Crete: Heraklion to Chania

Three days may not be worth the effort to get to Crete and then split your short time between Heraklion and Chania. Crete is Greece's largest island and deserves weeks to fully explore and experience.

You may want to rethink your trip to Crete and go to a closer island where three days may be better spent.

Lots of closer islands that takes less time to get to like Naxos, Sifnos, Milos, Paros, Aegina . . . some have airports which reduces your travel time.

However, it's your holiday so do what's best for you.

Perhaps I asked the wrong question. We are going to Crete to see the Palace at Knossos. We thought that instead of flying in and out in 2 days, we would see a little more of Crete; obviously, we won't see the whole island (country). On the route from Heraklion to Chania, are there one or two recommended spots (I have seen Rethymnon mentioned more than once) to stop? And if so, is it easier to do by car, or is bus doable?

Just spent a week in Crete last May. The Archeological Museum and Knossos are well worth a visit. I would recommend renting a car for your trip to Chania. It's about a 2.5 hour drive and easy to navigate. Watch for the speed cameras on the highway as there are a few as you leave Heraklion. Also be prepared to see a lot of drivers driving on the shoulder, they do this to let faster drivers pass. To explore Chania there is a large parking lot on the west side of the old town near the fort. There are many nice beaches not far from town. Enjoy your time in Crete, We sure did.
RDJ

Thank you.

See Knossos and Archeological Museum and then drive directly to Chania as you do not have enough time for more. Yes, you could stop in Rethynmo, perhaps for lunch. Spend most of your time in beautiful Chania. Since you have your IDP, driving would be easier. Explore Akrotiri, monastery too.

The bus is easy, it has been awhile, but I am not sure how many buses a day there are. You would be looking at hopping off, hoping to see something then catch a later bus. The only place I can think of would be Rethymno, about half way, but given your time, it might be best to just get right to Chania and enjoy that great city, well worth a couple days. We enjoyed Chania much more than Heraklion, though yes, you should see Knossos and the Museum. Even with a car, not sure if there is enough to make it worth the effort of renting and drop off. I assume you fly back from Chania?

As for other advice, I think your plan is fine, no requirement to see everything on Crete, to each their own, better to have spent a few days there than not have gone at all.

Rebecca

It’s an easy bus journey of just under three hours. Buses are every hour on the half hour and you want bus station A in Heraklion. The Knossos bus goes from the station next door, although you can also pick it up in town.

Rethymnon, which is roughly half way, is the obvious place to stop off. It’s a nice little town with interesting backstreets and pleasant cafes etc.

If you want to see a beach up close you could also stop at Georgioupoli, halfway between Rethymnon and Chania. The bus stops on the motorway at the back of town and you can walk to the beach in five minutes. Two rivers run out to the sea here. If it were me I don’t think I’d bother though. Your route takes you right along the coast and you’ll see plenty of beaches as you pass.

If you did want to hire a car I wouldn’t worry about navigation. It’s one major road right along the coast. The advantage would be that you could more easily make a stop somewhere like Georgioupoli. You could also make small side trips to, for example, the village of Stavropol where the dance scene from Zorba the Greek was filmed or Lake Kournas just inland from Georgioupoli.

Alan

Thank you, all.

The Historical Museum of Crete is also worth a visit in Heraklion. It is right on the waterfront about a half-dozen blocks west of the harbour fort. Although small, it is well laid out with a decent audio guide. The section on the Second World War surprised me. Directly across the busy seafront street, there is a good (and large) restaurant-bar called Mare with a large terrace overlooking the beach. I enjoyed a plate of delicate red mullet with a Kaiser beer on tap
.

https://www.historical-museum.gr/eng/

http://www.mare-cafe.gr/index_en.html

PS: Rethymno was jam-packed with tourists from its many beach hotels even at the end of September, but it does have its fortress, which you can see on Wikipedia's page . Chania is worth the drive (or bus) for its sweeping harbour and several maritimes-oriented museums.

Thank you so much for the information.

I just wanted to post an update, now that we have been to Crete and returned.

First, thank you all for your advice. Four days was too short to see everything, even in just 2 cities. I was grateful for all the suggestions, even though we couldn't get to them all. I love to have a list of options/secondary sights to see.

As it turned out, we had a very difficult flight, with a prolonged layover in Philadelphia; and then our flight to Athens was canceled. We were able to get rebooked via Lisbon and Milan, and landed in Athens about 11 hours later than originally planned.

We did see the Palace at Knossos, and the Archeological Museum, our first full day. The second day, we took a walk along the sea wall (mostly to wake up) and toured the recently restored Venetian Fort, which was pretty interesting and did give some sense of the history of the city under Venice and the fall to the Ottomans. Hopped on a bus to Chania and went straight there, and spent that evening and the next day relaxing in town/walking. We really didn't have the energy to deal with driving/getting lost/parking, and enjoyed our time as we spent it. Had we gotten to Crete as planned, we might have rented the car and seen more, but I think this is why it's important to be a little more loose with plans when possible.

Having finally gone to Greece, we did not want to leave. It joins the growing list of places we want to go back to, "when we have time" (i.e. after retirement), but I think we might actually get back there sooner.

Thanks for coming back with a recap of your trip. Looks like you may have caught the Greece bug. You do need to come back with more time for exploration.

Thanks Rebecca for posting an update. We go to Greece first time next year, but unfortunately will not have time for Crete.
Just curious where did you actually stay?

Hi Diveloonie,

I'm assuming you are asking about the hotels.

In Heraklion, we stayed at the Infinity City Boutique Hotel. From there, we were able to walk to the harbor easily. We actually got a room with a (small) balcony and a view (if you craned your neck) of the water. Also walking distance (maybe 1/4 mile? 1/2 mile?) from the town hall and central older part of town. I think it ran about 100E per night, with breakfast (which we missed the first day, but which we like because it makes us get up while we are adjusting to jet lag). It was a reasonable hotel, clean but not fancy. We/I'd be happy to stay there again.

In Chania we got a much more expensive hotel, partly because we goofed and didn't make reservations far enough in advance. We stayed at the Ambassador's Residence Boutique Hotel. Our room was more in the 200E per night range, and fancier than we often go. I was willing to "suffer" though :-) This also came with breakfast, which was not served in the hotel; we were seated at a nearby restaurant (about 4 doors down) with a great view of the harbor. The hotel was wonderful, a nice location (on the harbor, on the side near the old mosque--so one is a bit further from some of the restaurants and from the beach at Nea Chora), the kind of place where they get you a taxi to the airport and have fancy toiletries (L'Occitaine en Provence, in fact). I'm certain I would be happy staying there again too, though if/when we return, I think we would look at places that run about half the price and would be happy there too.

I hope this helps.

Rebecca