Small group tour of Crete

Transfer to our hotel in Heraklion.
Overnight in Heraklion.

A visit to Crete is incomplete without a visit to Knossos – the site excavated by Arthur Evans in the early 1900s. Although Evans’s gaudy reconstructions have been a source of opprobrium in the years since, they were nevertheless once a brave attempt to bring to life to the lay-visitor the fascinating Minoan culture that existed on Crete between c.3500BC and 1100BC. And our visit to Knossos thus provides the backdrop to our tour of Crete.

In the afternoon, we return to Heraklion to visit the splendid Archaeological Museum – arguably one of the finest in the whole of Greece, with an unrivalled collection of Minoan frescoes, ivories, gold, ceramics and cult objects. Perhaps the most astonishing is a fresco of a leaping bull from Knossos.

There is some free time to explore Heraklion before our evening meal – early evening is when the town is at its liveliest, the streets and food market teeming, the gardens full of strollers.

Evening meal and overnight in Heraklion.

Today we head east from Heraklion onto the Lasíthi Plateau. Famously billed as the site of a thousand windmills, in fact, the number of working windmills is tiny, but nevertheless, the drive to get here is worth it to see rural Crete at its finest.

In the late morning, we pay a visit to the Dhiktean Cave – according to legend, the site of the birth of Zeus. A cult centre from the Minoan period onwards, offerings to the Mother Goddess and Zeus dating from Classical times have been found in the cave.

After lunch, we pay a visit to the wonderfully picturesque seaside town of Agios Nikolaos before returning to Heraklion.

Evening meal and overnight in Heraklion.

Ancient Gortys

The Minoan Palace at Phaistos

Tomb in the Archaeological Museum, Heraklion

We head to the more remote southern coast of Crete and start with a visit to the Ancient city of Gortys, set on the fertile plain of Messara: once the capital of a Roman province, charged with ruling over Roman territories in North Africa. Sites include an Odeion, where theatrical performances were staged. Most importantly however, it is also the site of a Law Code, written in an obscure early Doric-Cretan dialect. Measuring 9m by 3m, it is the largest ancient Greek inscription ever found.

After Gortys, we travel to the nearby site of Phaistos – a wonderfully scenic location high on a ridge and enjoying stunning views of Mount Psiloritis. Phaistos is the most important Minoan palace on Crete and if the crowds and gaudy replicas of Knossos were not to your taste, Phaistos will be manna to the soul. Far out of reach of the tour buses, here we are able to really get a feel for this fascinating ancient civilization.

In the afternoon we cross through the stunning mountains of central Crete to arrive in Rethymno, a marvellous town with a minareted mosque, Venetian fortress, crumbling back-streets and disarmingly pretty little fishing harbour.

Evening meal and overnight in Rethymno.

After the busy travels of the previous few days, today we have a change of gear. We spend the morning exploring the back streets of Rethymno and tasting some of the products that form the bedrock of the Cretan diet. In the markets we touch and smell herbs and spices, taste the local cheeses, and sample the Cretan honey and olives.

Having learnt about the local ingredients, with the help of a local Cretan cook, we prepare ourselves an authentic Cretan lunch.

In the afternoon there is free time to relax and enjoy the gentle rhythm and side-streets of Rethymno.

Evening meal and overnight in Rethymno.

We depart Rethymno after breakfast and strike west. Our first stop is at the archaeological site of Aptera – once one of the most important city-states in Crete. Already referred to in Linear-B tablets back in the 13th century BC, by the 4th century BC it had developed into an important commercial and political centre. Today it is a remote archaeological site with sweeping views over the Souda bay, a deepwater inlet with an island at its mouth – heavily fortified by Venetians, it resisted the Turks for years after the rest of Crete had fallen to the Ottoman Empire.

After Aptera we head to the Botanical garden and take a walk through some of the typical Cretan flora.

After lunch, we visit one of the local Cretan wineries before arriving in the beautiful town of Chania which is to be our home for the next two nights.

Evening meal and overnight in Chania.

The theatre at Aptera

Chania

Minarets in Rethymno

Arguably the most charming town on the island, Chania – Crete’s second city — is peppered with vestiges of its Venetian and Turkish past and makes for a fascinating day exploring. Today, our last full day on the island, we have a free day to do exactly this.

Evening meal and overnight in Chania.

Departure from Chania airport.