Crete
Chania as a base, the whole island by bus, and why to skip Knossos
We landed in Heraklion, based ourselves mostly in Chania, and did the entire trip by bus. All three of those were the right call, and the second one especially.
Cities and towns
- Chania, or La Canée: the highlight. An amazing city, with a beautiful old centre and a lot of ground you can cover on foot. This is where to base yourself.
- Rethymnon: very cute and very nice, though small next to Chania and Heraklion.
- Heraklion: okay, and not that great. Do not give it too many days.
- Chora Sfakion: a very cute, simple town, and reachable by bus.
- Plakias: very cute, and good for swimming or just eating.
Chora Sfakion and Plakias are both easy bus rides from Chania or Rethymnon.
Restaurants
Chania
- Ellotia: great food, great hosts, great wine.
- Sallis: good fish, on the port, with a nice view of the sunset. A bit pricey.
- To Stachi: the healthy vegetarian option, and genuinely very good cuisine.
- Oinopiio: traditional Greek, affordable, very nice.
- Monogram: very good speciality coffee.
- Domenico: excellent ice cream, with genuinely original flavours.
Rethymnon
- Syn-trofi: the best pita you will have.
Heraklion
- Peskesi: a hidden gem, Greek cuisine with a modern, refined twist. A must.
Bars
Chania has a lot of good bars, most of them around the port, and you will not struggle to find one.
- Karamela All Day Bar: a hookah place directly on the water, and the only one of its kind on the front, so easy to find.
- Sinagogi: a cocktail bar tucked into a back alley.
We never went out properly, so I have no opinion on the nightlife.
Beaches
- Elafonissi: worth the drive if you have a car.
- Balos: nice, and very crowded, very touristy, and painful to reach by car. Not worth it.
Knossos
Skip it. Given how heavily Evans rebuilt the place it is not really a historical monument any more, and the reconstruction is bad. There is a perverse interest in seeing quite how far the restoration went, but between the travel time, the crowds and the tourist traps around it, it is not worth a day.
The Samaria gorge
I did not do it. The bus leaves very early from Chania and fills up, so you need to plan ahead and turn up early, and we did not want to get up that early. Get a hotel near the centre if you intend to do it.
Hotels
- MonEs: beautiful, central, with a tiny indoor pool and an excellent restaurant. Pretty pricey.
Otherwise we stayed in unremarkable places in Chania and Rethymnon, nothing worth recommending.
Tips
- Bus over car. The bus network is very good and simpler than driving, especially in the mountains. Renting a car is easy if you want one, and mainly useful for reaching the smaller beaches.
- Best months: May, June, September and October. Peak summer is hot and packed.
- Keep cash on you. Most places take cards, but buses in particular will not.
- If you like walking, the E4 crosses the whole island.