Hi,

I am leaving in a couple of months for a 12 day holiday with my daughter. We will be flying from Athens to the Chania. We plan to rent a car there and stay in that area for 5 days then drive to Heraklion to ferry to Santorini.

Since Knossos sounds like a "must see", we want to see it on the day we drive to Heraklion.

How long a drive is it from Heraklion to Knossos? Do you think this is too much to do in one day?

Also, I have looked at ferry sites but don't see any that look like passengers can hang out outdoors for the ride. Are there any?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

It's about 2 hours along the National Highway from Chania to Knossos. It's easily doable in a day, but obviously it depends what time your ferry leaves. Try to see the archaeological museum stuff the same day- the museum is closed but there's a small display adjacent, I think

Hi Goldiept - Knossos is virtually on the outskirts in Heraklion - only a few minutes drive.

The drive from Chania to Knossos/ Heraklion is about 1hr 45' - give or take.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I am going to Crete about the same time as you. Did you find a ferry to Santorini from Crete? We are having a hard time pinning anything down--any information you have would be really helpful!

Based on the schedules here: http://www.cretetravel.com/To_and_fr..._Santorini.htm you might be able to do what you want on a summer Wednesday, but not otherwise. Boats leave Heraklion for Santorini in the morning. And Knossos really requires several hours.

Dear ktssac: I have been MIA for a while. Was checking this board but hadn't heard from anyone for such a long time that I stopped looking. Sorry about that.
What I did find out is that the definite schedules come out on April 10. This has been pretty distressing to me but there's no control over that one. Will deal with it then.

thursdaysd: Thanks for that info. At this point, I think we will see Knossos the day we arrive to Crete from Athens. We then will drive out to Chania where we will be for 5 days. Somewhere, I thought I saw that there are several ferries to Santorini daily. If, however, they only leave in the AM, we will just drive straight to Heraklion and on to Santorini.

Now the big debate is if we boat back to Athens or fly back.
Have been so involved with other things that I have spent zero time checking it out.

Thanks for you input.

The schedule doesn't come out on April 10, it begins on April 10. It's out now:

http://www.ferries.gr/hfd

There's only one ferry each day. Take note of the no-sail Wednesdays. If you want to see Knossos you'll have to see it before Chania or go back to Heraklion the day before you leave for Santorini.

Brotherleelove2004: Thanks so much. The charts were confusing.
Also, I didn't know about the no-sail Wednesdays.

Since we will be arriving in Heraklion around noon, it makes sense to just go directly there, then on to Chania.
We were thinking of sailing back to Athens from Santorini but now I think flying is a better idea.
There is an extra night we will have. Do you think we should stay in Santorini for a third night or go back to Athens and use the day to see Delphi?
I spent soooo much time obsessing about hotels for the trip that I just stopped and have done zero for a few weeks.
Time to hunker down and really get on it. I have a zillion bookmarks and Barnes & Noble library to live at for the next couple of weeks.
Thanks again.

2 nights on Santorini isn't enough to explore the whole island, so unless you've got a very strong need to visit Delphi spend the extra day relaxing on the island.

Brotherleelove: Spent a couple of hours tonight with my daughter at Barnes and Noble to look over the whole itinerary. We came to the same conclusion. Now we just need to figure out how we want to go back to Athens. I think flying will be the best use of our time though it will cost more.

Have you been to the thermal waters? How much time should we allot and is it worth it?

Have been sidetracked with some intense personal issues and have put this trip on the back, back burner for much too long.
While I don't want to miss anything important, I don't want to be a slave to guidebooks either.

Thanks for your help and will look you up to read your postings on Greece.

The only way to go to the hotsprings is on a volcano/caldera boat excursion which, if I remember, takes 4-6 hours depending on which one you choose. For me the volcano hotsprings were a waste of time. The location is not on land but in a small inlet into which you have to swim. The "hot" water is actually barely lukewarm because it's mixed with sea water. It's murky, sulphuric-smelling and will permanently stain your clothing so be sure to wear something you can throw away. I guarantee you won't want to wear it again. Take a pair of cutoffs and an old t-shirt.

Thanks again. I think we will skip that one. Why waste time?
Have been to springs in Virginia, Italy and Israel. Sulphur smell doesn't turn me off but spending that much time to get somewhere where the water isn't even really hot doesn't do it for me. This one, in particular,sounds gross! I am glad I asked and that you knew!