Knossos Palace and Museum timing

Summer hours at the museum are to 8 pm so theoretically you could do it if you don’t spend too much time on either.

Are you planning to rent a car and drive to Knossos? I am just thinking that is very tight for your entry tickets at 4 when you arrive at 3. It is a 15 minute drive. If you caught a taxi and then a bus back for the museum, you would have more possibility of doing both. Otherwise, you will have to find parking as well as the time it takes to rent a car. There is a lot at Knossos but Heraklion may be more problematic.

We went to Knossos first thing in the morning and then took a bus to the museum. We were fed up with driving and the bus dropped us off right in front of the museum. I think we spent about 5 hours between the two but that included transportation between them.

In 2019, we went to Knossos (by city bus) in the afternoon, and stayed right until closing. We’d met our private guide there, and afterwards rode the bus with her back into the city. She agreed that later afternoon was the best time to see it!

We needed a decent part of the next day for the museum, so definitely don’t try to cram both into that afternoon. Cruise ship tour groups were flowing into the museum at a regular pace, so we kept hopping from one room to another, then back into the first one, to avoid being in a room with a million people all at once.

As for a combo Ruins + Museum ticket, I don’t recall having one, but maybe we did. Intrigued, did a Google search just now, and received an AI summary: The official government-issued combined ticket for the Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum is no longer available. You must purchase separate individual tickets for each site, which cost €20 each (€40 total for full admission).

A separate response listing the Get Your Guide third-party ticket and tour seller said they have a Combo package that also includes an audio guide, starting at £42 or $52.11 (no mention of euros, and it’s in Greece!)

Airport arrival at 14.55 and Knossos at 16.00 seems very rushed. Change your ticket time to a bit later...the later the better in terms of crowds, heat (though you don't mention the time of the year) and atmosphere. And go to the museum early the next morning.
No combo tickets, that was shelved one or two years ago.

Thank you for your help. I changed the Knossos Palace to 8:00am the next morning (Sept 18), and am purchasing separate tickets for the Museum for the 1st night at 5:00 (Sept 17) which gives us 2 hours to pickup the rental car, and check into the hotel in Heraklion. We are spending the one night to see the ruins and the museum and then driving to Chania for 3 days to visit the Elafonissi beach, the Agia Triada Monastery or the Maranthis Beach. On the way to Chania we're stopping for lunch in Rethymno.

If anyone has any suggestions about this itinerary and/or places to eat or things not to miss. That would be greatly appreciated
J

In Iraklio (Heraklion), seafood dinner at Ippokampos (Hippocampos = seahorse) - a must!

I just did the museum took about an hour