Jwugg

I do hope that you wouldn't write Crete off on the basis of 1 AI holiday. The truth is that Crete is not the best place for All Inclusive, as apart form a very small number of wildly extravagant places, the majority of AI hotels provide food that is based solely on economics, not quality. However, if you stay B&B or self-catering, one of the absolute joys of Crete is to wander around the village/ resort, choosing where to eat that evening. & almost everywhere (even Malia has a pleasant Old Town with decent tavernas) the tavernas are family owned by proud people wanting to provide delicious food. & another advantage is that these are locally owned, managed & staffed, unlike the international AI conglomerates.

Just a note to confirm that Chania is in Crete, not Corfu. It is 1 of the most beautiful cities in Greece, with a fabulous Venetian harbour & many tiny lanes behind it.

I almost find it shocking that they can badge those cruises as Greek, when the majority go to 2 or 3 Greek ports only.

1 of the big problems with Greek islands is that in the US at least, & to a lesser extent elsewhere, there has been so much publicity for Santorini & Mykonos that they are top of everyone's list & hence are very over-priced & over-crowded & no longer offer much of a genuine picture of Greek life.

You don't have time to go to Phaistos. It is a 3 hour+ drive from Chania.

The obvious thing to do in Chania is to visit the city, one of Greece's most beautiful, with its stunning Venetian harbour. You can walk around the harbour wall to the lighthouse, you could visit 1 of the museums - eg Naval museum is very good, you can stroll along the harbour front , wander the lovely tiny alleyways behind the harbour area, which are full of renovated Venetian houses, little shops etc.

Or you could go to Aptera, an interesting site just 15 mins away from Souda (where you ship most probably docks). Aptera has pre/Roman/Post Roman remains of huge water cisterns & bath complex, an atmospheric amphitheatre recently reonovated, set in an olive grove, parts of Roman villas scattered around, a Turkish fort with magnificent views. You could also eat a tasty traditional Cretan meal at Ta Aptera taverna in the village. You would want to book a taxi to take you & bring you back to the ship.

Which Crete port? Probably Heraklion or Chania - if it's Chania, most ships dock at Souda, from where you can easily get a bus into town; the centre is beautiful, with a Venetian harbour & lots of lovely tiny lanes with ancient, renovated stone buildings. A few ships tender into Chania harbour itself, unusual but very dramatic.

If Heraklion, the obvious answer is bus to Knossos & to the Archaeological Museum which is in the city, both very easy & you don't need to buy an expensive organised tour if you don't want to. Try to see Knossos either early in the morning or later in the day, if your schedule allows, as it get very hot, busy & loses atmosphere in the middle of the day

New Year's Eve is the 2nd biggest holiday of the year in Greece (after Easter). Pretty much everything will be closed on New Year's Day. However, that does give you a quieter Athens to walk around in! Yes, you can see some of the Acropolis site from below & you can walk around the Plaka area, see the outside of the ancient Agora etc. Syntagma square, possibly changing of the guard, the National gardens, maybe see the outside of the old Olympic stadium. How about a walk up Philopappos Hill? I would suggest arranging a driver in advance though, as I think public transport will not be running. A driver will have some good alternatives to take you.

My favourite area is Apokoronas, a district to the East of Chania. There are mountains & beaches, old villages, olive groves, beautiful scenery, nice sea, & places people live in all year. & half an hour or so to lovely Chania.

Have a look at Kalyves, Plaka, Vamos, Gavalohori, these are all villages with a couple of tavernas (more in Kalyves, the local town, which has Bank & Post Office etc). Or Almyrida, a pretty little beach resort, which will be very quiet but not closed in April.

From these villages it's only half an hour to be up in the mountains, less than an hour to Rethymno, just over an hour to drive to the South coast.

For reservations, if you look at the private villa websites, places like homeaway etc, then contact the owners you should get a much better price for a longer stay. I know places I could suggest for you but it is probably not appropriate on the forum.

The same with a car hire - a car would be much better than a bike, contact some hire car co's & negotiate hard, should be good value at that time of year.

Enjoy your planning.

This April just finished was excellent warm weather on Crete, people were even on the beach & some in the sea! But it has been unusually warm. April is my favourite month, everything is fresh & green, the wildflowers are out in abundance. Lovely weather for walking & exploring. But usually not warm enough for beaches, & still cool in the evenings. & there can be some days of rain in amongst the sunshine. But overall it is a great time to visit, as the place has a 'waking up' feel, holiday places being painted & bars starting to open etc. but the roads are still quiet & there is plenty of time & space for exploring.

You may want to look for accommodation in one of the larger towns, or in a village with year - round population, rather than 1 of the tourist resorts.

From Pireaus into Athens city centre is easy all year, either by bus or metro.

In Heraklion, there will be buses into the city centre from the port & a service to Knossos, however this will be limited during winter. The timetables are available online, the public bus service is ktel, but I suggest checking the timetable just prior to travel as it changes regularly. Knossos is only a few km outside Heraklion so you may prefer to take a taxi if you don't want to use the cruise's offering. Within Heraklion city, the archaeological museum is highly recommended.

From Souda you'll be going to Chania; the easiest way is just to get the laid-on bus, or taxi, into the city then walk towards the harbour. If you don't know it, it is a beautiful old Venetian city, with a stunning harbour, ancient city walls, lighthouse etc. Many tiny little old alleys behind the harbour, full of renovated old houses. On Easter Sunday it will be busy, there will be many Cretans out eating traditional Easter lunch with whole barbequed lamb etc. A lovely day to be in Chania, even if the shops & museums aren't open.

Yes, all the touristic shops will be open on Sundays.

The 'everyday'/ residents shops will not be open, such as electrical retailers etc.

But in the old town, around the harbour etc they will be open & ready for business for clothes, souvenirs, leather, jewellery & more!

Public buses from Chania to Rethymno are a minimum of one an hour throughout the year. They take around 1 hour each way.

As another alternative, you could spend half a day in Chania, then head to a fairly local beach - some good ones are: Marathi, Tersanas, Stavros (Where Zorba's hill is, from the film) all on Akrotiri. Nea Hora in Chania itself, Agoii Apostoli & Chrissi Akti just West of Chania.

There are also usually excursions to some of the little Apokoronas villages - Gavalohori for the folk museum & lace co-operative, Vamos with its many renovated stone houses. You get to see a little of more traditional Cretan life & some pretty scenery.

The only problem with that is Britannia doesn't have any outside cabins, only insides or balconies.

Apologies - I did not know that, how interesting

How about considering the middle option of an outside cabin without balcony? I did this on Aurora to Norway & loved waking up very early & watching the fjord go by as the day began to get light. Once it was getting exciting, then I went up to a high deck for photography & a 360 degree view.

I'd recommend a full large window, rather than just porthole.

If you are docking at Souda then the coach ride to Knossos will take around 2 - 2 1/2 hours, along the North coast & back the same way. IF you like coach trips then you do get to see some decent coastal scenery, but you will be on the national road all the way, you don't see any Cretan villages etc.

I wouldn't choose that option, to be on a bus for 5 hours & rushed round Knossos in the heat, in the middle of the day, then presumably a quick run round the archaeological museum. In my opinion, the only way to make Knossos an attractive visit is to go out of season, & either early or late, to avoid some of the crowds. The museum is fantastic & warrants at least 2 hours of slow introspection.

Your other option will get you into Chania in around 15 minutes & give you plenty of time to explore the harbour, the Venetian architecture, the myriad of little ancient alleys, the museums/galleries if you wish, to have a good Cretan meal, to people-watch over coffee on the harbourfront cafes.

Many people say that Chania is Greece's most beautiful city.

The 'old town' is made up of a large Venetian harbour & many little alleyways behind, lovely to walk around. The harbour front is made up mostly with cafes, bars & tavernas, an excellent & extremely photogenic spot to while away an hour or 2 (although usually, better food is found just behind the harbour).

The backstreets are filled with individual small shops.

There are a couple of super museums, on Halidon St, (which is the main pedestrianized street leading to the harbour & has a good art gallery) & the Naval museum at the West end of the harbour.

There is a covered market where most cruise buses stop & 4 days a week are street markets selling incredible, fresh, local produce.

The ancient Lighthouse can be walked to from the Eastern side of the harbour.

Further past this is Koum Kapi, where the young locals gather to drink coffee & chat.

smj said"

You can't have been to Souda! "

I live around 10km away, have done for 13 years, so yes I know it well. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your experience, hope it didn't mar your trip to the wonderful Chania too much.

Excellent blog post Richard, thanks for sharing. I particularly enjoyed your descriptions of the walking & ancient Thira. Have saved it just in case, altho Santorini is not a favourite of mine, just too touristy, but perhaps an out of season visit....

& you may be interested in reading this, or any of the many other online articles about animal welfare issues regarding Santorini's donkeys . A large donkey rescue charity is involved, trying to improve these poor beast's lives -

httpsb://hannaonline.org/2016/04/07/donkey-rides-an-authentic-greek-experience-or-animal-cruelty/

I am surprised - wouldn't the more infirm people say 'no thanks' to standing on a bus & wait for the next one if they felt it unsafe?

The dock in Souda is no more than 100m from the main shopping street of the town at any point. Although to be honest, the point of being there is to go to Chania old town, nothing much for tourists in Souda itself.

Queen P - yes, easy to drive, aalthough the streets in central Chania are sometimes narrow, & most hotels in the old town don't have parking as the little lanes are mostly pedestrianized.

Lolmerry - You could walk, but it's about 2km on just on a suburban road, not a very pretty route, although some is next to the harbour with palm trees) - a short taxi ride from the port, agree with the driver to collect you or wait. You could easily have a look (30 mins is enough time) on your way in or out of Chania.

You can get to Knossos easily by bus or taxi. I'd reccommend you go as early in the day as you can, as it gets very busy & will be hot in August. The archaeological museum in the city is superb, it holds most of the antiquities found in Knossos & elsewhere in Crete, some of which are pretty mind-blowing, with good explanations, in a nice modern, air-conditioned setting.

RV traveller, with just a few hours, the centre of Chania is the obvious choice, there will be plenty of buses & taxis at the port, it's a short journey into the centre. Then head for the Venetian harbour, it's so very pretty all round that area, lots of tiny alleyways to wander around just off the harbour, plenty of cafes for a coffee stop to people watch & soak up the splendid Venetian architecture. There are little shops selling traditional Cretan products, you may like the 'covered market' (where the buses stop). The Naval museum & little archaeological museum are well worth an hour or so should the weather not be good!

Queen P - if you would like to hire a car for a day, it sounds as if you would enjoy a trip to ancient Aptera, a fascinating site including a post-Minoan amplitheatre, recently restored, a Roman city, a Turkish fort& ancient monastery. it is 10-15 mins drive outside Chania, near Megala Horafia village. You could then take a drive around some of the very tiny, traditional villages of the Apokoronas area & go to the nice beach at Kiani Akti just outside Kalyves. Lunch somewhere like Kalyves, Vamos, Gavalohori, Plaka would give you access to proper local Cretan country cooking (is fantastic & cheap!)

If you'd like to give a few more details of where/how long/when you are in the area & most importantly what sort of things you like to do, I can give you some ideas to suit you.

The vast majority of cruise ships dock in Souda, Chania's main port. This is a 10 min bus or taxi ride to the city centre & a couple of minutes walk then to the old harbour.

A very few ships tender off the Venetian harbour, a wonderful way to see Crete.

Elafonisi is approx. 1 & a half hours drive from Chania. It is good to go there via Topolia gorge, for some great inland scenery & back via the coast road. Do make sure to walk or wade across to the island, this is the true Elafonisi beach, where the sand is tinged pink, many people just sit near the carpark! In October it won't be too busy & the sea will be warm.

It'll depend a bit how far north your cruise is going. If you are just doing the Southerly fjords (eg Olden, Andalsnes) with Stavanger & Bergen for instance, then it's not very cold at all in September. Last year in Sept we hardly needed a coat, did take a waterproof jacket with a fleece layer, not a fancy Polar expedition thing! No need for special socks, mittens, hats etc. was rather like English autumnal weather, but we were lucky & got plenty of sunshine. Certainly expect some rain.

& no for the Northern lights, much too early & too far south