Hey all,

My wife and I (we are late 20's and early 30's) will be in Crete for 6 nights and 5 days between August 29-Sept 4.

We arrive in Chania around 545pm by air from Athens on Aug 29th and plan on taking the morning ferry on Sept. 4th from Herkalion to Santorini.

I understand that Crete is very large and requires more than 5 days, however, that is not doable for our time allotment. Therefore, you will see we cut out some of the main things people suggest such as the museum in Herkalion and Agios Nikolaos. That being said, I would appreciate any feedback on the following itinerary I have researched.

Aug 29 - Arrive around 6pm, dinner and overnight in Chania

Aug 30 - Rent car and drive to Kissamos, boat trip to Gramvousa island/Balos Lagoon, overnight in Chania
OR can you drive right to Balos without needing the boat tour???

Aug 31 - Hike Samaria Gorge (via tour), overnight in Chania

Sept 1 - Drive to Elafonissi for day, mid-late afternoon in Chania Overnight in Chania

Sept 2 - Drive Chania to Moni Arkadiou (1h30mins), drive Moni Arkadiou to Rethymno for lunch stop (35mins), drive Rethymno to Preveli beach (50mins) spend a few hours, back to Rethymno for overnight

Sept 3 - Morning in Rethymno, drive to Knossos Palace, visit Heraklion Wine Country vineyard, evening in Herkalion

Sept 4 - Morning ferry to Santorini

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated as well as any recommendations for restaurants and specifically accommodations as we have not yet begun the research for that.

Thank you all in advance.

Sounds like a fine itinerary. I did a very similar one a few years ago. Here's the trip report:A Week in Western Crete (with photos)

The photos are here: Zenfolio | Isabel's_View | Crete

Yes you can drive to Balos but it's a dirt road and I'm not sure you can take a regular (not four wheel drive) rental car. You can actually see the road snaking along the peninsula from the boat. You can see it clearly in this photo - Zenfolio | Isabel's_View | Crete

The other problem with driving vs boat is that where you'd park is uphill from the beach so after the beach you would have to walk uphill to get back to the car. And the other drawback is that you would miss Gramvousa and it's castle ruin (because it's on an island so obviously can't drive there, the boat stops there before Balos beach).

But on the plus side, you could be at Balos without the hundreds of people that come on the boat.

We also didn't do the Samaria Gorge hike as everything I read said it was horribly crowded in high season, that you basically just see the shoulders of the person in front of you. Don't know how true that is but wasn't interested in finding out. Instead we drove to Spili and Matala one day and to Paleochora another day, both day trips were great.

In Chania we stayed at Hanim Studios, on the recommendation of people on this forum, and it was great.

The link above to the photo of the Balos road just links to the gallery, the photo I'm talking about is #93

Aug. 30: If there is any chance that you will have jet lag, I would strongly encourage you to avoid driving for at least another day – and that should be easy enough, as there’s more than enough to see in / around Chania. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of a cause célèbre for me….

Sept. 3: What vineyard do you plan to visit? I found it difficult to do so.

If you don't already have them, I strongly recommend the Michelin Green Guide and theRough Guide. And if you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information in my trip report -- the section on Crete begins with post # 48, and it includes information about lodging and restaurants.
With Gratitude for a Glorious Solo Month in Greece

We stayed at the Ammos Hotel the last time we were in Chania and we found it to be wonderful. Great location; great food and great service.