Crete Map - Greece

Why to to Crete? Crete is my favorite Greek Island. It's packed with rural charm, famous archaeological sites, seaside towns with fabulous seafood, caves of historic significance and more.

Our little tour will take you on a walk through the deep and inspiring Samaria Gorge, a visit to the best of many archaeological sites in Greece, a walk in the countryside with a stop at the famous cave where Zeus was said to have been born, and you'll spend a bit of time in the cities.

The amazing thing is that all of this is available to do on inexpensive public transportation. There's really no need to rent a car and drive on Crete's narrow and winding roads, an enormous bus can do it better--and often cheaper.

Map of Crete

How to get to Crete

Most people get to Crete by Ferry. You can take a ferry from Piraeus (the port of Athens) directly to Crete. It takes about 9 hours on standard, lumbering but romantic ferries--but around 6 hours on the newer ferries. The ferries are timed to arrive early in the morning to Crete, so you can save the cost of a hotel by sleeping on one. Get there early, as the place can get confusing and complicated with all the motor traffic arriving. Allow for some flexibility in your sailing, ferries can be canceled in case of very bad weather.

You can choose ferries that land in Heraklion, Chania, or Rethumno. The boat to Chania actually lands in Souda port, a short way from Chania. Ferry lines serving Crete are Minoan, ANEK, and SuperFast.

Crete is also served by three airports. Heraklion is served by Nikos Kazantzakis Airport, Chania is served by Chania Airport, also known as the "K. Daskalogiannis" airport, and the new and smaller Sitia Airport.

And there are many ways to enjoy Greece's largest and most populous island.

How Long Should I Spend on Crete?

The short answer is a week or more. Crete is Europe's slow lane, and there's a whole lot to see. It's also pretty far from anywhere else, and you don't want to take 4 hours to get to a place you're only planning on staying for two days.

What is the Best Time to Go to Crete?

Summers are full of tourists, and the paths are narrow. Opt for the off-season, but not too far off or you'll find fewer ferries and ways to get around. For weather and historic climate charts for the capital city Heraklion or Iraklion, see below.

A Short History of Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands and was the center of the Minoan civilization from around 2700 to 1420 BC. It is 160 miles (260 km) across, west to east, and 37 miles wide at its widest point. The palace of Knossos, south of the capital Heraklion , was the first European palace, according to Wikipedia.

Heraklion is the largest city, with over 100,000 inhabitants. Second in size is Chania with just over 50,000.

One of the things that makes Crete a compelling destination is the variety of cultures who have occupied the island. A short list: Minoans, Mycenaeans, Romans, Byzantines, Emirate of Crete (Iberian Muslms) , Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire.

Next we'll take a look at one of Europe's best walks, the walk down the Samaria Gorge, a big crack in in the island leading down to the sea in western Crete. 

Chania is probably my favorite of Crete's larger towns. I remember eating seafood in many of the restaurants near the harbor with considerable fondness. If you like food, of course, you can exercise so that you can consume more of it--and a walk down through the Samaria Gorge, especially in the off season, is a way to do get that excercise. We recommend at least a day's stay in Chania before taking off on the following morning.

The Samaria Gorge is a narrow north-south trending gorge that ends a couple of km short of the small seaside village of Agia Roumeli. The gorge is within the National park of Samaria, in the White mountains. There is a trail through the gorge, open to the public at the beginning of May or so, depending upon the weather. The walking distance of the trail is 16 km (to Agia Roumeli, with restaurants and a ferry). In summer there can be 3000 folks wanting to walk the narrow gorge. The first tourist buses arrive at 7:30, so an early start is recommended for walkers who like a bit of solitude along the way.

Generally, most folks on a budget take a one hour KTEL bus ride from Chania to Omalos, located on the map above, walking the 2km to the trail head, walking the gorge and ending at Agia Roumeli, where you can get a ferry to Chora Sfakion (Sfakion on the map) and a connecting bus back to Chiana.

You can also take an organized tour to the Samaria Gorge from other cities in Crete.

Wear stout shoes as the path, while very well maintained is rocky. The first couple of kilometers is a fairly steep downhill. Carry a water bottle; there are springs along the way you can fill it from.

Samaria Gorge's opening hour is at 7.00 am, and the closing hour is at 1.00 pm, for the whole hike, everyday from the 1st of May until the 31st of October every year, unless due to special circumstances, such as bad weather conditions, extreme heat etc., the above dates and hours change. In such cases we always post announcements on this page of our website accordingly. If you just want to walk for a few kilometers you can enter until 3.00 pm:
Samaria Gorge National Park Site

Knossos

The archeological high point of Crete might well be the palace of Knossos.

From Crete's capital, Heraklion, the Minoan palace of Knossos is a few kilometers away by bus number 2 (from the port or Plateia Eleftherios). Travel agencies offer day trips to Knossos as well. If you're driving, take the road to Archanes our of Heraklion. For detailed instructions and site description, see Knossos: Minoan Palace of Mystery.

Beware that the palace is quite ruined, and the "resoration" by Sir Arthur Evans in 1900 is a bit of a fantasy, but the sprawling complex is still fascinating.

Buy a combination ticket and visit the Museum in Heraklion to get an understanding of the material culture of the Minoans. Tickets and Tours are available online as well:

Phaistos: The Palace of King Radmanthys

Phaistos is perhaps a more evocative set of palace ruins than Knossos, the hilltop setting certainly is. Phaistos is on the south coast of Crete, marked on the map. According to deTraci Regula:

It is associated in legend with King Radamanthys, who may have been the first "Minos" of legend, known for his wisdom, fairness, and prowess at sea. But even this may be a later overlay over another, earlier, civilization. Phaistos is also associated with some of the legends we usually assign to Knossos - Pasiphae and her encounter with the bull were said to have occurred on the plains near here, not at Knossos, where the countryside is not as favorable for the herding of cattle. An ancient quarry a few miles away has tunnels extending for miles, and until recently was marked as the site of the labyrinth on maps of Crete."

 Phaistos At you'll see two palaces, called the old and new palaces, built of ashlar blocks on different terraces. Inside are royal quarters, storerooms and workshops. There are also Minoan settlements on sites called Chalara and Aghia Photeini.

You can also visit Gortys, 17 km away from Phaistos, where it is said that Zeus made love to Europa under the plane tree. This is probably not allowed today, unless you're a god...

Phaistos is 62 km south of Heraklion. Regular public transportation is available from Iraklion and Rethimnon. Travel agencies in Heraklion also offer day trips.

Remains from Phaistos--the most famous called the Phaistós Disk--are found at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum.

The Lassithi Plateau

I was first attracted to the Lassithi Plateau after seeing pictures of an idylic landscape brimming with Greek cloth-sailed windmills powering irrigation pumps. Alas, there is electricity, and these windmills are no more, except for a few preserved ones for show. But the plateau is still worth visiting, and it's still agricultural, ringed by small villages alive with the Greek spirit--and an interesting cave.

The best way to reach the Lassithi Plateau by car is by the road from Neapoli, an interesting market town in itself. There are buses from Heraklion, the bus that stops in Malia and Neapoli goes on to Agios Nikolaos.

We enjoyed walking the ring road around the plateau, which is an oval trending east-west, 11 kilometers by 6, an area of 25 square kilometers that's quite recognizable in satellite photos. The walk is one of our favorite walks of Europe. There are 20 or so evocative and picturesque villages to visit.

On a winding path west of Phychro is Dikteon Andron, the cave where Zeus was said to have been born. (or rather Rhea hid baby Zeus from his father Cronos to get raised there by a nymph). If you go by yourself, bring a flashlight, candles, or a torch (flashlight). Keep in mind that people have used the cave as a place of worship though the ages.

The town of Psicro and the cave are marked on our map of Crete and shown in the interactive map below:

Where to go from Crete?

The island group of the Cyclades is the first island group to the north. Heraklion is one of the biggest and busiest ports of Crete. It is connected to many islands of the Cyclades as well as the Dodecanese; Santorini being the closest island to Crete with ferry services. There is also ferry service to the port of Athens Pireus from Heraklion.