Knossos Palace visit

We went in mid-September 2019, staying for 2 nights in Iraklio. We went to the Knossos ruins the afternoon we arrived, and had pre-arranged a tour guide. That was at 3 PM, I think, and it was barely busy. I think we were there for over 2 hours, but without a guide, probably wouldn’t have stayed that long. I don’t remember whether we bought tickets at the gate before meeting our guide there, or ordered them Online ahead of time. For what it’s worth, archaeologist Arthur Evans did a lot of guessing when he reconstructed part of the ruins, so while the site overall is evocative, it’s not a definitive, completely authentic representation of the original palace.

The archaeological museum is open until 8PM in October, so unless you have specific dinner plans, you could likely fit in both a Knossos and a museum visit. The museum was fascinating (and authentic), and was an essential visit to learn about Minoan artifacts. I recommend going there if you can.

Can’t offer any personal information about Akrotiri.

@Cyn, thank you for the wonderful information on Knossos and the archeological museum. I'll see if I can visit both.

Because Arthur Evans reconstructed Knossos how he thought it should look, there has been no European Union or UNESCO funds used to preserve the site. It has deteriorated in my 2018 from when I visited in 1967. There were very few interpretive signs; better with an on site guide. It's no problem getting your tickets at the entrance. It still is the iconic Minoan site.

The museum in Heraklion is wonderful and has almost all the finds from Knossos.

Akrotiri was only 3% excavated when I visited in 2018, but it was excellent. It, however, was mostly residential not palatial. I hope to go back in the future

They are very different from each other. It is partly because Akrotiri is not palatial but also because Knossos has been reconstructed. We had a guide for Knossos that we hired outside the site. We wanted for another couple to join to cut down the cost. It was 40 euros I think for the two of us and well worth it. We spent a couple hours I think at Knossos.

The archeological museum is really fabulous even if you have only a short time to visit. The bus from Knossos drops you off very close to the museum.

Thank you for all the feedback, especially about the archeological museum. I really loved it and spent quite some time learning about and admiring the artifacts from 4000 years ago. I knew Minoans were quite advanced before I went to the museum, but actually seeing all those artifacts was impressive, especially considering their time period.

Knossos was underwhelming compared to this excellent museum. Or perhaps I felt that way because I had hiked the Samaria Gorge the day before and was exhausted by the time I got to the site.

Pam, glad you were able to get to both the museum and the ruins. Hope Santorini is a good visit.

If you get back to Crete, the ruins at Festos are maybe more satisfying than Knossos. There are lots of smaller/less excavated Minoan archaeological sites all over Crete, too.

Thank you for the suggestion on Festos, Cyn. I do want to return to Crete in future and will keep Festos in mind. I liked Akrotiri.