Holidays in Crete Greece including Chania

Alot of visitors choose holidays in Crete to crash in one of resortsalong the island's north coast, but the best holidays in Creteinvolve exploring the remnants of the great Minoan, Roman, Venetianand Turkish cultures that existed here as well as the great beaches.

Thissuggested itinerary for holidays in Crete visits all the major sightsand sites from Chania travelling west to Agios Nikolaos, and sparesmore time for exploring the ancient side of the island than recliningon the beach. There's a small international airport in Chania and alarger airport in Heraklion, as well as multiple ports, so there areplenty of travel options to get you on the way to your holidays inCrete.

Holidaysin Crete Day 1 – 3: Chania

Awell as being the largest city in western Crete, Chania also hascharm and history on its side, making it a good place to start yourholidays in Crete. The old town and the port, and Firkas fort, nowhome to the Naval Museum are the first places to explore. HalidonStreet is the main road down to the harbour, passing Chania'sCathedral, the Cretan Folk Museum and Chania's Archaeological Museum:built into an old Venetian church, a good place to start exploringCrete's history. While in Chania get your Cretan rugs and blankets,jewellery, art and ceramics at Carmela, your leather on the LeatherStreet: Odhós Skrídhlof, and your food from the Public Market.

Thereare a couple of good day and half day trips out of Chania, to breakup your holidays in Crete: Elafonissi Beach and lagoon and scenicSamariá Gorge are picturesque choices. During longer holidays inCrete a day trip to Gramvousa Island and Balos Lagoon might be worthconsidering if you like crumbling Venetian castles and shallow, clearblue lagoons. Fragokastello Fort, a well preserved Venetian fort,surviving from the 14th Century, is 80kms directly south of Chania asthe crow flies.

Ifyou'd rather do less than more on your holidays in Crete, GoldenBeach, a short stroll out of Chania, is named for the colour of thesand, and is a pretty place to do not much.

Holidaysin Crete Day 4 – 6 Heraklion

Rethymnonis about midway between Chania and Heraklion along the coast road andis worth stopping in for the 16thcentury Venetian castle fort, and just east of Rethymnon is one ofthe longest sand beaches on Crete, with about 12kms worth of space tolay your towel out on, a good place to take a break while on holidaysin Crete. Beyond that on the road south towards Plakias, is theMonastery of Arkádhi. It looks like something out of a western filmbut it's actually in the Renaissance style

Heraklionis Crete's largest city, but even if you don't want your holidays inCrete to be a city break this is a good place to stay to be close tosome of the island's most important historic sites – most famouslythe Palace of Minos at Knossos , which is where the story of theMinotaur in the labyrinth comes from – and the maze-like ruins backup mythology, and the Heraklion Museum, home of some of the greatarchaeological detritus of the Minoan civilisation. This is not asnice looking a place to stay as the others suggested by thisitinerary, but the Venetian fortress and loggia, and the church ofSaint Titus are quite elegant if you're walking round town. The morerelaxed resort town of Hersonisos is an alternative place to spendyour nights.

Phaistos,south of Heraklion, is worth a day of your holidays in Crete. It wasonce a great Minoan city, until it was destroyed by a Bronze Ageearthquake, and despite several rebuilds it was eventually shakenbeyond repair. The multiple rebuilds have made excavations hereparticularly rich, and it's one of the best maintained and presentedof Crete's archaeological sites. The Malia Minoan palace ruins, areon the road to the next port of call on your holidays in Creteitinerary, Agios Nikolaos.

Holidaysin Crete Day 7 -8: Agios Nikolaos

AgiosNikolaos has more than its fair share of cafes and tavernas, and lotsof them have sea views, perfect for people on holidays in Crete.Spinalonga Island, a picturesque old leper colony, makes a good daytrip out on the water, especially if you return via the famousfishing village of Elounda, and Agios Nikolaos' beaches are some ofthe best on the island, especially Amoudara, Istron and Kalo Horibeaches.