Crete

Perhaps that is a good thing....

While Crete has been overrun with tourists in the last decade ( especially the western side)...there are still parts ( especially on the eastern side) that are wonderfully authentic and almost undiscovered.

Crete is a large island with lots of infrastructure, a few old Venetian era walled cities, mountain hiking and good beaches. It is popular but can absorb a lot of visitors without being overly crowded.

Here are some images

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720318394812/ small tour company from Chania Crete. They have tours that cover west Crete quite well.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72177720318408008/ Images of Cretes lovliest city with Venetian era old town.

David, Rick is a lovely person, and his book gives valuable guidance for Athens and for inland destinations -- however, remember, his tours do not cover the islands ... and his book relfects that. He usually just mentions Hydra, for trip-goers or tour-takers who want to say, I've been to an island. Try to go beyond the the RS walls, and do some homework in some comprehensive Greece Guide books. Your library is full of them. And BTW, older editions are better.... fewer color photos, but fuller text & history, to tell in-depth about ruins, history, nature, culture .,.. and the reasons WHY to visit an island like Crete.. For the latest on transport, hotels, restaurants and color pix etc, the internet is great -- but you won't learn the Why

Janet #3 that’s so true and such valuable advice! I remember devouring my parents’ travel guides on Crete and Greece when I was young. Some black and white pictures, maybe one or two in color if you were lucky, but mainly text with a treasure trove of information about history, people, food, places of interest. That’s how I learned about Crete’s fascinating history at a young age and it still helps me to put places, events and customs in perspective when I’m there.

As Janet suggests, look for travel guides in bookstores and libraries. Just keep in mind that Crete is almost like its own country and often gets its own travel guides, sometimes several hundred pages long ( at least with European publishers). This is also why you won’t typically find Crete in guides about the Greek islands.

Rick Steves book only features 2 or 3 islands that cover hardly 2% of the Greek islands worth exploring.
It's a selection; it shouldn't be interpreted as a comprehensive travel guide.

The two best guides to Crete I have seen are the Rough guide to Crete and the Lonely Planet Guide to Crete. Rick Steves guides are good for the average traveler going to a country for the first time. Rick Steves guidebooks only focus on describing certain places his tours go to, in detail. Rick Steve's tours don't go to every island or region that could be of interest to you. I only went to Crete for 2 nights and most of 3 days. I had time for parts of Heraklion, Knossos, and Chania. I would have added Rethymnon and the Samaria gorge if I had given myself more time on Crete. Others on this forum have under-rated Heraklion and over-rated Chania. Chania has a nice bucolic bay with some outdoor seating at restaurants by the bay. So what? I don't like to spend gobs of time sitting doing nothing when there are landmarks and things to see. I bought some chestnuts from a vendor in Chania and sat on a bench by the bay in Chania for about 15-20 minutes. The archaeology museum in Heraklion is nice if you like these kinds of museums. The old venetian castles in Crete can be nice to see even if they are not too huge and don't get talked about much. I paid about 4 Euros to go inside a marvelously restored Venetian castle in Heraklion and got a nice view of the Mediterranean. 6 nights on Crete might be a good amount of time but I would rather pick what I want to do first and then see how much time I need rather than pick how much time first.

Crete is wonderful. Incidentally, it was the first place I visited in Greece in my 4-week trip. I spent a week there and barely scratched the surface. As others have suggested, read the guidebook and decide what appeals to you and pick and choose. I used The Lonely Planet guide and found it helpful. And found the tourist information center in Hania even more helpful. I visited Hania, Rethymno, Iraklio (Knossos, The Archeological Museum), and hiked the Samaria and Imbros Gorges. Next time I want to visit some of the inland villages and explore the east and south sides of the island.

Rick’s travel news this month says he’s researching a new guide to the Greek Islands planned for publication in 2027. He mentions visiting various Cycladic islands and Rhodes, not Crete, but perhaps at least some places in Crete will be covered. Although there are far more islands than can be covered even in an RS guide just on the islands, it’s hard to imagine it ignoring the biggest one altogether. But who knows. I haven’t been to Crete yet but it’s definitely on my list for “keep on traveling!”