Crete is too big for one base. Here is how to split it.
What the Balos boat costs out of Kissamos, whether Samaria is walkable in a day, and how early the Knossos minibus leaves. Reviews of every tour you can book on Crete.
A gorge, a pink beach, a safari track and a kitchen in the White Mountains.
Five days that between them cover the whole island, from Kissamos in the west to the Gulf of Mirabello. What each one costs, and what the people who took it say.
01The long walkFull-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & GuideSixteen kilometres down the Samaria ravine to the Libyan Sea, with a boat waiting at the bottom. Out of Chania before six.
02The eastern dayDay Trip to Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga IslandAgios Nikolaos, the fortress island at Spinalonga and a swim on the way back. The gentlest full day on Crete.
03The pink beachDay Trip to Elafonisi Island Pink Sand BeachElafonisi is two hours of hairpins from Chania at the far south-west corner. Let somebody else drive it.
04The rough roadFull-Day Land Rover Safari from Heraklion with LunchLand Rovers up the dirt tracks behind Heraklion, lunch in a mountain village, and gorges no coach can reach.
05The kitchenAuthentic Cooking Class in the White MountainsA farmhouse in the White Mountains where you cook it, then sit down and eat it under the vines.
The best Cretan days start at a jetty in Kissamos or Heraklion.
Three kinds of boat day at three very different prices: the lagoon runs off the west end, the sailing cruises out to Dia, and the short crossings to the fortress islands.
Chania in the west, Heraklion in the middle, Rethymno for the quiet version.
Crete runs 260 kilometres end to end, so the town you sleep in decides what you actually see. Six bases, and the day out each one is built around.
Behind the beaches, Crete climbs to two and a half thousand metres.
Land Rovers and quads take the dirt roads up to the Lasithi plateau, the cave where Zeus was hidden, and villages that still run on olive oil and raki. It is the half of the island nobody photographs.
Knossos is twenty minutes from the Heraklion ferry ramp.
Europe’s oldest palace, a throne room, and a museum in town holding everything that was carried out of it. Walk in alone and it reads as restored concrete. Walk in with a guide and it is a city.
Every Minoan day out →
Three Cretan gorges, and only one of them eats the whole day.
The island is cut from the mountains to the Libyan Sea by ravines. Choose by how much walking you actually want to do, and by how far the bus has to come back for you.
The Samaria Gorge
The path starts at Xyloskalo, 1,250 metres up on the Omalos plateau, and finishes on the black sand at Agia Roumeli five or six hours later. There is no road out: the ferry to Sougia or Chora Sfakion is part of the day, and it sails whether you are on the beach or not. The park opens around May and shuts the moment rain makes the riverbed dangerous.
- 1Full-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 3,191 reviews
- 2Samaria Gorge Full-Day Trek, Pickup & Guide★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,610 reviews
- 3Samariá Gorge Guided Hike with Pickup★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,010 reviews
Imbros Gorge
Eight kilometres downhill through a limestone corridor that squeezes to two metres wide at the Stenada, ending on the Sfakia coast. Families walk it in three hours, it costs a couple of euro to enter, and it stays open later in the year than Samaria. The bus drops you at the top and picks you up at Komitades.
- 1Imbros Gorge Hike★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 353 reviews
- 2Imbros Gorge Guided Hike and Village Visit★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 133 reviews
- 3Imbros Gorge & Libyan Guided Sea Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 118 reviews
Kourtaliotiko
The shortest of the three. Steps drop to the Kourtaliotis river and a waterfall you can stand under, and the canyon runs on to Preveli, where a palm grove meets the sea. Most Rethymno day trips string the two together with Damnoni beach and have you back by six.
- 1Preveli Beach Damnoni Beach Kourtaliotiko Day Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 929 reviews
- 2Preveli By Boat, Damnoni & Kourtaliotiko Springs★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 254 reviews
- 3Kourtaliotiko, Preveli Palm Beach, & Damnoni★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 203 reviews
The Cretan days out more travellers take than any other.
Every Crete review →The lagoon boat leads by a distance, the Samaria trek is not far behind, and after that it is a straight fight between Knossos and the safari tracks.
1
Boat Cruise to Balos Lagoon & Gramvousa
Sail from Kissamos Port to Gramvousa and Balos Lagoon on a large, comfortable ferry. Swim in clear water, hike to a Venetian castle, see a shipwreck and cave, and buy food aboard. The route may reverse, and Balos landing conditions can vary.
From · $47
Read our review →
2
Day Trip to Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga Island
from $44
3
Full-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & Guide
from $41
4
Dia Island Sailboat Cruise with Swimming and Meal
from $95
5
Knossos Palace Entry Ticket with Optional Audio Guide
from $30
6
CRETAquarium Admission Ticket
from $9
7
Day Trip to Elafonisi Island Pink Sand Beach
from $38
8
Rethimno, Chania, and Kournas Lake Day Trip
from $45
A day out on Crete, from the price of lunch upward.
Every review on the site grouped by what it costs. Close to a third of the island’s best days come in under fifty dollars a head.
Beach buses to Elafonisi, gorge transfers, Knossos entry and the old-town walks in Chania and Rethymno.
The standards: the Balos boat, a day under sail to Dia, quad tracks and the Land Rover safaris.
- 1Dia Island Sailboat Cruise with Swimming and Mealfrom $95
- 2Half-Day Quad Bike Safarifrom $70
- 3Jet Boat Tour with Snorkelingfrom $53
Private guides, chartered boats, and the fast ferry across to Santorini and back inside a day.
Crete eats differently to the rest of Greece, and it knows it.
Oil pressed a valley away, cheese carried down from the mountain villages, raki poured whether you asked for it or not. Book the mill visit for the cool of the morning and the cooking class for the evening.
Four Cretan bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this island can be sorted from a taverna table the night before. These four run on a park gate, a single daily sailing and a ferry that is full by the middle of June.
- 01Full-Day Samaria Gorge Trek Excursion & GuideThe gorge opens around May and closes the moment rain makes the riverbed dangerous. Out of season there is no walking it at all.
- 02Boat Cruise to Balos Lagoon & GramvousaOne boat a day leaves Kissamos and one comes back, and the north-west wind cancels the whole sailing outright.
- 03Full-Day Trip to Santorini by BoatOne fast ferry across in the morning and one back at night. Miss it and you are sleeping on another island.
- 04Cruise to Chrissi Island with SwimmingThe Ierapetra boat only runs through high summer, and Chrissi is a protected reserve with a cap on how many land.
The north coast shuts in a strong wind. The south does not.
From July the meltemi runs down the Aegean and lands on Crete’s north shore, and the Balos and Dia boats are the first things cancelled. The answer is over the mountains: the Libyan Sea stays flat, the gorges are sheltered, and the mills and cellars never noticed the wind at all.
By town — west to east
By kind of day — boat, track, ruin or table
Chania to Agios Nikolaos, the way almost everybody drives it.
LasithiThe newest Crete reviews.
More reviews landed this week →
White Mountains Safari Tour with Lunch and Tastings
Read our review →
Private Guided Food and Wine Walking Tour with Lunch
Read our review →
Elafonissi Beach and Elos Village Day Tour by Coach
Read our review →
Archaeological Museum Entry Ticket and Audio Guide
Read our review →
Buggy safari Crete (Transfer and lunch) analipsi- hersonisos
Read our review →
