasting and light lunch at Dourakis winery as it was one of our most enjoyable activities in Crete.

Spend your entire time on Crete. It's the largest of the Greek Islands and there's enough to see, do and experience to keep you occupied for weeks.

I've been to Greece 9 times and not once did I consider Santorini. Many people think it's the "only" Greek Island to go to and that's why it's cruise-ship central and hordes of tourists.

Crete has something for everyone and is filled with archeological/historic sites. Just as spectacular views without the mass of tourists getting in your way, great food, far more reasonable prices for everything and in my opinion more "Greek" than Santorini even though I haven't been there.

Stay in Crete and enjoy one of Greece's nicest all around islands!