We will be going to Crete in May this year. Any suggestions as to which part of the island to stay on? We want something quite and scenic. <BR> <BR>Thanks!

I hope someone responds, because I'm interested in the same thing. I visited Heraklion and the Palace of Knossos from a boat tour of the Greek Islands, so I did not stay overnight there. But Crete was wonderful, and I would love to visit there. Be sure to see the Palace. Heraklion looked like an interesting town. Has an outstanding museum. I read that there were many former Venetian palazzos (from when Venice controlled Crete) that have been converted into small hotels. You might get a guide book and check this out. Have a great time!

Erica and Pam <BR> <BR>I posted trip reports last year and the year before, which you would find if you searched. <BR> <BR>Two obvious choices are Paleohora on the south coast and somewhere near Omalos in the mountains. Both quiet and scenic. The extreme east coast was interesting and OK, but I preferred Paleohora <BR> <BR>Email me if you want the trip reports sent direct.

We really liked the town of Chania, on the Northwest Coast of Crete.It is a charming walled town with mountains (in the background) and an attractive harbourfront with a maze of narrow street lined with shops, restaurants. We stayed at the Casa Delfino (e-mail [email protected]) <BR>which is in the old town. It is a 17th Century mansion that has been converted into a hotel of 20 suites. I loved the rooms and location and definitely would stay there again.

Karen, I'm glad to see you past you liked the Casa Delfino. I've just booked in there for my birthday in November. Would you recommend another area of Crete for that time of year-I have 2 more nights to fill.

I too stayed at Casa Delfino for three nights this summer and loved the place, in fact the whole city. Christine, is that the only place you're booked now in Crete, or are there others as well? How long will you be in Chania? How long in Crete? We bypassed Rethymno as we were told it was similar to Chania but not nearly so interesting. Later we felt that may not have been true, we saw pictures of the harbor there which looked quite beautiful and probably less touristy. We liked Iraklion the least, but drove over much of the island in our week there going to the far Eastern end and driving back, enjoying Agios Nikolaos and Eloundra probably the most of the other places we went. Paleohora was very laid back as Sheila says (actually we followed a lot of Sheila's suggestions on our trip -- Hi Sheila!), but being Floridians, it was too beach oriented for our tastes. Actually we enjoyed driving through the island as much as anything and enjoyed our stops in small little towns along the way. Spili was charming, especially the "fountain" wall in the center of town. The highlight of our stay in Crete was hiking the Samarian Gorge!

Patrick mentioned Elounda. Where did you stay there? We're going for only 2 nights, 4/18 & 4/19. We were thinking of either the Elounda Beach Hotel or the Porto Elounda Mare. Any experience with either of those? Should we rent a car? <BR>We also need advice for Santorini. Has anyone stayed at either the CanavesII or the Katikies Hotel, both in Oia?

Elounda Mar is my favorite. I spent 5 days there and LOVED it!!