We took tne ferry to tne bottom lf tne Samarian Gorge and hiked into it for a while which we enjoyed, and then back out on tne ferry.
Vist the famous pottery town of Margarites. I will try to find my potter's name. I bpught several beautiful pieces from him.
Visit Arkadi Monastery, historic and important sanctuary. Honors tne Cretan fesistance.
Lots of wonderful places to dine in Chania.
Your plan looks pretty good to me. We flew in and out of Chania from/to Athens. Went to Heraklion to see Knossos and the Archeological Museum as a day trip.

Thank you for your suggestions. We will add Margarites to our list. You have a good idea about the Samaria Gorge. How far did you have to hike uphill to make it worthwhile? I also noticed that I inadvertently left out travel time from Khora Sfakion to Iraklion. So I guess we will only have time to see Knossos and the Archeological Museum. I am so sorry to miss the east end of the island but I guess we will have to go back!

April is a nice month to visit Crete, as the island will be blooming.

Spring on the island is wonderful, but if you want to spend some time on the beach, you should totally forget it....
The water will be too cold, even in May.... ( unless you are from Alaska....)

For that reason it may not make any sense to visit Elafonisi, Falasarna or Loutro.....
I see that you want to spend 3 night in Sfakia. It is a small town that in my opinion is not particularly attractive... spending 3 nights there would be a waste of time.

On your arrival day you wanted to stay near the airport.
The airport of Heraklion is only a few km from the city, there are no hotels at the airport that i can recall.

Best area for an overnight, would be Amoudara, a suburb of Heraklion on the beach, that can be reached via the highway directly from the airport, without having to drive through the city. There are plenty of hotels there.

You should plan an overnight at least in Rethymno, which is a very beautiful city with a big old city and en endless sandy beach. The are has a lot to see, apart from the old town and the fortress, also the Arkadi Monastery, Margarites, the archaeological site of Armeni, the villages of Atsipopoulo and Roustika where you can still see the old cretan houses.

In the old town i'd like to recommend the restaurant of Avli, and a bit outside of the city Kompos, one of the very popular tavernas of the locals with great food.

On your way to Chania ( only 60 km away about 1 hour drive) you can visit the Kournas Lake the only natural lake of Crete.
You could explore also the Akrotiri Peninsula with it's monasteries.

On your way back you don't have to drive to Heraklion, choose the route to the South, via Spili to Agia Galini and Matala.
You could overnight in Matala, and see Gortys and Festos the next day, then continue to Heraklion.

From Heraklion time permitted, you can do a daytrip to Kritsa, Elounda and Agios Nikolaos.

Heraklion itself is not very inviting, but i always like to stroll in the centre to the Lions fountain ( Liontaria as it is called by the locals), to the Venetian Loggia and the Food Market, where you can buys some top quality Cretan specialities.

Thank you very much for your help. We really appreciate your specific suggestions and we will be adding/changing our plans accordingly. It's very apparent that we will need to spend a night in Rethymno. Do you recommend moving more frequently? Perhaps we should not reserve places to stay and just move as we feel it is time. In your opinion is it necessary to have rooms reserved? We usually stay in apartments so we have 2 rooms at a lower price but maybe that isn't appropriate in Crete. Thanks, again!

If you want to see more of the island, like the South and the West, you won't avoid moving..

Otherwise you can choose 3 places and do day trips from there.
Like 1 night in Matala, 3 nights in Rethymno and 4 nights in Chania

Chania is a good point to see the Western Crete, from Rethymno you can see Heraklion but also the South like Plakias, Preveli and Frangokastelo and also relax if you don't want to be active every day.

In April you won't have any problems at all finding accommodation on the spot, since this is a huge island though, ( not like a small Cyclades island where searching for a room is easier), how are you supposed to search for an apartment?

I would suggest to do a small research before you go to Crete, so that you will know where to look, have a look at www.booking.com it is the best website for accommodation in Greece.

Renting an apartment sounds great, i do that in Greece very often when i take my 2 doggies with me, that no hotel would accept... ( and Crete has many apartments)

Thank you, again. I really appreciate your suggestions. We are still trying to decide whether to move frequently or get an apartment for several nights in one place and take day trips. Decisions, decisions! Since there are 3 of us, I think it might be less expensive to get an apt. instead of two hotel rooms. It seems that much of Europe is set up for only 2 to a room. Is it the same in Greece? Thanks, again!

Hotel rooms in Europe are generally speaking on the smaller side, compared to the USA.

Triple rooms are usually not very spacious, especially for 3 adults.
An apartment would be the best solution, and would cost less than 2 hotel rooms, as you said.

Hello again and thank you for your suggestions. Your advice is very much appreciated! We have reworked our itinerary:

Arrive in Iraklion at approximately 10 pm and spend the first night in town.

Day 1: Check out of hotel, pick up rental car, visit the archaeological museum and Knossos and then drive to Rethymnon, hopefully visiting Bali on the way. Will there be lines for Knossos in April? Do we need to go early in the morning? I read somewhere that it may close at 3 in April. Sleep in Rethymnon.

Day 2: Explore the area around Rethymnon including Arkadi Monastery, Armeni and Margarites. Sleep in Rethymnon.

Day 3: Drive to Chania and explore the old city and nearby sights. Sleep in Chania.

Day 4: Drive to Elafonissi Beach for the day. We realize that it may be chilly but we still like the beach, even if we don't swim. A long walk near the water is one of our favorite things to do. Also visit Paleochora, if possible. Sleep in Chania.

Day 5: Explore Akrotiri Penisula and Stavros Beach. Sleep in Chania.

Day 6: Drive to Khora Sfakion. See Kournas Lake along the way. Hike the Imbros Gorge. Perhaps go to the castle at Frangokastello. Sleep in Sfakion.

Day 7: Weather permitting, take ferry to Loutro and perhaps take water taxi to Sweetwater beach. Sleep in Sfakion.

Day 8: Drive to Iraklion visiting Preveli, Spili, Agia Triada, Faistos and Gortys. Return rental car. Sleep in Iraklion.

Day 9: See a bit more of Iraklion before mid day flight leaving Crete.

We had hoped to get to Matala also but can't seem to fit it in. Of course there are many other places we would like to see but we would rather see more of fewer places. Many posts seem to concentrate more on eastern Crete. Should we be looking at that instead of Chania/Rethymnon? Are there sights that will fit in along the way that we have missed? Thanks in advance for your insight.

Your itinerary looks good

Frangokastelo will be on the way to Preveli and Spili,it is worth a visit.

If with Preveli you mean the Monastery , you could skip it, and spend some time in Matala, which is near Faistos.
The Preveli Lake ( the beach with the palms and the river went through a fire 2-3 years ago, i am not sure wether it recovered since then, plus visits were restricted for a certain period.)

I find Matala a very interesting place to visit, try not to miss it

Spili is a village with a venetian fountain, you will only need 30 minutes there to have a look.

You could also overnight in Matala and return your car at the airport the next day, if you don't have an early departure.

Western Crete is IMO more beautiful then Eastern Crete, which doesn't mean that the East isn't nice.....

There won't be any lines in April anywhere on Crete, for opening hours pls check the following website of the Ministry of Culture of Greece :

http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_en.html

Thank you again for your helpful comments. We will try to leave Chora Sfakion early in the day and add Matala to our itinerary. We will also plan to see Frangokastelo. I did mean the monastery at Preveli. Do you think it not worth the stop? I am going to start reserving places to stay and a rental car so if you have any recommendations, please let me know. I think we will try to find an apartment in Chania since we will be there 3 nights but hotels or bed and breakfast in the other locations. Since there are 3 of us, it might be difficult to find a room for 3 but we don't want to pay for 2 rooms if we don't have to. We are getting very excited!

The Monastery of Preveli is worth a visit, but since you will have a long drive on that day, i think it would be better to see Matala instead.

All hotels in Crete have triple rooms, just make sure you will get a spacious room. Apartments are of course better, a one bedroom apartment usually has a separate bedroom and a kitchen- living room with a sofa bed, a studio is a large one space room.

Personally i have never stayed at an apartment/studio, that is why i couldn't recommend one.
As for the rental car i only rent from international companies to be on the safe side, in terms of service and security if something should happen. ( have seen unfortunately enough when i was living on Crete).
Just make sure you chose the right category of car, especially if you will have 3 suitcases. Do not rent a car on the spot, this will be probably more expensive.

Sorry for the delay in thanking you. I have been busy researching places to stay. I still have a couple more to book and then I need to find a rental car. It seems like Avis has the best deal at this point. We are also considering staying in Hora Sfakion only one night and then moving to Matala to make our last day of driving shorter. I think it will depend on the weather and the ferry schedule to Loutro so we may not reserve those hotels ahead so we can be more spontaneous. Our adventure awaits!

ttt for a possible trip for us.

nice itinerary Clausar - we went to Crete about 30 years ago, and loved it - I'd really like to go back.

Hi, Your Itinerary looks good but don't tie yourself down too much and leave some time for relaxing and enjoying the Tavernas, good food and local wine and Raki. There are a myriad of apartments available over Crete and you could just turn-up sometimes or also look at www.ownersdirect.co.uk and also 'google' Apartments West Crete. The West of the Island is very beautiful (stayed in Plakias many times) and you will have a fabulous time there. For a 'humbling' experience visit the Commonwealth Graves Cemetery in Souda Bay (near Hania). However, I am a Scot and have lived in East Crete (Milatos Beach- rental apartment for 2) for 9 years and can assure you that it is every bit as beautiful and has a myriad of interesting things to see and do. But given your time constraints perhaps this is a future journey? I would be happy to give some information should you return to the East of Crete. Kalo Taxithi (good journey).