Crete itinerary 7 days: Chania, Balos, Samaria, Knossos and Spinalonga

Half an hour, free from outside. After check in, walk down to the crescent of the harbour, where the 1645 mosque is the first Ottoman building in Crete and now hosts exhibitions. The Venetian houses around it are all restaurants; to eat, head one or two streets inland.

An hour, free. Walk the Venetian breakwater, about 800 metres, to the lighthouse at the harbour mouth. Get there before sunset: the low light turns the old town façades orange across the water.

An hour and three quarters. Boats leave around 10 am from Kissamos port, 45 minutes by car from Chania, and the Gramvousa and Balos trip costs 30 to 45 euros. The first stop is the island: climb 20 to 30 minutes up the stone path to the 16th century fort, once a pirates’ nest, and look down on the lagoon.

Two and a half hours, with a 1 euro fee on arrival. The warm shallow water forms pools between pinkish sandbanks. By car you face 8 km of dirt road and a 20 minute walk down; the boat skips both. Bring a parasol: there is no shade.

Six and a half hours downhill, 16 km, with a 5 euro ticket sold on the park’s official site. The gorge only opens from May to October and closes on rainy days: in October 2026 the official site showed it closed at both entrances until further notice. Check the day before and, if it is shut, swap in the 8 km Imbros Gorge near Sfakia.

The KTEL bus leaves Chania around 6 am for Xyloskalo, at 1,230 metres. The trail drops through cypress forest, past the abandoned village of Samaria, to the Iron Gates, where the walls stand 4 metres apart.

Two and a half hours. The village at the end of the gorge has no road: swim in the Libyan Sea, eat at one of the beach tavernas and take the afternoon ferry to Sfakia, where the bus waits to take you back to Chania. Buy the ferry ticket as soon as you arrive.

Forty five minutes, free. Forty five minutes from Chania, Crete’s only freshwater lake has clear green water, pedal boats for hire and turtles near the shore.

Seventy five minutes, a few euros. After check in, climb the headland to the 16th century Venetian fortress. Inside the walls stands the Sultan Ibrahim mosque, with its restored dome, and from the ramparts you watch the sun set over the sea.

Twenty minutes, free, ten minutes on foot from the Fortezza down the lanes. The 1626 fountain still pours water from three lion heads, surrounded by the tavernas and filo pastry shops of the old town.

Two and a half hours, paid parking. Preveli is 45 minutes south of Rethymno. From the car park a steep 20 minute path drops to the beach, where the Megalopotamos river meets the sea and a palm grove climbs the gorge. Arrive before 10 am, while it is still empty, and save energy for the climb back.

An hour, 2 to 4 euros, an hour from Preveli. In 1866, besieged by the Ottoman army, hundreds of Cretans sheltering in the monastery blew up the powder store rather than surrender, and Arkadi became a symbol of the fight for independence. The church has a Venetian façade from 1587. From here to Heraklion is another 90 minutes.

Two and a half hours, 20 euros all year, with tickets on the official hhticket.gr site. Arrive at opening, 8 am: from 10 the tour buses arrive and the sun bites. The 3,500 year old Minoan palace was partly rebuilt in concrete by Arthur Evans in the early 20th century, which helps you picture the floors, but it is not original.

Two hours, 12 to 15 euros. The original Knossos frescoes are here, upstairs, not at the palace, which is why it pays to do both on the same day. Do not miss the Phaistos Disc, still undeciphered, and the small snake goddesses.

Twenty minutes, 500 metres from the museum. The 1628 Venetian fountain has four lions holding up the basin, and the cafés around it serve afternoon bougatsa.

An hour, a few euros, 700 metres from the square down 25th August Street. The 16th century fortress guards the old harbour mouth; climb to the roof terrace, then walk out along the breakwater.

Two hours, 20 euros entry since 2025, plus a 10 to 14 euro return boat. Leave Heraklion at 8.30 am: Plaka is an hour and a quarter away, and boats cross in ten minutes, every half hour. The island held a Venetian fortress and then, from 1903 to 1957, Europe’s last leper colony, the story told in Victoria Hislop’s novel The Island.

Seventy five minutes. Back on the mainland, have lunch at one of the waterside fish tavernas, with Spinalonga across the water. Heraklion airport is an hour and ten minutes from Plaka by car.