Crete and Rhodes May/June 2023
 

We're planning a 12 day (or so) trip to Crete and Rhodes, late May- early June. Our first trip to Greece was to Santorini, Naxos (love), mainland (Athens down to Nafplio (also love)). We just loved it (my husband still talks about Greek tomatoes) and thought two big islands would be good for this trip.

I'd like some help in dividing up our time. For Crete, we though we'd spend time in Chania, Rethymno, just a day in Heraklion before departing for Rhodes, staying in Rhodes Old Town. We'll need a night in Athens on the way in, I think. We'll rent a car in Rethymno so we can get around some, and again in Rhodes. SO, maybe 3 days in Chania, 3 in Rethymno and 4 in Rhodes. I worry that I'm not spending enough time in Heraklion.

We'll do some private tours, and don't mind driving around on our own. We're both about 70 and are very excited planning this trip. We are a bit flexible on the amount of time although my husband prefers shorter to longer trips.

Any help with this itinerary would be very much appreciated.

Alice

I would give those nights for Rethymno to Chania. You’ll understand after you’ve been there. They are quite similar but Chania is so much better. Rhodes is different and you will enjoy both Rhodes and Chania, Crete.
A day in Heraklion is enough.

Moved to Europe forum and tagged for Greece

As above, a day for Heraklion (Knossos and archeological museum, plus the cdity and some medieval buildings.
Other archeological places: Phaisos, Kato zakros, Malia, Gortis.
Most scenic medieval towns: Rethymnon, Chania (stay in the medieval center).
Most popular hikes: Samaria Gorge, gorge dwon to Kato Zakros.
Most scenic beaches: Elafonissos, Falassarna, Xerokambos, Vai, Preveli.
Rhodos: if you want to visit Rhodos by car, it could make sense to book a hotel in the walled city that you can easily reach by car.

Give some thought for how you would move from Crete to Rhodes.

Early morning nonstop flights HER - RHO seem to be daily in June.
I suppose that the timetable of the once to twice weekly running ferries between Heraklion resp. Sitia and Rhodos will be published a few days before they start to run, as usual.

Just so I understand - what's the difference between posting to the Greece forum and posting to the Europe forum tagged for Greece? I've always posted to the country directly.

Thanks,
Alice

I am relieved to hear that a day in Heraklion is enough - we are planning to drive to Heraklion, spend a long day there and then take a late flight to Rhodes.

Again, happy to hear that a day in Heraklion is enough.
We are not really beach people, worth looking at but we're not going to lay on the beach when there's so much to see!
Thanks for the info on hikes.
We ARE planning to stay in medieval center of Chania, and inside the wall in Rhodes, but close to where there's parking.
Thanks, neckervd!

Alice

HappyTrvlr, I'm interested in why you'd give up those days in Rethymno - if we have a car, it gives us access to a lot of other places. You would spend all 6 nights in Chania?

Thanks, Alice

Direct (nonstop) evening flight in early June?

Alice9, if you take a late flight from Heraklion to Rhodes it will be two connecting flights via Athens. That’s why I wrote to give it some thought. I seemed to recall an early morning Olympic Air flight in summer is direct, but didn’t want to mention it without confirming first. Neckervd wrote in post #6 that there will be an early morning direct daily flight in June, the one I was thinking of.

There is no main ferry route between Crete and Rhodes, but the once per week ferry from Piraeus to Rhodes stops at Heraklion, and another at Sitia.

Yes, I would stay in Chania and visit Rethymon. I happen to absolutely love Chania and have friends there. If you want to take a few days to stay in Rethymon then do that. We were able to accomplish what we wanted to see from Chania.

I just checked the Aegean Airlines/Olympic Air website, and they have no nonstop flights from Heraklion to Rhodes in June, not even the early morning one. There are some attractive deals for one stop flights (Athens), though, with total travel time of 3-5 hours. Bags would be transferred automatically, and the Aegean Connection Ambassador will help you get between flights.

I also checked Sky Express, the other Greek Airline, and they have a nonstop daily flight leaving at 07:00, but nothing nonstop in the afternoon.

It looks like Sky Express has flights, but I haven't tried to book anything yet.

Heimdall, you're right, we're going to plan to take an early morning flight (since it's the only choice!).
Alice

I only spent one night in Heraklion but 2 nights might have been worth it. The Knossos site and the archaeology museum can be fitted in, in one day, like I did, unless you spend more than 3 hours at the first one you go to. On the other day you can see the less commonly visited Koules Venetian fortress (you can pay to go inside. It has been marvelously restored and has nice views of the Mediterranean from the top level), and Crete history museum (it had a 3-dimensional model of the old city, on a big table), and pass by various monuments and streets I didn't make time for. Or you could arrive in Heraklion early on one day, spend one night, and leave in the afternoon- evening on the next day.

You may not need to include Athens as access to the islands. Especially in summer other European cities serve as gateway to the bigger islands such as Crete. On my last trip I flew to that island from Marseille. A good search function will show you possible combinations, even if you include a trans-Atlantic flight. Search for the whole itinerary on a single ticket rather than trying to stich it together one by one.

michaelpianko, we ended up giving Heraklion 2 nights, for the reasons you stated. I hate to rush and I likely won't be back.
Alice

We did look at that but Athens turned out to be our best bet. And you are right about looking for the whole itinerary at once.
Thanks, Alice