Knossos or Essence of Crete?

[JoanneCam]

For those of you who have been to Crete/Aghios Nikolas with Oceania, did anyone do the Essence of Crete tour and what did you think? It is eight hours long, which is a bit much for my husband. If the farm visits are detailed and interesting, it would be worth it, if it is just Knossos and a long bus ride, perhaps just seeing Knossos would be better with the rest of the time spent in Aghios Nikolas? Thanks in advance for your opinion.

[wripro]

The port of Aghios Nikolas itself does not require much time to see. There is sort of a man made lake around which are many restaurants and lots of street for shopping. Knossos is a wonderful ruin and definitely worth seeing.

[loum140]

I've never been to Aghios Nikolas, but Knossos is really fabulous. My memories are still strong, even after 35 years. Keep meaning to return, but.....

[katz]

We did this excursion last October. Knossos is amazing, but it involves a lot of walking. We went to the village, which was kind of a disappointment. It was a rainy, cold Sunday, so we did not get to see any of the things that were listed in the description of this excursion.

 

We did walk through the village and went into a local's home for raki and some bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. Our guide explained the lifestyle of the villagers. It was very interesting to actually be in someone's home. We walked a short distance to the taverna for lunch. This consisted of baked chicken and potatoes. I was hoping for something more "Greek". Not very exciting. We were packed into the building with another tour group. There was a farm next door and we could look over the fence at the animals.

 

The time of our tour was about six hours. The drive was pleasant, with our guide talking the whole time. I think because of the time of year, we did not get experience as much as we could have.

 

There was time to walk around Aghios Nicolaos after we returned to the ship. It is kind of hilly. There were many restaurants and shops.

 

It was a lot of fun. Seeing and learning about Knossos is well worth the trip.

 

I hope this helps you in deciding what to do.

[ClaudiaF]

why don't you book a private driver to take you for the day ( at your own pace, with less walking) and see what you want.. email Nick he can help you..tell him Claudia says hellooooooo!

http://www.greecetravel.com/rhodes/privatetours/

[frqttrvlr09]

I second what Claudia said: hire a driver for the day. That is what I did and had a wonderful time (see post on another thread about almost missing the ship). We saw the countryside (beautiful, varied), visited farms, stopped for coffee and then lunch in tiny villages. The port city is small and nice to walk around and have lunch and coffee, which is what I plan to do in my upcoming Oceania cruise that stops there in a few weeks. I am in the definitely minority on this thread as I was extremely disappointed in Knossos; perhaps in part because I had just been to Ephesus and Pompeii (to which there is no comparison).

[no fuss travel]

why don't you book a private driver to take you for the day ( at your own pace, with less walking) and see what you want.. email Nick he can help you..tell him Claudia says hellooooooo!

http://www.greecetravel.com/rhodes/privatetours/

 

Claudia

 

Does this company offer tours of Rhodes and Crete as well? I could only find tours of Rhodes.

 

Thanks.

[kaimedia]

We found ourselves in Crete a few years ago as an unscheduled stop. The fires prevented us from seeing Olympus. We just walked off the ship and hired a driver for the day. He was great even got us immediate tickets for Knossos which should have taken us an hour in line. (bring issues for the toilet - otherwize they sell it to tourists). He droppped us off and picked us up on time every time. I think it was 1/2 the price of a ship tour.

[kaimedia]

We found ourselves in Crete a few years ago as an unscheduled stop. The fires prevented us from seeing Olympus. We just walked off the ship and hired a driver for the day. He was great even got us immediate tickets for Knossos which should have taken us an hour in line. (bring issues for the toilet - otherwize they sell it to tourists). He droppped us off and picked us up on time every time. I think it was 1/2 the price of a ship tour.

 

That should say bring tissues for the toilet.