Crete: Knossos, Chania and the Samaria Gorge

Arrive in Heraklion

Heraklion Airport to your hotel in the old town of Heraklion

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Heraklion
• Environ 18 min de route

Soir

Then we walk out together as the evening cools: Lions Square and the Morosini Fountain of 1628, the arcaded Venetian Loggia, the church of Agios Titos, and down to the old harbour, where the Venetian Koules fortress guards the entrance. Dinner is a welcome meal of Cretan mezze, grills and local wine at a taverna near the water.

Compris

• Pick-up at Heraklion Airport (HER)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Evening walk: Lions Square, the Morosini Fountain, the Venetian Loggia, Agios Titos and the Koules fortress
• Welcome dinner

Knossos at opening, then Archanes

Heraklion to Knossos and Archanes, then back to Heraklion

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Heraklion
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Tour coaches mostly arrive from mid-morning, so the first two hours are the quietest of the day and the stone is still cool. A licensed local guide walks you through the palace, the centre of Minoan Crete in the Bronze Age, excavated by Arthur Evans from 1900 and partly rebuilt in concrete in his time, which is a debate you will hear both sides of: the Throne Room, the Grand Staircase, the storerooms lined with huge clay jars and the north entrance with its copy of the charging-bull relief.

Après-midi

From Knossos it is a short drive south to Archanes, a village of restored stone houses among vineyards, for a tasting at a family winery and a long lunch on the square. We are back in Heraklion by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours.

Compris

• Knossos from the 8 am opening with a licensed local guide
• Wine tasting at a family winery in Archanes
• Lunch in Archanes

The museum at opening, Arkadi and Rethymno

Heraklion to Arkadi Monastery, then Rethymno

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Rethymno
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

Yesterday you saw the palace; this morning you see what was found in it. We are at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum when it opens, with a licensed guide, for about two hours among the originals: the frescoes from Knossos, including the bull-leapers and the Prince of the Lilies, the faience snake goddesses, the bull's-head rhyton and the Phaistos Disc, its stamped spiral of signs still undeciphered, and, upstairs, the Roman statues from Gortyn. Then we drive about an hour and a quarter west to Arkadi Monastery in the hills above Rethymno. Its church front of 1587 is one of the finest Venetian facades on the island, and in November 1866, during a revolt against Ottoman rule, the defenders blew up the powder store rather than surrender, which made Arkadi a national symbol.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a village taverna nearby, then it is half an hour down to Rethymno.

Soir

After a rest, your guide walks you through the old town in the early evening: the Rimondi Fountain, the minaret of the Neratze Mosque, the lanes and the small Venetian harbour.

Compris

• Heraklion Archaeological Museum at opening with a licensed guide
• Arkadi Monastery
• Lunch at a village taverna near Arkadi
• Early-evening walk of Rethymno's old town with your guide

The Fortezza, Aptera and Chania

Rethymno to Aptera, then Chania

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Chania
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

Rethymno's Fortezza, the Venetian citadel built on the headland in the late 16th century after pirate raids on the town, opens in the morning, and we go up early while the walls are cool, for the view over the rooftops and the domed mosque inside. Then we drive west along the north coast, about an hour, to Aptera, high above Souda Bay: the remains of an ancient city-state with its long walls, a small theatre and vast Roman cisterns, and an Ottoman fort on the edge of the hill.

Après-midi

Lunch is at a taverna in the village. Chania is twenty minutes on, and we check in to the hotel where we stay four nights, so this is the last time you pack until the end. Late in the afternoon a local guide walks the old town with us: the Venetian harbour, the Mosque of the Janissaries, the vaulted shipyards of the Arsenal, Splantzia Square, the old Jewish quarter and the Etz Hayyim Synagogue. We finish along the breakwater at the Venetian lighthouse as the light goes.

Compris

• Rethymno's Fortezza in the morning
• Aptera: the walls, the theatre, the Roman cisterns and the view over Souda Bay
• Lunch near Aptera
• Chania old-town walk with a local guide, ending at the Venetian lighthouse

Choose your gorge, then the boat to Loutro

Chania to the Imbros Gorge (or the Samaria Gorge), Chora Sfakion and Loutro by boat, then back to Chania

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Chania
• Environ 3 h de route

Après-midi

That early start is the only one on the trip: it keeps the walk in the cool and catches the afternoon boat. Everyone else leaves at 8:30 with your See Sight Tours guide for the Imbros Gorge, about 8 km and three hours downhill on a rocky path between high walls, then the short boat from Chora Sfakion to Loutro, a white village with no road. Lunch, a swim and a slow afternoon follow.

Soir

In the evening the boat from Agia Roumeli brings the Samaria walkers along the coast, we all continue to Chora Sfakion together, and our van has us back in Chania by about 9 pm.

Compris

• Imbros Gorge walk with your guide (park entry included)
• Boat from Chora Sfakion to Loutro, and back along the coast in the evening
• Lunch in Loutro, or in Agia Roumeli for the Samaria walkers
• Samaria Gorge with a local mountain guide, entry and early transfer included, for those who choose it

Elafonisi in the morning, Elos for lunch

Chania to Elafonisi, then Elos and back to Chania

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Chania
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

Arriving before 10 am puts us there well ahead of the day-trip coaches, which come in from late morning. You have about three hours to swim, walk the islet or sit in the shade.

Après-midi

On the way back we stop at the Chrysoskalitissa Monastery on its rock above the sea, then climb to Elos, a village shaded by chestnut trees, for a long lunch at a taverna.

Soir

We are back in Chania by about 5 pm, with the evening free after yesterday's long day.

Compris

• Elafonisi lagoon and islet, about three hours on the beach
• Chrysoskalitissa Monastery
• Lunch at a taverna in Elos

A cooking lesson in the hills, a free afternoon

Chania to a village in the Apokoronas hills and back

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Chania
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

A slow morning: breakfast late, a walk along the harbour before the cafes fill, or a swim at Nea Chora, the town beach a short walk west of the old port. At about 10:30 we drive half an hour east into the Apokoronas hills, between the White Mountains and the sea, for a cooking lesson in a village kitchen. You roll dough for kalitsounia, the small cheese pies of Crete, build dakos on barley rusks with tomato and soft cheese, and cook wild greens and whatever is in season, with the family's own olive oil.

Après-midi

Then we sit down together to eat it all over a long lunch with local wine and a glass of raki. We are back in Chania by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day is yours for the shops of the leather street, the harbour or a rest.

Soir

In the evening we meet for a farewell dinner in the old town.

Compris

• Hands-on cooking lesson in an Apokoronas village, with lunch, wine and raki
• Farewell dinner in Chania

Activités en option

• The day boat from Kissamos to the Gramvousa fortress and the Balos lagoon, in place of the cooking lesson (price shown when you book)

Fly home from Chania or Heraklion

Chania to Chania Airport (CHQ), or a shared transfer to Heraklion Airport (HER)

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 24 min de route

Matin

Breakfast at the hotel, and a last walk round the harbour if your flight allows. Chania Airport (CHQ) is on the Akrotiri peninsula, about 15 km and 25 minutes from the old town, and we drive you there in good time: book a flight leaving after about 10 am. Heraklion Airport (HER) has more international connections, so if you fly home from there, a shared transfer leaves Chania at about 9 am and takes about two hours on the north coast road, past Rethymno; book a flight leaving after about 1:30 pm. Your guide sees each group off and checks your flight before saying goodbye. If you would like more time on Crete, ask us about extra nights in Chania and a later transfer to whichever airport you need.

Compris

• Drop-off at Chania Airport (CHQ), or a shared transfer to Heraklion Airport (HER)