Greek Islands: Crete

Sunday, March 2, 2014

I'm sharing some extended details of my Greek Islands trip from the other year while busy with work. The trip itinerary can be found here.

I think Crete is possibly my most favorite Greek Island. It has everything: ancient ruins at Knossos, multiple cities, beautiful beaches, and hiking at Samaria Gorge. Renting a car is a definite necessity and an adventure. Especially when jetlagged. All meals tend to come with complimentary desserts and Greek raki shots. We spent plenty of hours just sitting in cafes drinking. Nobody seems to be pushing anything. It was fantabulous.

Iraklio is a lovely little city. It feels very modern European, but not very large. Knossos, with the Greek ruins, is a nice side trip in between towns. Plakias is the ultimate laid-back beach town with cheap-ish fruity drinks in the sand at night. Spili, with the tastiest spring water, is on the way to Rethymno which has an old fortress with a beautiful view. Chania's Venetian port is a lovely tourist destination with great beaches in the surrounding villages.

I may've gone for work, but staying for the vacation was a wise decision.

• Crete, 8 days
• Santorini, 2 days
• Athens, 1 day