An insider’s guide to Crete

It’s day one of our extended stay in Crete, and my husband Gary and I are driving across the island, past rugged mountains that soar up to cloudless skies. It’s scenery we know well, from many holidays here: but this time something is different.

Crete, like our marriage, is on the cusp of change. In our case, what’s on the horizon is retirement: Gary has just stopped work as a television news executive after more than 30 years. When our kids were younger we came here on villa holidays – over recent years, as they’ve grown up and flown the nest, we’ve carried on coming here alone. We love this island, with its mix of laid-back coastal resorts and outstanding historic sites. So it’s where we’ve headed to toast this new stage in our life, with a few glasses from its growing wine list and its ubiquitous local tipple, raki.

For Crete, what’s coming down the track is better infrastructure for tourists. The highway expansion is one of the biggest road projects currently underway in Europe, a new airport near the capital Heraklion is due to open in 2027, and the ambition is to create a smoother experience for the 6.6 million (and rising) tourists – 871,000 Britons among them in 2024.

The aim is to conserve what’s already magical – the turquoise seas, uncrowded beaches, friendly tavernas, picturesque landscapes, top-class ruins and museums – while improving travel and creating more places to stay.

There’s lots to hope for, on all fronts. Because for visitors like us, in search of culture as well as days on the beach, this island is a gem. And as the most southerly point in Europe, the warm temperatures extend well into October, and start up again in March – it’s a great “out of season” choice. With so much here to enjoy, here’s our guide to some of our favourite places over the years.

Spinalonga

In 2001, Victoria Hislop and her husband Ian (of Private Eye fame) took their children on holiday to Crete and visited Spinalonga, a ten-minute ferry ride from the sleepy village of Plaka near Agios Nikolaos – and the visit sparked a bestseller.

The small island had been a fort when Venice ruled Crete (1204-1715), but what captivated Victoria was the half century when it was one of Europe’s last leper colonies, only shut down in 1957. Her resulting novel The Island, an international bestseller telling the story of one of its female residents set within a modern time-frame, catapulted Spinalonga into the contemporary imagination, and it’s now the second most-visited site in Crete after Knossos.

On my first visit to Plaka about five years ago, I read the book on the beach facing Spinalonga, and caught the boat across after finishing it. Whether you choose to read the novel or not – and it’s not the only cultural reference, since it’s also the setting for an Ali Smith short story, a Werner Herzog film and the backdrop to part of the 1977 BBC mini-series Who Pays the Ferryman?, amongst other things – it’s a good idea to research ahead, since explanations are in short supply when you’re there. It takes about an hour to walk the entire perimeter of Spinalonga, so take water and a hat, and enjoy the views from the Venetian fort at the far end of the island.

Fascinating fact: During the 1930s the Imperial Airways seaplanes which connected Britain with India used the bay near Spinalonga as a stopover – murals drawn by patients during the leper colony days include flying boats.

Don’t miss: Delightfully, Spinalonga is now illuminated at night. Have supper in one of the fish restaurants in Plaka and enjoy the spectacle alongside your salt-baked sea bream.

Best time to go: Crete has a long and sun-filled autumn, and a late September or October afternoon is an ideal time to visit Spinalonga.

Knossos

“It’s a K-no to Knossos,” says a despairing Gary, as we languish in a 40-minute queue to the gates of the epicentre of Minoan civilisation, dating back to the second millennium BC. But it’s worth the wait – this world heritage site is unmissable. As this is the second most-visited site in Greece after the Acropolis, however, you need to head there early with a carry-out coffee – we’ll know for next time.

Today’s Knossos, when we eventually make it inside, is a collection of walls, staircases, viewing platforms and ruins. These are punctuated with some vividly-painted columns and murals, the imaginative re-creations by a British archaeologist called Arthur Evans who arrived here in 1900, including a stunning wall painting of deep blue dolphins frolicking in the waves, and the griffins – mythical lion-bodied, eagle-headed creatures – in the throne room.

Fascinating fact: Knossos is considered to be Europe’s oldest city.

High point: The Horns of Consecration: huge and white, the horns symbolise the myth of the Minotaur, half human and half bull.

Good time to go: March and April, when it’s cooler and quieter. It’s open from 8am but get there by 7.30am.

Archaeological Museum

When it comes to Minoan history, Knossos is where it all happened – but the archaeological museum in Heraklion is where it’s all explained. Most of the artwork and everyday objects from all those thousands of years ago are now kept and displayed in the museum: hundreds of them, most in breathtakingly brilliant condition, with labels and explanations that far outdo anything you’ll have seen at Knossos if, as most people choose to do, you visit the site first and the museum afterwards.

Although it’s often busy, this is a spacious and airy museum with plenty of places to pause for a sit down. Like the world-class attraction it is, you can’t possibly cover everything in one visit. But allow at least a couple of hours to get a sense both of the exoticness of ancient Crete – dancing figurines and intricate mosaics – and the everyday items like the plates and dishes of the Knossos “dinner service”. The jewellery, from various periods of Cretan history including Minoan times, is also exquisite: don’t miss the gold pendant showing two bees facing each other, united by a drop of honey.

Fascinating fact: Female power was at the heart of Minoan culture: the museum is packed with goddesses and priestesses, and women dominate much of the art.

High point: The Bull-Leaping Fresco, taken from a wall at Knossos: historians believe bull leaping was a Minoan sport, not a myth.

When to go: Late afternoons are quieter, year-round.

Turquoise sea and beaches abound in Crete: but there’s loads to do inland as well. We drove past the white stone windmills of the Lasithi Plateau, a windswept plain dotted with farmland and villages, to a lush vineyard on a hilltop. Here the Lyrarakis family have been making wine since 1966, with a penchant for preserving endangered grape varieties – the Dafni, Plyto and Melissaki, all once virtually extinct, have been replanted here and now yield white wines with herbal, citrusy tones.

The hilltop tasting room is cool and spacious with long wooden tables and books about the history of the winery as well as bottles to peruse and wines to taste – as well as knowledgeable staff on hand to talk you through the process. Or you can join a vineyard tour, see the grapes in the field and hear about or even watch the harvesting process, depending on the time of year. We took home a bottle of quaffable Vidiano, queen of Cretan grapes, and enjoyed it at our apartment that evening.

Fascinating fact: There’s no ploughing here, and fertiliser comes from organic waste from the winemaking process.

High point: Sample some wine along with Cretan cheeses and dolmadakia at terrace tables - or the vineyard offers a picnic basket and rug for you to take into the vineyards and find your spot.

When to go: August and September are the best months to see the grapes being harvested. The vineyard closes at 5pm so to enjoy a meal, be there over lunchtime.

Hersonissos

Hersonissos is a tale of two cities. The coastal strip is bustling, with a colourful marina and lots of shops, while the original village – “ano” in Greek – with its flower-decked main square, orthodox churches, stone houses and authentic tavernas – is a couple of miles inland. Complicating matters, ano Hersonissos lies up close against two other villages – Piskopiano and Koutouloufari – and all three blend seamlessly into one another.

Beaches in the town get crowded, but the beaches at Gefyri and Sarantari, a mile or so away, are small, sandy coves. In Hersonissos itself, the Lychnostatis Open Air Museum offers an enjoyable couple of hours, with pretty views and a taste of traditional Cretan life.

Fascinating fact: Pirate attacks led to the harbour area of Hersonissos being abandoned in the 7th century – it only became populated again in the 20th century.

High point: Agia Paraskevi, a chapel built into the harbour rock. Created in the 19th century, but just above is a mini-archaeological site with the remnants of an early Christian basilica.

Good time to go: Out of season. While restaurants and bars close for the winter in many Cretan seaside towns, you’ll always find some open in Hersonissos, with plenty of options for traditional Greek food.

Captivating Crete – escorted tour

Imperial Belvedere – hotel stay

See all our Crete holidays, including food, history and garden themed special interest holidays