Heraklion, Crete, Greece
 

Suggestions for a "not luxury not budget hotel" for a couple of nights. I'm going to explore Crete and plan to spend a couple nights in Heraklion. My plan is to visit Knossos and the museum.....anything else is up for grabs. Then I will board a public bus to Chania. Suggestions anyone. I'm open.

Sory dont have any knowledge about this

We are staying at Atlantis Aquis in Heraklion for one night. It is a 4 star with great amenities but more suited for business travelers. We don't mind it very much because it is a transition hotel before we head out to Chania. Centrally located.

We stayed at the Georgia Hotel ( Vagias 10, Heraklion Gazi Crete 714 14). It is near the beach, wonderful staff, reasonably priced and the food is excellent. We had a car so getting into downtown wasn't an issue. Be advised that if you eat dinner there, your choice is limited to that one thing the chef prepares that day. The two times we ate there, we were very happy.

I'm not sure if this fits in your budget (it was about $200) but we really liked the hotel Megaron right on the port. The breakfasts were amazing.

In Chania I will wax ecstatic over the Alcanea boutique hotel - one of the nicest we've ever stayed at again with wonderful breakfasts and really helpful staff, and fantastic location. but it does have steep stairs if that is an issue for you. Enjoy your visit.

Thank you for suggestions. I agree the Alcanea is gorgeous. Trying to figure out how many days and nights are needed to visit the museum and Knossos with strolls around the city before I head out to Chania. Any ideas?

I say give yourself two full days. Knossos can be done in a morning (and definitely do that and get there as soon as the place opens) and you can then either head to the museum or explore town. Use day two for either the museum or a full day wandering around exploring.

on your way to Chania you might want to hop off the bus at Rethymnon. It's about ½ way between the two and is a lovely beach resort with a terrific harbour.

Definitely worth a night or two.

Heraklion also has an interesting folk art museum and several churches that are worth a visit. I think it is worth a couple of days so you don't have to rush around Knossos and the archaeological museum.

We visited the palace of Knossos in the am and the museum in the afternoon. One full day is plenty of Heraklion.

He harbour area and central Heraklion have many Venetian era buildings and you can easily spend a half day just in this area so combined with Knossos and the museum a day and a half to two days will be sufficient.
Here is what central Heraklion is like.
Heraklion https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...57655935354556

One night there shpuld be enough to see Knossos and the museum.

Advice on length of stay depends very much on the number of days you have allotted to Crete ... if it's only 5, then I think 1 day is enough to take in Knossos, the Archeological museum, and stroll out to the Giant Fortezza .. if yo have 10 days you can explore lesser known parts of Heraklion, but otherwise move on. Crete is more than an island it's a Country! 170+ miles long ... I've visited 5 times I think for at least 5 days per time, with a car, and still haven't seen the eastern third.