Palace of Knossos
The great Minoan palace on the edge of Heraklion, home of the legends of King Minos and the Minotaur, with painted columns, royal apartments and the famous Throne Room.
Greece
Crete
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the one that feels most like a country of its own, with its own dialect, music, cooking and a history that reaches back to the first great civilisation of Europe.
Four thousand years ago the Minoans built palaces, painted frescoes of bull-leapers and lilies and traded across the Mediterranean, and their world still lies close to the surface: the reconstructed halls of Knossos sit on the edge of Heraklion, the finest Minoan treasures fill the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, and the palace of Phaistos looks out over the Messara plain in the south. Later centuries left Venetian harbours, fortresses and lighthouses, Ottoman mosques and fountains, and two very different cities. Heraklion is the busy capital, a working port with a great museum, lively food scene and a Venetian fortress at the harbour mouth. Chania, two and a half hours west, is the island’s most beautiful town, its old harbour ringed by pastel houses beneath the White Mountains. Between them stretch olive groves, vineyards and mountain villages where food is still made the old way. This guide shows what to book, what is open in the quieter months, how to divide your time between the two cities and where to stay, from a Venetian mansion in Chania to good-value rooms near the museum in Heraklion.
Don't miss
Palace of Knossos
The great Minoan palace on the edge of Heraklion, home of the legends of King Minos and the Minotaur, with painted columns, royal apartments and the famous Throne Room.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
One of the great museums of Greece and the world’s most complete collection of Minoan art, from the Phaistos Disc to the original Knossos frescoes and the snake goddess figurines.
Chania Old Town and Venetian Harbour
The most beautiful town on Crete, a curve of pastel Venetian houses around an old harbour, with a lighthouse at its mouth, Ottoman domes and lanes full of craft shops and tavernas.
Palace of Phaistos
The second great Minoan palace of Crete, set on a ridge above the Messara plain in the south, with grand stairways, open courts and views to Mount Psiloritis.
Things to do in Crete
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
One of the great museums of Greece and the world’s most complete collection of Minoan art, from the Phaistos Disc to the original Knossos frescoes and the snake goddess figurines.
Chania Old Town and Venetian Harbour
The most beautiful town on Crete, a curve of pastel Venetian houses around an old harbour, with a lighthouse at its mouth, Ottoman domes and lanes full of craft shops and tavernas.
Half a dayDetails →
Palace of Phaistos
The second great Minoan palace of Crete, set on a ridge above the Messara plain in the south, with grand stairways, open courts and views to Mount Psiloritis.
Koules Fortress
The Venetian sea fortress guarding the old harbour of Heraklion, with winged lions of Saint Mark on its walls, vaulted halls inside and a rooftop walk with views over the port.
Cretaquarium Thalassocosmos
A large public aquarium on the coast east of Heraklion devoted to the life of the Mediterranean, open every day of the year and a favourite with families on grey days.
Heraklion Food and Wine Tours
Small-group tastings and e-bike food tours in Heraklion, from an hour of Cretan wines with cheese and olive oil to a countryside ride past Knossos that ends with wine and tapas.
Cretan Cooking Class in Heraklion
A small-group, hands-on class in traditional Cretan cooking, with local ingredients, family techniques and a long, sociable meal of everything you have made.
Kleanthi Olive Farm Tour and Tasting
A guided walk through olive groves and an olive mill at Skalani, just beyond Knossos, ending with a tasting of different olive oils paired with local foods.
Minoans World 3D Museum and 9D Cinema
A playful 3D photo museum and 9D cinema in Chania’s old town that brings the myths and history of Minoan Crete to life in under an hour, ideal for families and rainy days.
Where to stay
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
Casa Delfino Hotel and Spa
Topanas, Chania Old Town
A boutique hotel in a seventeenth-century Venetian mansion a few steps from Chania’s old harbour, with a pebbled courtyard, a rooftop terrace over the water and a small spa.
Rates on Expedia →GDM Megaron Historical Monument Hotel
Old Harbour, Heraklion
Heraklion’s top hotel, a five-star listed building from the 1920s facing the old harbour, with sea-view balconies, a rooftop pool in season and a hammam and health club.
Rates on Expedia →Lato Boutique Hotel
Old Harbour, Heraklion
A stylish four-star hotel above Heraklion’s old harbour, open all year, with sea-view rooms facing the Venetian fortress, a rooftop restaurant and a central, walkable location.
Rates on Expedia →Porto Veneziano Hotel
Venetian Harbour, Chania
A friendly waterfront hotel on the quieter eastern side of Chania’s Venetian harbour, with sea and mountain views, a garden, a seafront restaurant and breakfast included.
Rates on Expedia →Kastro Hotel
Historic Centre, Heraklion
A simple, friendly three-star hotel in central Heraklion, five minutes on foot from the Archaeological Museum, with balconies, a breakfast buffet and good-value rates all year.
Rates on Expedia →Crete guides
First Time in Crete: What to Book, How to Get Around & How Many Days
The practical primer for a first visit to Crete: what to book ahead, how to split your time between Heraklion and Chania, getting around a very big island and what is open in the quieter months.
Where to Stay in Crete: Heraklion or Chania, Harbour or Old Town
How to choose your base in Crete, from a Venetian mansion in Chania’s old town to a five-star harbourfront hotel and good-value rooms near the museum in Heraklion, matched to the kind of trip you want.
