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Knossos Palace and Museum timing

Posted by (Seattle, WA, USA) on

Hello, I'm looking for some advice:
We have a flight that lands at 2:55 at the Heraklion airport and we have 4:00 tickets to the Knossos Palace ruins. I didn't realize the museum is not at the same site as the Palace. Should we try to go from the Palace to the museum or is that trying to do too much? The next day we're driving to Chania via Rethymno, would it be better to go to the museum in the morning before we start that drive instead?

There isn't a combo ticket for both is there? It looks like at the heritage site where we purchased the Palace tickets there isn't a combo ticket, but I wanted to confirm that.

Has anyone been to the Palace at 4:00 recently? I was told that the crowds should be gone by then - is that true?

Thanks for your suggestions
J

Posted by
3610 posts

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.

Posted by
9097 posts

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.

Posted by
9097 posts

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!)

Posted by
37 posts

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.

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