Husband and I will be in Crete June 11-14. My question is where to focus our trip. My husband (architect) is adamant about the Palace of Knossos, the Archaeological Museum, etc. I'm more interested in seeing the Western part of Crete because it sounds much different from Mykonos and Santorini which we'll also be visiting. We fly into Heraklion, and will rent a car.
1) Should we stay near Chania and day trip to sights or spend one night near Heraklion before heading west?
2) Recommendations for hotels--around 200 euro per night
3) Are we going to have difficulty renting a car with automatic transmission? Neither of us can drive a manual.

If you are flying out of Iraklion as well as in, I would definitely spend one night there. What time of day do you arrive, and what time do you leave. Knossos and the museum are a ood day trip. I would advise you to get to Knossos as early as you can, to avoid the crowds. I've been round three times, and I just love it. You see something new every time. Personally, I think there's a lot for having a seriously good guide book and doing it yourself, but the on site guides are excellent. Lots of them are archaeology students, and you do tend to get their pet theories (thus my comment about the guide book) which just exacerbates the Evans problem.

I also like to do site, then museum, but there are those who like to do it the other way round.

Incidentally, it's free on Sundays.

€200 per person or per room? And what sort of hotel and location do you like?

You shouldn't have trouble hiring an automatic.

Our flight arrives on Sunday, 6/11 @ 2:00pm. I see that the Archaelogical Museuem is open until 7:00.
1)Would we be wise to hit the museum that afternoon and then the Palace of Knossos the following morning? That way we'd spend one night in Heraklion before moving on.
2)Would Rethymnon be a good base? I really want to see Hania. Should we just head there after see Knossos? We don't fly out of Heraklion until 3:00 pm on the 14th.
3)200 euro per room would be our budget range for hotel. Doesn't have to be luxurious, but ambiance is important.

200 euro per night??? I suppose there are such hotels in Crete, but I have stayed in ***** with 100 euro per night. You don´t have to spend that much.

Afternoon in the museum and morning in Knossos sounds just fine.

Rethymnon and Hania are both nice. They are only something like 60 kilometres apart, and the road is good. There are also frequent busses between the two.

The early-Cretan civilization was significantly different from other European civilizations, making the ruins at Knossos very unique amongst other Greek sites. Ergo, for an architect to be on Crete and NOT visit the site would be an intellectual crime. I would suggest you make that a priority, or else the reasonably prudent man would be tempted to visit the site with a new . . . um . . travel partner. My recollection of Crete (albeit dim) was that the differences of Eastrn v. Westrn Crete were not as striking as Crete in general v. other islands. I'm sure you will have a good time whatever you decide. But do visit Knossos.

If it were me, with those times, I'd drive to Chania when I got there, and on teh 14th I'd leave Chania before the sparrows were farting, and do Knossos and then the mueum before the flight out.

The place most Amurricans seem to like in Chania is Casa Delfino. Lovely location, looks very pretty.

Thanks for your suggestions. I hadn't really begun to compare hotel rates, but Crete appears to be much less expensive than the accommodations I've looked into for Mykonos and Santorini. Casa Delfino looks like someplace we'd enjoy.

Docdan. . . for fear of being dumped for a more ruin friendly wife, I'll go to Knossos with hubby!

My husband and I were there last summer. We actually stayed in Heraklion and took day trips by car across the island. We did the eastern half of the island on 1 day and the western half (including hiking the gorge) on the 2nd day. The island seems big, but not really that hard to do a few days. It was one the highlights of our trip to Greece. By far my favorite island. So much to do and see and the terrain is different every where you go. BTW-you must hike at least part of the gorge if you are into that type of thing. It was absolutely breathtaking!!! I personally did not care for the Palace of Knossos. Most of it had been "reconstructed" and was not the orginal palace and it was very crowded. While the scenery was pretty, we did not spend more than 1 hour there. It is right outside the city and only takes about 20 mintues at most to get there. I think you could do it the day that you arrive.

I would second the reccomendation for the Casa Delfino. We stayed there a few years ago and loved it. I would do what Sheila recommends. Have no thoughts on a rental car as I do drive a manual. Easy to drive around Crete. Would pick up the Lonely Planet condensed guide book for your guide.