Crete – an island of myths and legends, soaring mountains and beautiful beaches, Venetian harbours and awesome ruins. Plus, it’s just a 90-minute flight from Cyprus – perfect for our first holiday as a family of four.
We were supposed to have gone to Jordan. But during a recent trip to the UK we finally accepted something we’d been in denial about for a while: Herc hates cars. Visiting the sites in Jordan would involve a few long car journeys. So we chose Crete instead.
We went for a week and had zero expectations (except perhaps that it would be the same as Cyprus – we were wrong). Here are our highlights, plus two things we’d do differently next time.
Chania Old Town
Based on recommendations from friends, we stayed in Chania, on the north-western end of the island. We caught a flight from Paphos to Chania International Airport and picked up a rental car as soon as we arrived.
Chania Old Town is beautiful. Large Venetian city walls that reminded me of Famagusta – though not as much of the old walls has survived in Chania. Inside the walls is a labyrinth of narrow alleys lined with a mix of restaurants, tourist shops and boutiques selling handmade clothes and jewellery.
The alleys lead to a large Venetian harbour, jam-packed with restaurants. Think Kyrenia harbour on a larger scale, minus the boats. On the eastern side is an old mosque and between the roads behind it, ruins of the ancient Minoan town and palace of Kydonia.
We visited the Old Town most evenings for dinner and walked around the shops in the cooler evening air. You can pick up horse and carriage rides from the harbour, though I wouldn’t recommend paying for a longer ride as there isn’t enough to see and you end up being taken down a few uglier modern side streets. The horses were utterly magnificent.
Flamingos Hotel Apartments
We stayed at Flamingos Hotel Apartments, roughly a 10-minute drive from Chania in the area of Agioi Apostoloi. It was a lucky last-minute find on booking.com. We loved our stay here. It’s a family-run hotel and we felt so welcome, the family members greeting us every morning at breakfast. It is located a two-minute walk from a fantastic beach, down a quiet lane. The rooms and pool are tucked into a little cul-de-sac away from the road – designed that way, the owner told me, so that children can play without the risk of them ending up on the road.
We were really surprised by our accommodation. For around €80 we had a split-level apartment comprised of two double bedrooms, two large balconies, two en-suites and a kitchenette!
We loved the attention to detail, such as the welcome bottle of wine when we arrived. And the towel-sculptures! Dogs, swans, snakes, frogs, butterflies. We’d look forward to returning to our room to discover which animal our towels had been sculpted into that day.
Goobie loved the pool and I loved drinking different-flavoured raki at the shaded poolside bar. There was a tiny spa and hairdressing facilities, plus Reception could book day trips for you.
The hotel restaurant served the most delicious food I ate on our holiday. The fava beans and sole dish was exquisite.
If you like small, personal, family-run hotels, this is the place for you!
The Samaria Gorge
The Samaria Gorge was the Number One Highlight for all of us. It’s one of Europe’s longest gorges and walking it is a 16km hike through amazing landscapes to the sea. We were advised not to do it with young children. Mainly because once you start there is no way out until you reach the sea 16km away. And as there are no roads at the end, you have to complete the hike by 5pm in order to catch the one boat that will take you to your waiting coach further down the coast. Did we manage it? Find out in my next post!
The Minoan Palace of Knossos
Ever since our holiday to Santorini in 2016, I have had a bit of a thing for the Minoans – the mysterious civilisation that was rediscovered in the early 20th century when Arthur Evans excavated the Palace of Knossos. The Minoans were an advanced Bronze Age civilisation around between 2600 – 1600BC. Some suggest that Plato based his story of Atlantis on the Minoans and the eruption of the volcano on Santorini. It’s a compelling thought.
Just as compelling is the suggestion that Knossos was the palace of the mythical King Minos, whose labyrinth Theseus entered to kill the Minotaur. Was there ever a real labyrinth? And if so, where? The most popular theory is that it was at Knossos.
So with our heads full of myths, we stayed overnight in Heraklion, Crete’s capital city, so we could visit Knossos early the next day. Knossos is a huge, multistoried site, part-ruin, part-reconstruction. Countless stairways, corridors and rooms, some with reproduced frescoes on the walls. A veritable labyrinth. The reconstruction was controversial and it wasn’t always clear what was the original, which was a shame. But, wow, what a palace!
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
A visit to Knossos isn’t complete without a trip to Heraklion Archaeological Museum. While Knossos shows you the building, the museum houses what was found inside. There are frescoes, intricately designed jewellery, beautifully decorated pottery and large coffin vases, complete with skeletons. There are artefacts from other Minoan sites on the island, including the famous Phaistos disc that depicts a mysterious language that nobody has been able to fully decipher. It was mesmerising.
We spent a night in Heraklion. It was heavily bombed in the Second World War and the Venetian walls weren’t as intact as Chania’s, but the central restaurant district had a nice vibe, bustling with tourists and citizens doing some evening shopping.
Great holiday reads
The downside to a family holiday is that it doesn’t really involve much nightlife. Instead, after Goobie and Herc were asleep, Matt and I drank raki and read our holiday books. Rock and Roll!
I had two, both about Crete. The first was Lawrence Durrell’s The Greek Islands. Not the lightest read but I love how evocative Durrell’s writing is and there’s a lengthy section in this book about his travels around Crete in the 20th century.
I also (finally!) read Victoria Hislop’s fantastic novel The Island. It was set entirely in Crete in the first half of the 20th century and was about the former leper colony on the island of Spinalonga. Utterly unputdownable! And it amplified my disappointment that we didn’t have time to visit Spinalonga because it was so far away.
Cretaquarium
Goobie asked me to put this in as it was one of his highlights. Cretaquarium is a medium-sized aquarium near Heraklion. It’s similar to a Sea Life Centre in the UK, with all the usual favourites – sharks, rays, jellyfish, an octopus, crabs, eels and even a couple of sea turtles. Goobie loved it!
Yannis Beach
Our highlights have included the awe-inspiring heights of Crete’s White Mountains and the grandeur of the Palace of Knossos. But one of the highlights of our highlights was a morning at the beautiful Yannis Beach, near our hotel. Exploring the micro-worlds of rock pools. Waiting for tiny hermit crabs to peek out of their shells, spotting translucent fish and shrimps, turning over pebbles to see what was underneath.
As we hopped from rock to rock we found ourselves at the end of the bay and at a natural doorway in the cliff. Through the doorway we discovered Secret Cove, a large calm pool of water protected from the waves by a circle of rocks. A large cave spanned the width of Secret Cove, offering much-needed shade. Goobie had some of his best aquatic sightings here, including a large crab and a catfish (we think!). It was a wonderful morning, enjoying the simpler things Crete had to offer.
Things we’d do differently next time
Stay longer
We went for a week, which wasn’t long enough for us. We like to really explore the places we visit on holiday and travelling with a baby slowed us down. Also, Crete is larger than we imagined and its mountainous terrain meant that it took longer than we thought to reach places. There were places we just didn’t have time to see, such as Elafonisi, the famous pink beach. Also Spinalonga, the ancient Minoan city of Phaistos, Seitan Limania Beach and the many caves in Crete. 10 days would have been ideal.
Location
Related to my point above, it would have been easier to visit more places if we’d stayed in a hotel towards the eastern end of the island (perhaps Matala) for a few days before moving to our hotel in Chania at the western end. It took over two hours to drive from Chania to Heraklion (and Herc hates cars!). We never made it any further east and so missed out on visiting Spinalonga, Matala and a number of caves. We only realised how far everything was after we’d booked (doh!) and to enjoy Knossos and the archaeological museum, we had to stay the night in Heraklion – paying for two hotels at the same time! We’ll be better organised next time.
Despite not seeing everything we wanted to, we loved our holiday in Crete. Its bustling towns, sandy beaches and gentle bays makes it a brilliant destination for families. And it taught us that sometimes more fun can be had by slowing down.
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