Crete: Knossos & beach?

We will be arriving on the Royal Princess to Heraklion in July, 2016. The itinerary shows us being in port from 9am-6pm.

If I take the kids (16,13,9) to Knossos for 2-3 hours, is it possible to also get them to the beach for some swim & splash time?

I'm not in love with the current excursions Princess has offered, trying to figure out what will be both educational and fun!

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We're looking to do the same thing on our cruise on Carnival's Vista in May 2016. Any thoughts? Anybody?

I was thinking the same thing - that we would like to Knossos for a few hours and then head to a beach for a few hours. I've done some investigation about transportation:

It's quite cheap (3 euros return) to go to Knossos. The website says the bus leaves every 10-15 minutes; takes about 20 minutes to get there. Or, a taxi is 10 euros return.

The bus to Amoudara Beach is about 3 euros return.

We are going in August. I'm very interested to know what you ended up doing.

We are going in August and had the same plan - keep us posted .....

eclue:rolleyes:

I'm on the Royal in July also with 2 teens 16 and 18 and was thinking of doing the same thing. I know I can do the bus to Knossos but not sure how to do the beach part. Will be leaving in a few days for Barcelona so have to so some quick research. I believe we are going in to the Herkulion port.

Like all of you, I am quite surprised the cruise lines don't offer a beach alternative, considering Greece is known for its beaches! My "kids" are 19, 21 and 22 so I want to find that balance between culture and fun for them.

Anyway, after looking at several websites: go to the bus station which, apparently, is close to the port and look for the Knossos bus. It's suggested on the website to get a return ticket.

According to the website (http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh355.jsp?obj_id=2369), if you bring ID, university students and those under 18 get in free.

Knossos is south so you will need to come back to Heraklion in order to go to Amoudara Beach, which is west. To go to Amoudara, you catch the bus at the Astoria Cinema. Again, it's suggested to get a return ticket.

You could always take a taxi - they look pretty plentiful and cheap. I guess if you did that, you could go directly to the beach without going back to Heraklion.

We're not going until late August, so you will have already done this. Please let me know what you did!

We are going to be there in two weeks!! I am traveling with another family and a total of 3 "kids" 16,17 and 19. We are not going to the beach this day. We are planning on escaping to the beach when we are in Mykonos. Here is a rough draft of what we plan to do on our own. Herkalion Archeological Museum, Eletherias square, St. Marks (Required church visit just to annoy my child who will be completely sick and tired of churches by this point in time. We are spending 6 days in Italy before the cruise! :D) Herkalion Fortress then the bus to Knossos. I may reverse this pattern depending on how crowded the sights are.

So how did you get on?

Hi all,

What did you end up doing?

We are going in August and had similar plans but not sure about using the bus/taxis.

Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We found all the good stuff was too far away from the Dock for the time we had so just went on a city tour bus.

I am going to be on the early July Princess cruise with my kids - 18, 21 and 23. The youngest is a Greek Mythology fanatic so this cruise is about everything Ancient Greece. I am looking at the excursion from the ship of Knossos Palace and the Museum... It is a long excursion - 9 hours- but I think (hope) that it is thorough and worth it. I traveled in Greece in 1983; different times, different world, different circumstances. I welcome any feedback or opinions re: my lofty endeavors as well as yours:cool:

I am going to be on the early July Princess cruise with my kids - 18, 21 and 23. The youngest is a Greek Mythology fanatic so this cruise is about everything Ancient Greece. I am looking at the excursion from the ship of Knossos Palace and the Museum... It is a long excursion - 9 hours- but I think (hope) that it is thorough and worth it. I traveled in Greece in 1983; different times, different world, different circumstances. I welcome any feedback or opinions re: my lofty endeavors as well as yours:cool:

Nine hours seems like a long time to see Knossos and the museum. I'm a huge nerd in regards to ancient Greece and Rome, and even I would be hard put to spend that long there. The site is not huge.

Are you docking in some other port than Iraklion (Heraklion) by chance? That would account for the longer tour. Knossos is only a few minutes' drive from Iraklion.