When I saw that the Samaria Gorge was likely to be closed I remembered that there were other walkable gorges in Crete so your post arrived in good time Clausar! I must have driven through the Kourtaliotiko Gorge- both in 1979 and in 2008!
Thank you for the website.
I may come back with queries if that's O.K.

Crete would probably be lovely at Easter, especially since its the first week of May this year. I love Rhodes - been there six times. I am going to Corfu for Greek Easter in 2013. It was featured in the James Bond, For Your Eyes Only, movie and Corfu is lovely anyway.

Corfu is famous in Greece for the local Easter celebrations...
It is actually so popular that Hotels in the city are fully booked months in advance.. ( which might now change due to the crisis)

Mes, i am sure that you will love Easter on Corfu !!!
( i am originally from the city of Corfu)

Sorry to intervene. We're flying into Heraklion on May 4 at 8pm.
When I enquired at a hotel (Rea)to book, the manager indicated all tavernas etc. were closed for Easter.
What can we expect? We thought it would be nice to be there but the prospect of prowling the streets looking for food is not enticing. Hopefully we can get a bus in from the airport.
Is it a total shutdown in town?

Tommmo
You will be arriving to Heraklion on Holy Saturday.
Locals will be preparing for the Midnight Easter Liturgy, they will go before midnight to the church, and after 30 min, they will return home with the Holy Light ( which is being brought to Greece from Jerusalem) for a big festive meal.

Easter Sunday falls in Greece on the 5th of May and it is the biggest celebration in the country,bigger even compared to Christmas.

I really can't imagine that restaurants will be closed on Saturday in Heraklion, given the fact that there will be thousands of tourists ( like every year).
Have been over Easter several times in cities like Rethymno or Chania, and everything was working as usual.

I am sure that buses will operate normally from the Heraklion Airport to the city, this is one of the two biggest airports of Greece.... :)

Does anyone know if we can catch a bus from the airport after arriving 8pm May 4 and then bus that night to Agios Nikolaos?

It seems AN has more of a "tourist Easter" and then we could return to Heraklion and Knossos etc. after a few days when everything is back to normal...

Tommmo
I can only repeat that everything will be normal on the 4th of May.... Heraklion is the capital city of Crete and a very touristy city with many hotels.

I called the KTEL of Heraklion and they said that the schedule on that particular day, will be the schedule of a normal Saturday.
According to that last busses to Agios Nikolaos are:
19:45-20:45-21:45

If you arrive at 8 pm, you can make it to the Bus station to catch the 21: 45 hrs bus.
Best way would be to take a taxi to the Bus station, the airport is located near to Heraklion City :)

Forgot to add the website of the Bus company ( KTEL), where you can take a look your self :

http://www.ktelherlas.gr/index.php?lang=en

If you are going I would book ASAP. I have my reservations since October for hotel and plane and at premium prices since it is a big holiday and high demand for Corfu. Some other islands may not be as frantic, but since many people go back to the home island, everything is going to getting reserved early.
Clausar, I love Corfu. I am hoping the flowers will really be in bloom by then. My favorite walk is to go from the Bella Venezia hotel, down to Kanoni Penisula and have a coffee overlooking the church (not at Starbucks, either!).

Thanks so much clausar for your help. If the plane gets in on time we'll get the bus if not we can rent a car . We've just booked at Mantraki Apartments in AN for that night.
The worries started when the manager of the hotel in Heraklion we were emailing told us the tavernas etc. would be closed that night...

Tommmo
I asked a friend of mine who actually lives in HER and runs a very big travel agency...
I don't know why you received this information from the hotel.. the fact is, that restaurants and cafes will be open in Heraklion on the 4th, of May !!!!!!!!! :)

Thank you. It was unhelpful advice as we are flying in from Italy and arriving at 8.30pm and who wants to be stuck for transport or food then?
Seems the driving to AN is the best as the Museums and Knossos probably will be closed for a few days.....

I just turned up this thread as I remembered that it had useful info on the Peleponnesus. We have booked today to visit in May of next year.
However the purpose of my post is not to announce that but to update anyone who may have queries about Greek Easter.
We spent Easter in Chania. On the Sunday night many if not all the family Greek run restaurants were closed. We tried to book on Sunday afternoon and found that these restaurants were closing then. They were not reopening until Monday night. So many of them were closed that the restaurants which were open were absolutely packed with queues outside. Needless to say we ended up eating somewhere which we wouldn't otherwise have chosen.

The BEST Easter in Greece is in Corfu. It has the most famous Easter celebrations in Greece because it was never conquered by the Turks, it was always Christian. First of all Corfu is one of the most beautiful places in Greece, as it was the most important Venetian Colony. The whole City is protected by UNESCO. The Easter Celebrations are unique, orchestras traditionally play music in the Streets, the body of Saint Spyridon is walked throughout the city (except the Jewish neighborhood) Cretan Chants in Churches (When Crete fell to the Turks, many Cretans came in Corfu and this was a Cretan tradition) the Botides tradition where people throw vases from the windows, fireworks lights everywhere, Easter Corfiot specialities are sold in the Streets, its amazing. The Orthodox Easter in 2014 is at 13-20 April the Holy Week.