Rethymno sits on the north coast of Crete, halfway between Chania and Heraklion. It holds the best-preserved Renaissance old town on the island, a tight grid of Venetian and Ottoman lanes running below the Fortezza fortress. The Rimondi Fountain still pours through its carved lion spouts, the Neratze mosque keeps its Ottoman minaret, and the … Read more
The Samaria Gorge is the headline hike of south-west Crete, cutting roughly 16 km through the White Mountains national park to the Libyan Sea. Walkers begin high on the Omalos plateau at Xyloskalo, around 1,200 metres, then drop down a steep wooden-stepped path into the riverbed below. The route runs one way and downhill, past … Read more
Chania sits on the north-west coast of Crete, the island’s second city and its most photographed harbour. Pastel Venetian buildings ring the waterfront, and a stone Venetian lighthouse marks the tip of the harbour mole. Behind the quay stretches an old town of narrow Venetian and Ottoman lanes, arched doorways, and shaded courtyards. The city … Read more
Crete is Greece’s largest island, stretching along the south Aegean and split into four regional units from west to east: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Lasithi. That size gives you Minoan ruins, Venetian harbours, a mountain gorge, palm-fringed beaches and a food culture built on olive oil and raki. You can spend a week here and … Read more
Naxos and Crete answer two different travel wishes. Naxos is a mid-size Cycladic island with long sandy beaches, marble mountain villages and an easy pace you cover in a week. Crete is Greece’s largest island, a near-country with Minoan palaces, deep gorges, two lively cities and a coastline that fills weeks. One rewards slowing down; … Read more
Naxos sits in the heart of the Cyclades, and the crossing south to Crete is one of the most useful links a summer traveller can plan. A direct high-speed ferry connects Naxos Town with the port of Heraklion, turning two very different islands into a single, workable itinerary. This guide explains the route, the journey … Read more
Kamares ware is a fine polychrome luxury pottery of the Old Palace period, the most accomplished Minoan palatial pottery of its time. It was painted in white, red and orange on a dark lustrous ground and prized across the Bronze Age Mediterranean. Plan tickets and tours through My Greece Tours. The palace workshops that produced … Read more
Minoan architecture is the Bronze Age building tradition of Crete, defined by sprawling court-centred palaces, multi-storey wings, light wells, painted tapering columns and frescoed walls, all built without defensive fortification. It is the architectural signature of Europe’s first advanced civilisation, and you can still walk through its ruins on the island today. Plan tickets and … Read more
Gournia is the best-preserved Minoan town on Crete, a complete Bronze Age settlement of paved lanes, small houses, workshops, a public square and a modest governor’s residence overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello in the island’s east. Unlike the great ceremonial centres, it preserves the texture of ordinary Minoan daily life rather than royal grandeur. Plan … Read more
The Palace of Phaistos is the second-largest Minoan palace on Crete, a sprawling Bronze Age complex set on a low ridge above the fertile Messara plain in south-central Crete. Its grand staircases, paved courts and sweeping views over the Geropotamos valley toward Mount Ida make it one of the island’s most atmospheric ancient sites. Plan … Read more