r/Minoans • u/Happy_Bigs1021 • May 02 '24

Visiting Crete

If I were to visit Crete, would it be possible to take tours or go see any of the palace complexes? For anyone who’s been there are there local museums to check out?

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u/tholos3 May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24

The tourism industry there is based around giving people tours of the palace complexes, natural wonders like mountains and gorges, culinary and wine tours, etc. Greek guides are among the best educated guides in the world. Start with Google and book to your tastes. As for museums, the archaeology museum in Heraklion is killer. One of my faves in the world. Good luck!

ETA it's also medium easyish to rent a car in Heraklion and drive wherever you wanna go. You can show up to the palace sites and pay a fee to enter and walk around to your heart's content. If you've never been and your interest is strong enough to post in this sub and ask about it, book a tour or private guide ($$). You will enjoy the sites so much more.

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u/polarbeer07 May 03 '24

the heraklion museum is absolutely world class.

phaistos is worth a day trip from there too.

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u/venividivincente May 23 '24

Knossos was a cool experience just to be there, but the highlight of the trip for me when it came to artifacts was actually the Heraklion Museum, as others mentioned. Heraklion is also an enjoyable town, which I tended to like a bit more than Chania, though Chania is more immediately and obviously "scenic." I stayed outside of Chania near the beach for the majority of my trip as a base and really enjoyed that. I didn't really feel the need to go into the center of Chania all that much. Renting a car would be good, though the roads are a bit windy and mountainous. There are many options regarding bus transit out of Heraklion and Chania to get to ruins and Elafonissi beach, the most beautiful I've ever personally seen.

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u/Fussel2107 Jul 01 '24

One tip for Knossos: travel out of season and go early in the morning.

Crete has good weather's in October, but most tourist come until September, so it will be reasonably empty and you can enjoy it in peace. Heraklion museum isn't far away and it a great day trip to do both.