Information on Rethymno, Crete. Leaving in October. Weather, dress, sights to see...etc. Staying at Leoniki Residence, nice place? Any information would be appreciated....

Crete was one of the seven Greek islands we explored last summer, and essentially the one most worthy of getting out and exploring. The island is quite a bit diverse (mainly because it so much larger) than the other islands and really is best appreciated by getting a car and getting around the island. Actually Rethymno is the one major point we missed, as we had been told it was just another town, not as picturesque as Chania or Agios Nikolaos, and no major site like the archeology museum or Knossis as at Iraklion, but along the way we saw some postcards of the harbor in Rethymno which made me feel that perhaps we had missed something. Not sure of your interests, but the highlight of our entire trip was the full day hike through the Samarian Gorge. Let me know if that's something you might me into. Especially the western end of the island is incredibly lush and green unlike most of the other islands. Some of the beaches on the south coast are really wonderful. We spent a much too short week traveling about the island and loving all of it.

Hi Patrick: <BR> <BR>You mentioned that you visited 7 Greek islands. We are planning to visit 3 this coming May. <BR> <BR>Did you go on your own or were you with a tour? <BR> <BR>We plan to go to Mykonos, Paros & Santorini through Regent Holidays. Any comments or concerns?

We traveled on our own, we just don't do tours -- a total of 28 days in Greece (including 3 nights in Athens, which we throughly enjoyed by the way). Mykonos was one of the more disappointing islands to me, although we still enjoyed it. Santorini is pretty spectacular if you can overlook the fact that everybody else is also a tourist. Not been to Paros. It's hard to rate all the islands according to our favorites, each does have its own charm, but Kos was definitely our least favorite, and either Simi or Crete was probably tops.

Deidra, <BR>We vacationed in Rethymnon some 5 years ago. It is a lovely place with a charming Venetian-style harbour surrounded by small restaurants. In the neighbouring streets there are hundreds of small jewelry stores (14 carat gold in Greece). <BR>If you like culture & history you should of course visit the Knossos site (Palace of King Minos) near Heraklion. It is quite a trip by taxi but worth it. <BR>A very different view of Crete is Matala on the southcoast (which you easily reach in a jeep or car) where the hippies used to live in caves in the 60s. The hippies have disappeared but the caves are still there. On your way from Rethymnon to Matala take a break at Agia Galini, another lovely place. <BR>As suggested by Patrick the hike through the Samaria Gorge (17 km = abt. 11 miles ??) is wonderful... if you're at least a bit sporty. You can also take the short version: by bus or cab to the end of the Gorge, then a short boattrip and the last couple of yards hiking. But then you will have missed the spectacular views in the middle of the Gorge. If I remember well, the last hiking possibility is in early October because at that time the gorge is still dry as it does not rain frequently in Crete during summer. <BR>The weather in October must be quite good. We were there in August and it was extremely hot, so hot that the asphalt in the streets melted!

Deidre, you're in for a wonderful time. My wife and I lived in Europe for a couple of years visited Greece on one of our periodic vacations. We went to Agios Nikolaos over on the East end. It was just fabulous. We spent a week there at a resort and neither of us remember anything in all the time we spent in Europe that was more beautiful or serene than that stay. We used a charter for air transportation, but avoided any bus tours. We have found over the years (we travel a lot) that the best thing is to use Thomas Cook tours by private car arranged through the hotel on a case-by-case day-by-day basis. That way you get to see what you want when you want. They were very reasonable.