Help with Crete!
 

As mentioned in another thread below, I do not have much time in Crete sadly, but want to make the most of the time I have.

I will arrive fairly late one night by ferry from another island, then will have 2 full days to see as much as I can and enjoy ourselves until I have to take another ferry.

I can come into either Irakilo or Rethymno.I think I would prefer Rethymno and even Chania better,but I am thinking it might be smarter to stay in Irakilo as that is where I will leave from and since I get in fairly late ( 8ish which is late for a family that is usually asleep by ten).

Also because my MAIN interest in Crete is seeing Knossos palace. Do I need a private guide for there ( would love one good with a young child who has interest in archeology that is good at making it fun and educational). Can anyone recommend one?


Can I pick up a rent a car thru my small hotel ( have not picked it yet, any ideas? ) or B&B and leave it off at port? I would like to do this because that way I can use it after I check out and until it is nearer my fairly late ferry departure ( 1900).

Can I find a decent place in or near Irakio that is charming, budget and near Knossis?

Or should I just get a car or bus and head to chania?

We are not trekkers and I have done the grand canyon etc years ago, so I am not interested in the gorge, but am open to any other must sees or ideas for making the most of our two days.


Thanks so much!!

With only two days you are going to have to make some tough choices.
As Knossos is a must for you why don't you go there on your first day. On our recent trip to Crete I heard several people say they only needed about 3 to 4 hours there and they had hired a guide right on the site.

After Knossos drive or take the local bus to Chania and spend your second night there. As you have a late ferry that last day it will give you almost a full day in Chania and you will be delighted with the city. Chania is wonderful with so much of it's Venetian character still in evidence. I think with the time you have you will get the most out of these two locations.
We rented our car from Athens car Crete. They met us at the airport and their price seemed to be the cheapest I could find on the internet, probably becuase their cars are a couple of years old.
I believe they also drop off the car at hotels.

Thanks stanbr! I was leaning in this direction, but it is so helpful to hear the thoughts of someone who has been there and has more an understanding of how it works together.

How far is knossis from Chania ( driving time?) and from Chania to Irakilo?

I am under the impression it is just 2 hours between the main cities Chania and Irakilo..is that correct?

Thanks for hte car recomm....big help!!

There is a village about 6-7 km.s to Knossos called Archanes, pretty and beautiful. You could stay there. You could get an organized tour including Knossos. Chania to Heraklion is about 2 hours driving and in between Rethymnon is a nice place to explore especially the old town.
I uesd Anna cars in Crete and was happy with their services.
Driving in Crete was fine as long as you follow the secret rule of giving way to fast ones by using the security line on the right....Speed limits are not always an issue to obey but be aware radar checks....

Happy Travelling,
Murat

Hi Murat,

Thanks. I like this idea as I have seen how pretty this area is , but is there anything nice there in my cheapo budget???

I can not decide yet whether to rent a car or take the busses but would have to add the car charge if I stayed there for sure.

How do we get there when we arrive at night? Seems like a taxi would be very expensive for 15 minutes away or so (???) and I am not sure if the busses run then or not.

We have the challenge of traveling by RV so our trip to Crete ( and on to Rhodes and Turkey), we will be paying two fees ( for our RV that is staying on another Greek island and our hotels).

So that and the fact that we are on a multi year trip around the world on a fixed budget, makes costs a concern for us. Ideally we would prefer to stay in the 50 euros or less area if possible except for a possible splurge for a cave house in Capacodia ( sp?).

If i could find something in our budget there it sounds like a good idea and we could stay maybe both nights there.

I still stick with my initial suggestion that you sttay a night in Chania as there is much to soak up there.
We stayed at pension Nora 60 Theotokopoulou. It was a delightful 100 year old remodeled house divided into suites. In May it was 30 euros per night, well within your budget. It is a block from all the action of the waterfront but is very quiet at night. This combination is very important to any experienced Greek travellor.

Sorry to make this two postings somehow spellcheck became "post my reply. Pension Nora is run by a Brit. Her name is Natalie which is very handy as she speaks the queens English so there is little chance of a misunderstanding. They don't have a web site but you can contact them at 28210 72265.

Thanks stanbr,

I will check out that place, sounds good and I really am interested in experiencing Chania, even if it is brief.

Can I pick up a rental car around KNossis? I hear the traffic is horrible in Irakilo and the bus is a good way to go which should be close to my first night stay.


How is the driving in Crete at this time of year? Is it fairly easy to navigate?

Would you just walk around Chania on that last day or should I try to see a little more on the way back to Irakilo and the ferry?

I thought we should stop in Rethymno after Knossis and on the way to Chania, but am not sure what else to see on our short stay.

Thanks again for any help!!

Knossos (note spelling) is very close to Iraklio (note spelling, though it's often confusingly called "Heraklion" in English). There are frequent local buses to Knossos - every 20 minutes when I was there in March. Buses run between Iraklion, Rethimnon and Hania at least every hour.

Given your minimal time available and after just visiting Rethymno and Chania I would prefer to see Chania really well and leave Rethymno for another trip. In my research on Rethymno someone wrote that it does have its own charm but you do have to look for it. Indeed it is there but it took us the better part of our first day to find it.
Chania however, has character in abundance and you will need every second of your 24 hours there to begin to scratch the surface. I think that less is more. If you try to see both cities you won't really experience much of what each has to offer

Well after a week back home we have been able to edit our 600 pictures of Crete down to 60 worthy of representing our trip.
To view please visit;
http://thumb16.webshots.net/t/52/452...6rMFXVI_th.jpg

Stanbr...nice pictures! Have you posted a trip report?

Great pics stanbr and as usual your advice makes great sense.

Sorry about my atrocious spelling GeoffHamer. I know it is no excuse, but I am writing this is a big hurry from an internet cafe with a horrible foreign junky keyboard that costs way more than it should.

We are in Santorini and I am planning Crete,lots in Turkey, Rhodes, Samos all at the same time with very limited resources and time ( since we are on RTW trip) so sadly spelling is the least of my worries at the moment.


http://www.soultravelers3.com/

That said, I will try to do better.

stanbr,
where (what hotel) did you stay in Crete? and how was it?
loved your pictures!!!

Great photos. Like histortytravler, I'm homesick and it's not even my home