Road Trip in Crete

by Tanya
(Canada)

Hello,

My friend and I are planning to spend 4 full days on Crete before returning to Athens. We will arrive evening of June 16th to Heraklion, plan to spend the night at Lato Hotel and then get our rental car first thing in the morning and head to Knossos.

After this though, we are having a hard time coming up with a reasonable itinerary as these are the things we want to do and we're not sure on the timing or route:

1. Visit Rethymno old town
2. Hike the Imbros gorge
3. Go to Elafonisi beach
4. Maybe visit a winery
5. Get off the beaten path, opportunity to go through small villages etc.
6. Spend some time in Chania

We don't mind moving around each night on this part of our trip because we will have opportunities to stay in one place at our other destinations. We love to road trip and find great vistas and hidden beaches etc.

We are flying out of Chania very early on the 21st so will need to stay there on the last night so we can get to the airport very early.

Can you help with a suggested itinerary?

Adventurous Driving Holiday in Crete

What a wonderful holiday you have planned!

Day 1
Arrive Heraklion
Lato Hotel

Day 2
Pick up hire car, get a good road map of Crete from Travel Bookstore in Iraklion
Visit Knossos early, allow 2 hours
Drive cross-country from Knossos to Douloufakis Winery near Dafnes then to Zaros, visit Taverna Vegara, then over the mountains to Amari Valley then to Arkardi Monastery then to Margarites village then to Rethymnon town, plenty of villages and great scenery along the way. This is a trip of about 200 km.

First night in Rethymnon
Afroditi Hotel

Day 3
Early start as this is the day to walk the Imbros Gorge! Take your own snacks and water. Drive south to Kommitades, leave the car there and get a taxi to the top of the gorge. Walk down 11 km, takes 2-3 hours. Drive to Chora Sfakion and leave the car there. Take the ferry or a water taxi to Loutro.

Stay at Villa Niki, Loutro

Day 4
Walk back along the coast to Chora Sfakion (2.5 hours) via Sweetwater Beach, or take the water taxi. Drive to Chania taking back roads and exploring villages.

Stay Chania
Madonna Studios

Day 5
Early start as this is the day to visit Elafonisi Beach!
The drive includes some beautiful country in Topolia Gorge. 75 km one way.

Stay Chania
If you want to chose somewhere closer to the airport, try Tersanas village less than 10 km from the airport, a nice place is Alianthos Studios

Day 6
Depart early from Chania airport.

Information pages
Heraklion

Knossos

Archanes

Dafnes

Douloufakis Winery

Zaros

Arkadi

Margarites

Chora Sfakion

Wild Herbs of Crete

Rethymnon

Ferry Loutro

Loutro

Chania

Elafonisi Beach

Kalo Taxidi! Bon Voyage!