Two Days in Crete

by Renato
(Brazil)

Hi! I love your website and I was wondering if you could help me figure out the best way to enjoy our very short stay in Crete.

I am staying in Heraklion, this is all set up and unfortunately cannot be changed at this point (we will have to sleep there). We are renting a car for those two days so our idea is to take two day trips as follows:


Day 1 - start by going to Knossos early in the morning and then head to the beach. Now that is the challenge, as I have been doing lots of research and still haven't figured out what the best alternative would be in terms of what beach to pick. In principle I would like to head south of Heraklion town to get a taste of the Libyan Sea.
We are definitely into more secluded, picturesque, clear water, postcard-like beaches (we would like to avoid major crowds, and that applies to day 2 below as well).

Is this feasible? where do you suggest we go in the south? If going south is too much considering we will have to drive back, where do you suggest we go? Maybe skip the drive to the south and go to some other beach near Heraklion? What would you suggest?

Day 2 - Driving west, maybe all the way to Chania and combine sometime in town and pick a beach in the area. The drive to Rethymnon all the way to Chania seemed interesting, any beach suggestion either near Rethymnon or Chania?

Is this feasible for one day? Or should we maybe drive to Rethymnon and then head south to Plakias, for example? Or maybe just drive east of Heraklion town instead?

We will arrive on August 31 at night, pick the car early in the morning on Sep 1 and return it the next day around 8pm. We don't mind driving, but we would like to keep it within two and a half or up to three hour's drive to and from Heraklion each day.

Thank you so much, any comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Two Days in Kriti

Hi Renato,

We can understand you really want to enjoy your short time and we can see you have some good ideas already.

For Day One – it is a good idea to see Knossos early in the morning before the crowds, yes you can drive to the south coast and you will not be disappointed. Matala Beach is lovely but will have more people than Red Beach or Kommos Beach, all of which are worth the visit. That will be enough for one day and a fair drive back to Heraklion. 75 kms.

For Day Two – perhaps it will be enough to drive from Heraklion to Rethymnon and go to the beaches along the way. Otherwise you have bitten off too much.

A nice beach along the way from Heraklion to Rethymnon is Agia Pelagia. This might be a bit crowded for your taste, but it is very pretty.

Further on another good stop is Panormos. Then you could go inland for a little and visit the village of Margarites and the Arkadi Monastery, then drive on a different small road back to the main road, then to Rethymnon.

In this way you will see some beautiful country too.

In Rethymnon enjoy the old town and the Venetian architecture and the harbour.

Thank you

Thank you so much for your fast and kind reply. I will do exactly as you suggested. I checked on-line some images of the beaches you mentioned and they all look amazing.

Again, thank you very much for the help ! all the best, Renato