Red-painted tapered columns and stone ruins of the Minoan Palace of Knossos in Crete
Crete · Greece

Best Things to Do in Crete

Venetian harbours, 4,000-year-old Minoan palaces, pink coral beaches, turquoise lagoons and alpine gorges.

Because Crete combines the archaeological weight of mainland Greece with the tropical-looking lagoons of the southern Aegean, its highlights span four millennia of history and wild Mediterranean nature. Here are the ten experiences that define a trip.

  1. Stroll the 14th-century Venetian Harbour and Lighthouse of Chania. Walk the stone seawall mole at sunset to the 1595 Egyptian Lighthouse, then dine in the roofless Venetian monastery lanes of Splanzia and Topanas.
  2. Swim in the turquoise shallows of Balos Lagoon and Gramvousa Island. Sail from Kissamos (or hike down from the cliff viewpoint) to a surreal double-sided sandbar separating neon-turquoise ankle-deep lagoons.
  3. Wade across the pink coral sands of Elafonisi Beach and Kedrodasos. Walk through warm knee-deep water edged with rosy crushed foraminifera shells on Crete's south-western tip.
  4. Explore the 1900 BC Minoan Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. Stand before the Throne Room of King Minos and see the original Bull-Leaping Fresco and Phaistos Disc.
  1. Hike through the 16-Kilometre Samaria Gorge in the White Mountains. Descend 1,250 metres from Omalos plateau through the 3-metre-wide "Iron Gates" straight to the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli.
  2. Take a boat to the car-free whitewashed cove of Loutro and Sweetwater Beach. Reachable only on foot or by ferry from Hora Sfakion on the dramatic southern coast.
  3. Wander the Venetian-Ottoman alleys and Fortezza of Rethymno. Climb the 1573 star-fortress and admire wooden Ottoman bay windows and the Rimondi Fountain.
  4. Swim where a palm-fringed river meets the sea at Preveli Palm Beach. Walk beneath a natural forest of endemic Cretan date palms along the Kourtaliotiko river gorge.
  1. Boat from Elounda or Agios Nikolaos to the island fortress of Spinalonga. Tour the 1579 Venetian sea fortress that served from 1903 to 1957 as Greece's last leper colony.
  2. Feast on fire-roasted antikristo lamb, dakos and kalitsounia. Experience authentic mountain hospitality in Theriso, Archanes or Kritsa.

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