Hear about travel to the Island of Crete in Greece as the Amateur Traveler talks to Elizabeth from compassandfork.com about her travels to this special Greek Island.
Elizabeth says of Crete, “Crete is pretty underrated when it comes to the Greek Islands and I think a lot of people overlook it as a place to go. ”
Crete is a huge island. It is 160 miles from one end to the other and has far more than one can see in a week.
Crete has some of the nicest beaches in Europe. “You could easily go and find a nice beach to sit on”, Elizabeth says, but she would recommend using the city of Chania as a base to see the area for a one-week itinerary. It is on the northern shore of Crete in the west. It has its own airport and also has ferry access. Chris took instead a ferry to Heraklion and then flew out from Chania.
Chania has a beautiful old Venetian Harbor and a beautiful old town. It has tons of restaurants with horse-drawn carriage rides around the harbor. It is best known for the “Egyptian” Lighthouse. It has a great market with things like honey and olive oil and a great collection of cheeses and olives.
We also talk about other cities on the north show like Rethymno and Heraklion and the challenges of driving in Crete where they drive a two-lane road like a 4 lane road. Near Heraklion, you will find the archaeological site of Knossos which has been called Europe’s oldest city.
Elizabeth mentions her favorite beach on the west end of the island, Falasarna beach, as well as a new resort area opening up on the eastern end of the island.
Crete is also known for the beautiful Samariá Gorge near the southern shore of the island.
With its beautiful scenery, great people, lots of greek food, and great history, how could you not fall in love with Crete?
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Show Notes
Compass & Fork
Crete
Chania
Chrisastamos
Glossitses
Archaeological Museum of Chania
Souda Bay Allied War Cemetery
Driving On Crete
Rethymno
Arkadi Monastery
Fortezza de Rethymno
Elafonisi Beach
Samariá Gorge
Kritamon
Heraklion
Knossos
Archanes
Spinalonga
Horta
Falassarna Beach
How to Plan Your Crete Itinerary
Emilia’s Tavern (with wedding rice and a view)
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6 Responses to “Travel to the Island of Crete in Greece – Episode 601”
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Tags: audio travel podcast, crete, greece, podcast
Dilan
Says:April 7th, 2018 at 3:04 am
I love your podcast, I listened to some episodes several times!
Chania is like my second home and we keep going back there every year. Best beaches I have been in are Elafonissi, Balos Lagoon, Afrata, and Seitan Limania. We are based in Agii Apostoli near Chania, very quiet and filled with small local beaches and traditional taverns. We love it!
I loved this episode but let me just say this, because it is bothering me inside:
It is Rethymno, or RethiMNON. not RethyMO. So Chris… you were pronouncing it correctly 🙂
Greeting from Ireland
– Dilan (Polish/Turkish who grew up in Germany)
chris2x
Says:April 7th, 2018 at 8:57 am
Dilan, I appreciate you backing me up here 😉
Mark
Says:April 23rd, 2018 at 8:01 am
Went to Crete a few yeas ago and had a great time, rented this little car that was a manual shift which was fine but I hadn’t driven one in a while and it has a really grabby clutch which made the tires squeal every time we took off. Went to the big ruins on the island which was really cool, took the guided tour and was told all about king Minus and how the place was one the first places ever to have running water and indoor toilets. Was a great trip and want to go back and stay longer some day.
George
Says:June 30th, 2019 at 2:55 am
Crete is hands down one of the best places in Greece. As a Greek, I always love visiting the island. The food is delicious, the locals super friendly and the beaches are amazing. I would return to Crete in a heartbeat -and I actually hope that I can re-visit it this summer. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jayne Dear
Says:September 18th, 2021 at 1:03 pm
I’ve just listened to this podcast in preparation for a trip to Crete and Rhodes in October. I thought it was excellent and it gave me lots of ideas for our tour of Crete. Many thanks!
Chris Christensen
Says:September 18th, 2021 at 5:12 pm
You are welcome!