Crete is the largest island in Greece and rests about 160 km south of the Greek mainland. It is diverse and offers ancient ruins and stunning mountains besides sun, sand and the sea. Our Crete Itinerary was focussed on exploring this diverse, vibrant island.
Crete is where people and civilisations have left a permanent mark on, along with a rich cultural heritage. This island is so very different from the Cycladic islands we visited before Crete. There are plenty of things to do in Crete. It has a bit of everything from splendid beaches to mountain escapes to ancient ruins, the diversity much like our Greece mainland itinerary.
Our 4 days in Crete just flew by. We could have easily spent a week to 10 days exploring Crete, there is plenty of things to do on this largest Greek island. It is highly recommended for family fun amongst all Greek islands.
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Crete Greece Itinerary
Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete and one of Greece’s major urban centres. Chania in the western region of Crete is a place where different civilisations have flourished throughout the centuries. And then there is the port town of Sitia in north-east of Crete, with its beaches and sparkling bays.
Day 1: Land at Heraklion Port
We took a ferry from Santorini to reach Heraklion Port in Crete, and our first adventure was to rent a car. Having a car makes it easy to drive around and discover this large island by yourself. Unlike the Cycladic islands, where you don’t need a car for most of your visit.
But it wasn’t easy to drive down for more than 2 hours to reach our hotel in Chania on the first evening. We had booked a ferry from Santorini to Crete in late afternoon which got delayed by more than an hour. So we reached Heraklion port only by 7 pm. In hindsight, I would book the early afternoon ferry from Santorini to reach Crete.
And even though the rental car we booked was delivered at the port, it took some time to finish the paperwork, fuel up, and get on the highway to Chania. We grabbed a pie to eat at a petrol pump and saw the beauty that is Crete.
Do note the ferry / flight timings while making your Crete Greece itinerary. Travel to and from the island will definitely into the time spent exploring it.
Day 2: Drive to Lasithi Plateau, Visit to Knossos Palace
There is so much to see and in Crete that it becomes difficult to single out what activities to not do. But a visit to Knossos Palace near Heraklion, one of the top ancient ruins in all of Greece, is a must-do in Crete. Our Day 2 Crete itinerary got us to the scenic Lasithi Plateau in the first half and then to Knossos Palace in the second half of the day.
Scenic drive to Lasithi Plateau
The Lasithi Plateau has been inhabited since the Neolithic era. We drove from Chania first to Heraklion on the regular highway and then via winding scenic roads to reach this plateau. The gorgeous views made it worth the drive. In Greek mythology, this area is believed to be the birthplace of God Zeus.
This fertile area, dotted with several villages, is also known as the plateau of windmills. The plateau of Lasithi has nearly 10,000 windmills. You can spend an entire day here visiting monasteries, olive farms, and charming villages.
We stopped briefly at Seli Ambelou, the stone-built windmills here are one of the most remarkable set of windmills that survive in Crete.
Visit to Diktaion Cave
This cave, according to Homer, was the place where Rhea hid baby Zeus from his father Cronos. The Diktaion Cave, also referred to as the Cave of Zeus, has some interesting stalactites and stalagmites to view.
From the old windmills site, there is a drive for about 20 minutes to reach Psychro village. In Psychro, there is a spacious parking lot with many restaurants, from which two paths lead to the cave. The climb time is about 15 – 20 minutes. There is a donkey service available if you don’t want to climb. But I dare say, those mules look tired.
The tickets for the Zeus Cave can be bought right outside once you climb up to the entrance. Kids pay half the price (for mostly every attraction or ruin in Greece.) The cave is deep and long. Do hold on to the railings while climbing down, as many of the rocks are wet and slippery. Don’t be fooled by the wide entrance, it does get narrow and dark once you climb down the stairs. So it may get uncomfortable if you are claustrophobic. If you are not, the Zeus Cave is worth a visit.
If you don’t have a car, it is easy enough to take a guided tour to the Lasithi Plateau and the Diktaion Cave. The safari tour to this area gets high reviews.
You can even combine a tour of Lasithi Plateau with Knossos Palace.
Throwback to the Minoan civilisation
Unlike the Acropolis site in Athens, which we visited on our own, we had booked a private guided tour to Knossos Palace. And a private guide was a good decision to visit this ancient landmark of Greece. Most of the structures are not intact, even after extensive restoration by archaeologists, so that visually Knossos Palace site may not be as much of a treat as Athens Acropolis or Delphi.
However, the history of Minoan civilisation is fascinating. This Bronze Age civilisation of Crete flourished from about 3000 B.C.E to about 1100 B.C.E. Known for its monumental architecture and art, it is often regarded as the first civilisation in Europe. Besides Delos that is normally done as a day trip from Mykonos, Knossos is the most important ancient ruin site on Greek islands.
And our guide was able to bring this out in a nice way. How the Minoan dynasty made palaces and other structures of 3 or 4 storeys height, how rainwater clay pipes were separate from sewage pipes, how they managed trade with others, it was all quite fascinating. The 430 PM slot for the tour also worked out well, with far less crowds that you would get here as compared to the morning hours.
You can also book a guided tour of Knossos Palace along with the Archaeological Museum in Heraklion, with hotel transfers from Chania / Rethymno.
Day 3: Visit to Elafonissi beach and Chania Old Town
After the hectic day visiting Lasithi Plateau and Knossos Palace, we wanted to have an easy day today. The plan was to drive to the southwestern part of Crete and visit the famous Elafonissi Beach, which comes up in every list on what to do in Crete. We had not had a chance to visit any sandy beach during our 3 days in Santorini. Elafonissi is famous for its pink sand created by thousands of shattered seashells. There are also juniper studded mountains as a backdrop and crystal clear water, a gorgeous shade of teal.
It was about a 2-hour drive from Chania, taking into account some traffic to get out of the town onto the highway. We had a big breakfast, packed the beach towels handed over by the hotel and drove to the south-western edge of the island. The drive itself is through curvy roads and we felt a bit of déjà vu from the drive to Lasithi Plateau.
Is Elafonissi Beach worth it?
There are multiple parking lots near the beach but it is no longer possible to drive up to Elafonissi beach. The nearest parking lot is a 15 minute walk. This doesn’t sound a lot. But somehow with the sun mercilessly beating down all the way with no shade, it felt quite a lot. The beach is crowded all through the day. But it is a large beach, so even with the crowds, you manage to get space for sure. I am not sure how crowded it gets in the peak months of July and August.
Prepare to pay EUR 20 for a double sunbeds and umbrella set. The bathrooms are also to be paid for, it takes 1 euro to use them. There is a refreshment kiosk selling everything from cold drinks to alcoholic beverages, ice creams and doughnuts at the beach.
The sand is not pink all over, but you are likely to find it pink closer to the water and in areas which are secluded near rocks. The water is crystal clear and in end-May when we visited, cold and refreshing.
My overall verdict: For an Asian like me, who is used to beach holidays and white sandy beaches in Maldives, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines, it seemed quite an effort to drive 2 hours one-way to go to a beach, however beautiful.
Exploring the Old Town in Chania
You can spend half a day exploring the old town of Chania and the beautiful Venetian harbour area. We had one evening after the beach visit. It is fun walking through the shops, seeing the summer buzz in the bars and cafes, and finishing the night with a dinner overlooking the harbour. Chania Old Town is built into the ruins of the Venetian Fort (Chania was last ruled by Venetians before becoming a part of Greece in 1913).
There is much more to do in Chania than what we managed on our Crete Itinerary. Here are some of the tour to consider:
Day 4: Samaria Gorge hike
My daughter is the one who researched this second longest gorge in all of Europe. It is a shame that she was feeling unwell and my husband and her missed the Samaria Gorge hike on our last full day in Crete. The route to Samaria Gorge is high up in Crete’s White Mountains, the area is important for supplying fresh water to the island from the winter snow. This is the only mountain range is a largely flat island. People interested in outdoor activities like hiking and cycling should explore the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range of Mallorca Spain.
It was a tiring, long day to do this challenging hike. And so hot in the afternoon though Greece weather in end May was mild throughout our trip. But I am so glad I did it. For an adventure enthusiast, Samaria Gorge hike has to be one of the top things to do in Crete. It is definitely one of the best hikes in Greece. The hike starts at the mountain town of Omalos and ends at Agia Roumeli. The site map shows this as a 13.5 km trek but my Iphone and phones of other hikers showed it as 16 km (10-mile) when we completed the hike. And it was another 2 km walk to the Agia Roumeli village facing the beach.
Start of the hike
The logistics of managing the Samaria Gorge hike by myself were too complicated and I had booked a tour for this. There was a hotel pick-up at 6 AM and then we all got on a bus that took us to the town of Omalos through the White mountains. We had a quick breakfast and coffee at a restaurant here. The hike starts at a 1200m (3937ft) altitude. We bought tickets to the national park and started our 4-km descend over a rocky terrain. The rocky terrain remains throughout, so it is best to wear proper hiking shoes for this trail. I had added hiking shoes, cap, hiking pants to my packing checklist for Greece.
At the heart of the gorge is the deserted village of Samaria, first inhabited in the 1300s. After the village lies the most beautiful part of the trek. Baby-pink oleander flowers against the gray rocks liven up the landscape. There is freshwater stream flowing through the gorge. And crossing the wooden planks over fresh clear water is perhaps the most fun part of the hike. At its narrowest point near the end of the gorge lie ‘The Gates’. The gorge here is only 13 feet wide and nearly 500 meters high.
Complicated Logistics
It took me about 6.5 hours to complete the trek. You are not allowed to swim in the water, in fact, don’t even dip your dirty shoes in this clear drinking water. We saw many hikers coming the other way round, from Agia Roumeli town or beyond. But the route we took starting from Omalos town was more downhill and a bit easier.
At the end of the hike, I was too tired for the celebratory swim in the Mediterranean, but many in the group went for a dip in the cold water to freshen up. The tour guide had bought ferry tickets to Chora Sfakion, while we all had drinks and food. This is the only way out of Agia Roumeli town. And our bus was waiting at the Chora Sfakion port to take us back to our hotels. Long and rewarding day!
Day 5: Fly back to Athens
Like I said earlier, our 4 days in Crete just flew by! And we hadn’t even managed to drive towards the eastern parts of the islands, to visit Sitia and Elounda. Instead of taking a 9-hour ferry from Crete to Athens, I had booked a flight back to Athens in late afternoon. So even though the flight was delayed by more than an hour, it turned out to be a good idea. Make sure if you have connecting flight from Athens to elsewhere, you keep a margin in the layover at Athens to manage flight delays.
Food recommendations in Chania and elsewhere in Crete
We had dinner one evening at Periplous, the restaurant at Tanneries, our hotel for 4 days in Crete. I recommend this restaurant highly. But my favourite restaurant in Chania was at the old town facing the harbour, Salis. Fabulous food, great wine list, we had a lovely evening. I also spotted several souvenir shops if you want to buy something from Greece to take back home.
We were out exploring all days, but Lasithi Plateau has enough restaurants, both near the famous old windmills and near the Diktaion cave in Psychro village. Same goes for Knossos Palace.
There is a food and drink stand right at Elafonissi beach, plus a bunch of restaurants near the parking lot. And plenty of restaurants in Agia Roumeli town, if you need snacks or lunch after the Samaria Gorge hike.
Where to stay in Crete
Apart from figuring what to do in Crete, where to stay is the most important decision that will affect your Crete itinerary. If you are comparing Santorini vs Crete on budget, Santorini has far more expensive hotel options.
Heraklion is far more central and makes it easy if you want to explore areas in the central and east regions. Heraklion has the biggest port where most ferries takes off or reach. It also has an international airport. It is a cosmopolitan city with plenty of restaurant options, bars and an eclectic nightlife scene.
We stayed at Tanneries Hotel & Spa in Chania town, one of the best hotels on Greek Islands. Everyone in Crete told us that Chania is the most beautiful city in all of Crete. It has many beaches around it. The Venetian harbour and the old town are charming. It is definitely the place of choice for couple looking for romantic seclusion.
To follow this Crete Greece Itinerary, you can split your stay for the first 2 nights in Heraklion and the next 2 nights at Chania. It will make exploring the center and east side of the island much easier in the first 2 days.
Rethymno is located mid-way between Chania and Heraklion. It is suited for more budget options than Chania. Like Chania, it too has a lovely old town and a Venetian harbour.
There are plenty of other options to stay in Crete like Platanias (near Chania) for its sandy beach strip, Malia with its night life, Sitia for its wind surfing options, Elounda for its secluded beaches, Agios Nikolaus, and Palaiochora. But these are not recommended for your first-time visit to Crete as a stay option, in my opinion.
Planning a trip to Greece? Check out –
Itinerary Suggestions: Greece in 2 weeks, Greece mainland itinerary, Greece with kids: A 10-day Itinerary
Also see, Packing List for Greece and Famous Landmarks of Greece
Greece places: 3 days in Athens, Complete Guide to Meteora, Best day trips from Athens, Acropolis of Athens, Hiking trails in Greece
Greek islands: 3 days in Santorini, Beautiful Greek islands for a family holiday, Crete or Santorini, Mykonos in one day, Santorini vs Mykonos, Best Hotels on Greek Islands
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Looks like lots of wonderful things to do. I’d love to check out the pink sand!
Elafonissi is beautiful, though the pink sand is not all over.
As a traveler, we always want to see and do more, I guess. It is such a beautiful island, we really enjoyed it.
Crete is home for me, and you certainly covered a lot during your four days. Interesting to read from a tourist’s perspective.
Gorgeous! Crete is definitely on my bucket list!