Arriving by air early evening in Heraklion and staying the night at Lato Hotel (Aug. 31). Next morning visiting museum and Knossis, stopping off to see Rethymno on our way to stay in Chania for originally 5 nights (Pandora Suites). We were planning to leave Chania early morning on September 6th to drive back to Heraklion to catch the 9:45 highspeed ferry to Santorini for 4 nights but found out there are no ferries running on September 6th so are now undecided as to leave Crete a day early or cut our Santorini stay (VIP Suites) to only 3 nights (2 1/2 days). If we leave Crete early we would only have 3 nights in Chania and end up with 5 nights in Santorini. The main reason I was drawn to the Greek Islands was Santorini but upon adding Crete to the visit am now torn as to which island I want to spend the most time on. Although Crete has a lot more to offer in the way of exploration, Oia-Santorini tugs at my heart with its beauty, although 5 nights there might be a bit much for my husband. I think we can fit everything we really want to do in 3 days around Chania - Day One: Sightsee Chania and Akrotiri Peninsula; Day Two: the Apokoronas villages of White Mountain area; Imbros Gorge (not good enough hikers for Samaria Gorge) and Chora Sfakion, Fragkokastelo and Anopoli village-Vardinogianis bridge. Day Three: Paleochora and Elafonissi Beach. Any suggestions would be appreciated since we have already made our lodging reservations before we found out about no sailings on September 6th and now have to let them know our decision. (Wouldn't it be great if this was the most complicated decision one was faced with in life!!!!) Feel a little embarrassed!!!

If it were me I'd go to Santorini for the extra day, but from what you've described you might want to stick with the extra day on Crete so you don't feel so rushed and so your husband won't be feeling bored on Santorini.

Depends on the purpose of your trip, sightseeing or relaxation. There's a lot more to do on Crete in the way of sightseeing and I wish we'd had twice the 4 1/2 days we had last year. But we found 2 1/2 days on Santorini sufficient to let us do everything we wanted to do. I suspect you'll have a hard time getting in all the things you plan on Crete in the approx. 4 days you have scheduled. However, if you're interested in a lazy, slow vacation day amid the sightseeing, it probably doesn't much matter whether you spend the day in question on Santorini or Rhodes.

we were faced with a similar situation last october (we=couple in early 30s) and opted for the extra day in santorini after 4 days in crete. we had a cave house in oia for about $45/night and LOVED EVERY MOMENT. we ended up spending 4 nights in santorini, i cannot tell u how we spent the time but we left with a heavy heart. just something about that place ...

Your second day in Crete looks impossible to me, especially if you want to wak Imbros rather than look at it.

I'd take the extra Crete day, but I'm a well known Cretophile.

Having recently stayed 3-nights/2-days at the Esperas Houses/Villas/Hotel in Ia (Santorini), the idea of 5 nights there seems excessive, particlarly when so there is so much to see and experience on Crete.

We faced a similar situation in October 2005, when we visited Crete, Santorini, and Athens. You can do a search for my trip report Hubby & Wifey's Big Fat Greek Adventure for the details.

We ended up spending an extra day/night in Chania, then ferrying to Santorini for our stay in Oia. As a result, we only got 2 nights a/o the 3 I originally booked for us. We were bummed b/c my hubby LOVED Santorini. It was very romantic and relaxing, which is his idea of a great vacation.

If you are already covered for 3 nights in Santorini, then I'd allocate the extra day/night to Crete. It's a bigger island with much to do/see. Plus, when we went to Crete, it took 2 attempts to go hike the Samaria Gorge due to weather/closing. You never know when the govt workers are going to shut stuff down.

HTH