uktravelover

We (well really me) are starting to think about a late spring holiday next year to Crete or somewhere else in Greece in May. My partner has a respiratory problem so steep hills and lots of steps are really a no no. Last year we went to Santorini, stayed in Kamari at La Mer Hotel & Spa. Perfect, had a ground floor room, nice pools, 5 minutes walk to beach, shops and restaurants. Good variety of food. Pretty flat to walk round, particularly the beach road. Also did a great Small Group Panoramic excursion which catered for seniors or those with walking difficulties. This year, not so lucky with our choice of hotel in Taormina and our restaurant experiences were not great.
As we have a couple of long haul trips coming up this year, we want to stay in Europe for this holiday and think that Crete or one of the other Greek islands would be a good option. I’ve been to Corfu previously so would like somewhere different. Views and suggestions please.

HappyTrvlr

Crete offers so much to explore. Stay in beautiful Chania and explore western Crete. We spent two weeks there and loved it.
Chania is rather flat so no concern about mobility issues.
It is much more authentic Greek than Santorini, so much nicer.

scrb11

Area around Chania is pretty flat, especially if you can stay around the harbor.

I rented a car for a couple of days, went to some beaches which went through some mountain passes.

I didn't get to do the famous Gorge of Samaria hike.

But closer to Chania there are some beautiful beaches too. I just drove up to the top of Saitan Limania and also visited Agia Triada.

Didn't get to Rethymno or spend much time in Heraklion. Or Aigo Nikolas.

uktravelover

I do like the look of the Chania area and a friend said when she went some years ago, it was her favourite spot. However we will probably be flying from Newcastle rather than London using Jet2 for this trip so may need to fly into Heraklion if we want to stay for 10 or 11 nights rather than 2 weeks. Rethymno transfers are a little longer than we like (2 hours) but I will check times for a private transfer? Looking at other possible options, I spotted Sissi. Has anyone stayed there?

scrb11

10-11 nights just on Crete? Seems too long for one island unless you plan to lounge a lot at beaches.

Yes you may have to fly from Athens in order to arrive in Chania. To get to other islands, may have to get through Heraklion.

I took that 2 hour bus from Heraklion to Chania. Unless you can rent a car in Heraklion and return in Chania, there may not be other options.

of course parking in the popular port area is difficult.

HappyTrvlr

Crete is 170 mike’s long while Santorini is only small,10 miles long at best. We spent two weeks on Crete in Chania area and could have easily spent two more weeks.

progol

I agree completely with a visit to Chania! What a wonderful town and a great place to use as a base. As I read your post, Chania came to mind immediately.

We stayed there for 4 nights at the Palazzo Hotel (now the Elia Palazzo hotel) on Theotokopoulou Street, a pedestrian street near the water were there was a fair amount of parking. We made several excellent day trips from there.

We loved Chania and could easily have stayed longer. There’s a lot to do within the city and is very walkable. Recommend it highly!

scrb11

Several of the lodgings on the Chania port have terraces overlooking the port. I would try to book one of those, though if you do get a car, parking it near where you're staying could be a challenge.

travelerjan

In CHANIA, THe Palazzo hotel is great for location... it's at the very foot of Theotokopoulu street, nearest the park that's by the sea. Look at this useful onlline map of Chania Old Town: -- (click to Enlarge) On the map Palazzo is just by the little lane "Damaskinon" It's a wonderful modernized Venetian Mansion... just about 12 rooms, the best ones are those with front balconies. I don't believe it has an elevator, but you could ask to reserve a front room on the "first floor" (just up from lobby)which isn't bad. The only bldg on that side of Street closer to sea is a small place with just 3 units -- Hera Studios - http://www.booking.com/hotel/gr/hera-studios.en.html all with front balconies. The street ends as a gradually sloping concrete ramp down to the Park -- and to the LEFT is public parking. The lot can be full in midsummer, but in May should be just fine... and there's street parking on that level as well.

I would not suggest those lodgings scrb described, right on the port... both for parking reasons and for possible noise at night. Theotokopoulu street is just 100 yards BACk from the harbor but is serene at night... restaurants & small cafes, but not clubs. As for things to do/see, I have visited CHANIA on at least 5 trips to greece and still have many aspects to discover. Plus of course, it has many tavernas with great food!

uktravelover

Hi scrb, fortunately we can fly directly from the UK to Chania Airport from the UK using various airports (not necessarily daily flights). However we have limited options from Newcastle and are likely to use Jet2 rather than flying from one of the London airports on this occasion. I am looking at a couple of hotels in Aghia Marina or Almyrida if we fly into Chania v another hotel in Sissi for Heraklion flights. We like somewhere with a range of bars, restaurants as we prefer b&b to HB plus some shops. Like to be able to sit by the pool, so whilst we enjoy a sea view, we’re not looking to spend much time on the beach. What are the pros and cons if comparing the 3 locations?

scrb11

Sorry my experience is limited to Chania so I can't say much about other places.

Chania is beautiful though but I don't know about hotels with pools, especially in the port area, which seems to be more for smaller properties.

If you want to relax instead of driving around and exploring a lot, then maybe it doesn't matter as much which city you'd stay in.

uktravelover

We like to do a bit of both, relaxation and explore. At the same time we prefer to be based in a village or town within walking distance of shops, restaurants and bars, so we don’t have to mess around getting a taxi back to the hotel. Happy to hire a car for all/ part of our holiday.

scrb11

Well I personally prefer convenient locations with maybe some nice atmospherics, which is why I suggested staying on port with a view of the port.

I don't stay near airports, even for 1 night, for this reason, prefer to be in a nicer place.

But others may have different preferences, like being away from busy areas. There is certainly going to be more foot traffic, maybe crowd noise from that port area, so that's a tradeoff, if you want to be further away in a more quiet location.

I stayed in July and the noise and crowds weren't bad at all from my recollection. Place had a big private terrace so I set up my camera on a tripod at night to take some pictures of the port at night. Only bad part, aside from parking, was having to carry my suitcases up some additional stairs.

reneepace1016

Mykonos , the Royal Myconian Hotel. This Hotel is affiliated with other Hotels, so you can use multiple pools and beaches. This hotel had a great Greek Restaurant and throwing/breaking plates was remarkable fun. The people were wonderful. The Hotel has a shuttle service for free but there was plenty of taxi drivers. The Hotel is halfway on the mountain side. There are elevators in the Hotel

uktravelover

Thanks for the information on Mykonos. We have decided that it will be Crete. Just need to agree for how long as that will dictate where we will stay.

stephpaige

We go to Crete every 5 years for our anniversary because we honeymooned there. We love it - it is very authentic and laid back. We always fly into Heraklion because the place we stay is over near Plaka, the Blue Palace. It's swanky, I save all my hotel points from work to "pay" for it, and it's got elevation, though they do have a funicular. Anyhow, if you do fly into Heraklion, we usually stay at the Hotel Megaron the first night because we're tired coming from the US...you probably won't have that issue but it is a nice hotel with a lift, walkable to the city center. There's a seafood place right across the street on the water - they had the best fried zucchini I've ever had. We rented our car from Auto Rentals Crete last time, Nothing fancy but great price and good service. We really enjoyed visited the town of Kritsa for a day trip and found it very charming. It is built on a hill though. There's a larger seaside town on that side of the island called Agios Nikolaos, we've driven through it many teams - it seems much more beachy/resort-y than Heraklion and relatively flat. It's probably an hour's drive from Heraklion. Enjoy - Crete is wonderful!

uktravelover

Hello Steph Paige. Thank you for your insights and information. We will probably fly into Heraklion as at the moment my partner is inclined to go for 11 nights rather than 2 weeks, so we will probably stay at the Angela Suites Boutique Hotel in Sissi as it is smaller than Agios Nikolaos. I will certainly look at Auto Car Rentals.

mjs

Can recommend Casa Delfino if you end up spending some time in Chania