5day trip to Crete
1st Day : Heraklion Crete
Arriving, at Kazantzakis Airport in Heraklion, or Heraklion Port Crete.
Collecting your luggage and meet with our representative. You will be accompanied to your coach and leave for the Heraklion city.
Your day will start with a beautiful breakfast in the heart of the city. Everyone who has grown up in Heraklion knows that the square of the Morosini Fountain is the Lions Square. You will taste the local speciality bougatsa (cream pie), and a fresh orange juice. You will learn about the history of morozini fountain and the basilica of Saint Mark and Lodgia. You will visit the Church of Saint Titos Our next stop is Knossos Palace.
You will be guided in the centre of Minoan civilization and capital of Minoan Crete. Knossos flourished for approximately two thousand years. It had large palace buildings, extensive workshop installations and luxurious rock-cut cave and tholos tombs. As a major centre of trade and the economy, Knossos maintained ties with the majority of cities in the Eastern Mediterranean.
After the end of our tour you will arrive in your hotel to relax and have lunch.
In the afternoon you will have the chance to visit the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.
The museum brings together archaeological finds from all over Crete, covering over 5500 years of the island’s history. Pride of place is given to the treasures of Minoan civilization, the entire historical course of which can thus be appreciated. Justly regarded as the home of Minoan civilization par excellence, the museum houses the most important collection of Minoan antiquities the world over.
Dinner time at a local traditional restaurant.
Return at the hotel – overnight.
Πηγή εικόνας: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης / Region of Crete – www.incrediblecrete.gr
2nd Day : Heraklion – Agios Nikolaos
Breakfast at the hotel and then depart for Agios Nikolaos.
The route along the northern coast of the island takes us to the small fishing village of Elounda. The village became also well-known through Victoria Hislop’s world best-seller “The Island”. Today Elounda is a popular holiday resort, often visited by VIPs for the luxurious beach resorts that are situated in the area.
Then we will take a traditional Greek wooden boat to visit the island of Spinalonga, and explore one of Europe last leper colonies .. The history and the culture of the island of Spinalonga became one with human tragedy in the course of time. We go back to Elounda where we will have lunch in traditional fish tavern on the sea after lunch we will visit the picturesque town of Agios Nikolaos, where we have our last stop. We have the chance to enjoy a perfect view of the magnificent lake, do our shopping in the traditional local shops and relax for a while before we hit the road for our going back.
Return at the hotel – overnight.
3rd Day: Heraklion – Arkadi – Rethymno
Breakfast at the hotel and then depart for Arkadi Monastery
The Arkadi Monastery has a unique natural beauty, a prestigious history, numerous legends deeply rooted in the time, heirlooms and thesaurus richness. Possibly because the old is livelier than the new, and the modern is often more mature than the aged. Each pilgrim and visitor feels something which is exclusively his, personal, original in his experiential and spiritual experience.
Πηγή εικόνας: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης / Region of Crete – www.incrediblecrete.gr
Going back, we stop in Rethimnon, the third biggest town on Crete, where monuments of the archaeological, Ottoman and Venetian eras coexist, in an extremely interesting way. Have a stroll in the alleys of the old town, visit the Turkish minarets and the Venetian fortresses or just enjoy your coffee in the magnificent harbor. Lunch time.
Return at the hotel – overnight.
4th Day: Chania
Breakfast at the hotel and then depart for Chania.
This excursion brings us to West Crete and our first stop in Chania, the most ravishing city of Crete. It was an important Minoan city and the “mother of the Cretan cities”, according to ancient writers. The city is divided in the Old City, with the gorgeous harbor and the New City, beyond its Venetian fortifications. The Old City is one of the most beautiful cities in the Mediterranean and is called “Venice of the East”. We can admire samples of all the civilizations that have passed from here: archaeological Minoan sites, Turkish minarets and mosques, Muslim neighborhoods, Venetian fortresses, dockyards, fountains, squares, arches, mansions, Loggia and the Lighthouse. We can enjoy our lunch at the picturesque harbor or visit the famous Agora (Market), which houses traditional little shops and taverns. Here we can buy souvenirs or leather goods in very good prices.
Leaving this extraordinary city, we arrive at the quaint Kournas Lake, a beautiful habitat with natural freshwater, one of a kind on Crete. Lush greenery, steep cavities between hills, rare species of fish and birds, like eels, moorhens and two-color turtles, make Kournas the ideal place to enjoy a swim before our lunch or an early afternoon walk. The whole area of Kournas is protected under Natura 2000, as it has been a designated wetland.
Return at the hotel – overnight.
Πηγή εικόνας: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης / Region of Crete – www.incrediblecrete.gr
5th Day: Heraklion – Archanes – Aquarium
Breakfast at the hotel. City tour of Heraklion will start by a walk of in the streets. You are going to see a lot of monuments and buildings from different occupation periods of the Crete. The Byzantium, The Ottoman Empire, The Venetian Rule have left their marks on Heraklion.
Lunch time in Archanes
Archanes is so close to Heraklion in time and in distance, so much a pleasure too. You pass through Kato Archanes and climb a short distance to the main (Epano) Archanes village.
Πηγή εικόνας: Περιφέρεια Κρήτης / Region of Crete – www.incrediblecrete.gr
For those who wish to see something different, there is one more destination that you can choose for the rest of the day: the Cretaquarium. Just a few kilometers away from Heraklion, there is a compound that combines research with technology and education with recreation so harmoniously that you feel like diving in a whole new world, the marine world of the Mediterranean. In Cretaquarium we are going to admire various marine species, from small fish and clams to big sharks and tuna, all of which are indigenous of the Mediterranean.
Our walk past the big tanks will be nothing less than impressive. The remarkable lighting and the constant water movement give us the impression that we are actually diving in another world.
After our tour, you will depart for the airport.
