Short time in Crete
 

We will have a cruise stop at Aghios Nikolaos in Crete from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM on May 22nd. Some years ago, we visited Knossos and the fabulous museum in Heraklion, and although we loved them, we would like to see other places this trip. We would love suggestions on what we could do in such a limited amount of time. Our interests are history, archaeology, museums and beautiful scenery. Although we love seeing beautiful beaches, we won't be spending any time swimming. Also, we would prefer not to take the ship tours. So could you also tell us how we could get to the places you recommend? By taxi? Are there good local tours? Is the Palace of Phaestos worth seeing?
Thank you very much for taking your time to give us your suggestions -- We will really appreciate it!

Go to a Palace. Malia or Phaistos and Agia Triada. Another place I loved was Gortys. I've no doubt there will be tours, but tat's not an area I know so I couldn't recommend anyone. I'm sure you'd get a taxi to take you for a fixed sum

If you go to Phaistos, you're crossing the spine of the island and the scenery is stunning

I'd get the local bus to Elounda which is about 40 minutes from Ag Nic and is a very different experience and usually good fun. They run every hour. Spend some time in Elounda (and keep an eye open for the celebrities) and then take a boat to Spinalonga Island. The island is an old venetian fort that was used as a leper colony until the late 1950's. It's been abandoned since they found the cure for leprosy and is now a museum. The Victoria Hislop book The Island is a fictionalised story of this period.

Great advice Sheila! personally I prefer to get out of the cities and see the natural beauty of Crete! (Gortys is good too!)

@Wa145nzJeffery - I've never once seen any celebrities in Crete :-(

Ag. Nic was pretty pitiful - it takes about 30 minutes to walk around "the lake" then there were lots of nik-nak shops and some fairly nice outdoor cafes - but really not much to interest you for a day. There is one of those tourist trams that goes out of town a bit - I don't think it was much of an experience tho.

I assume you have looked at your ship roll call for perhaps private tours to share that would take you further afield. But the local bus sounds pleasant too. We have stopped at Crete on two different cruises - the other ship stopped at Chiana - it was a MUCH better stop than Ag. Nic.