Hello,

I am going to be traveling to Greece in September for my honeymoon. I kind of messed up my itinerary due to hotel availability earlier in the trip and not knowing the ferry schedule leaving me with a very short time in Crete. The more I read about it, the more time I wish I had to spend in Crete.

Here is my situation:
Depart Santorini on Sept. 22nd.
There are only two ferries from Santorini to Crete, both in the early evening, and flights are too expensive.
Depart Heraklion for Paris at 2:30 PM on Sept 24th.

What would be the most enjoyable use of our limited time in Crete?

I originally thought of renting a car and driving (2 hours to Chania) estimated arrival is 9:30-10PM. Then either hike the Samarja Gorge, or take a boat tour to see Gramvousa and Balos Lagoon the next day, then drive back to Heraklion to catch our flight to Paris. Is this worth the time and trouble to travel to the western part of the island, or is there other options people recommend.

All suggestions are very much appreciated!

Hello:
I am traveling from Santorini to Crete as well and we have not been able to get the plans together (one person is in Shanghai, one in Iceland and I'm in San Francisco!). Does the Ferry from Santorini only go to Heraklion or is that the place you need to fly out for Paris? I unfortunately don't have any tips for you except to say I hear the Gorge is fantastic. I also here it has a lot of tourists! Sounds like it's a long way to go for a day when there seems to be nice things all over the island. You might find it more enjoyable to stay closer to where you fly out of.

If you have any tips on Santorini to Crete that would be great!

To both Coco and CTM == The Samaria Gorge IMHO is only for people who have a week or so to spend. And "I Hear" isn't reliable enough. It's also good to check some Serious Online discussions (Trip Advisor has many discussion threads on this Gorge), or actually read a guide book -- but I guess I'm being oldfashioned; today people only research what can be seen on a 2x3 cellphone screen.

CTM, since you have only ONE day in Crete, essentially, stay in the Heraklion area.... in fact, stay in Town. It's a bustling, hectic, traffic-filled big city, but if you have any interest in Ancient Greece, it has a stunning Museum just recently re-opened. Hotel Lato is a boutique type hotel convenient to the ferry ... 2 others less pricey are Marin Dreams and hotel Kronos. Make the best of your mistake, and enjoy some good "mezedes" (Crete is the World Capital of Mezedes) ... 2 of the better places are on the "traffic Circle" just at the foot of the Causeway leading out to the amazing Fortress.

There are no beaches in Heraklion or even nearby. about 12 miles WEST of Heraklion is a resort town called "Ag Pelagia." Its main town beach is mediocre (very narrow - 20 feet?) but on either side are nice coves with some resort-type hotels. You'd have to take a taxi from the ferry out to Ag. Pelagia... and all there is to do there is the beach.

CTM, I'm sorry that this had to be the way you learn the hard lesson of Greece travel -- FIRST figure out the travel logistics, and only then do you reserve hotels. Particularly people make this mistake regarding Santorini ... they get themselves locked into a luxe hotel which demands big upfront deposit, with no flexibility.

Coco, yes --- at this point, ferries are only 1 per day usually and only to Heraklion. Leave Santorini 5:30 arrive Heraklion 7:30 pm. As for you, cannot offer ANY tips because you do not say when you plan to visit Crete, for how long, what your interests are, whether you plan to rent a car, what your budget is etc.

I have 2 tips (1) start a new thread, giving full details on your situation, including dates/times of coming going, and (2) run do not walk to find a good guide book; I particularly recommend Rough Guide to Greece or RG to Crete... detailed and candid not travel puffery. When you et some feedback from your thread, then perhaps you can outline a plan & submit to your 2 companions for a yes/no.

Jan is correct. The ferry only goes to Heraklion in the early evening from Santorini. Last year we wanted to get from Santorini to Crete but had limited time so we watched for a sale from Aegean airlines and were able to book a flight back to Athens and then on to Crete. We left at about 7am and were in our hotel by 11. It cost about twice the amount of the ferry but bought us a full afternoon. Sometimes spending a bit more to just get to the next destination makes sense.

So you are in Heraklion and there is no point in rushing away to find something else to do you simply don't have enough time.
Heraklion is not my favourite city but the central area is full of Venetian era sites and of course there is Knossos and the wonderful new museum. Just spend the day there and enjoy.
Here are images of Knossos and the museum number 28 to the end of the album
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...7645085297380/

With only 1 full day in Crete I agree that the most sensible thing is to stay in Heraklio. It's a shame because Chania is delightful but maybe on another trip! Back in 2011 we took the ferry-ANEK lines-from Santorini to Heraklio. We arrived around 3 pm. This was on June 25th back in 2011 so don't know if it's still running?? We had 1 stop in Anafi. In Heraklio we visited the site of Knossos and the Arch. Museum. The rest of our time was spent in Chania where we stayed with Greek friends.

The Samaria Gorge is a drive from Chania. It is a gruelling hike (I guess it depends on your age-LOL!) and your legs will ache for days after! It is very scenic there.

www.explorecrete.com
www.gtp.gr
www.anex.gr/
www.ferries.gr/anek/defaulten.htm You will need to click on the blue box to get the info for mainland and the islands.

Thanks everyone for the responses, still not sure what I will end up doing, but I will report back.

Thanks,

Conor

Stay in Heraklion. Rent a car and drive to Matala and stop at Knossos on the way.

We stayed on Crete for a week and drove all over and to be honest I wish I had spent the week in the Peloponnese or on Rhodes. Those were the two areas where we didn't have enough time and we weren't wowed by Crete. Yes, I understand that opinion isn't held by a lot of people. The only thing we didn't do on Crete was go to Knossos. After seeing a show on it on TV the other day, I wish we had. I'd say say in Heraklion and go there as brotherleelove2004 says. You could also just rest or do something not touristy. There is a water park nearby as an example.