The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
THE BEST HOLIDAY CHOICES
If you want to look beyond the – admittedly, thoroughly enjoyable – confines of Crete’s seafront cities and beaches, there are numerous other ways in which to explore the island.
Some of them are more active than others. Not least the Cycling the Coast of Eastern Crete tour offered by Exodus Adventure Travels (020 3553 0108; exodus.co.uk). This eightday group tour charts the quieter end of the island over 167 miles, pedalling out through Heraklion and
Agios Nikolaos, before dipping down to the south coast at Ierapetra and Tsoutsouros. Sixteen departures of the trip are scheduled for 2024; the first next month, the last at the very end of October.
From £1,849 per person, including flights.
If that sounds too much like hard effort under the Mediterranean sun, Inntravel (01653 617 001; inntravel.co.uk) looks to the opposite end of the island, and at a far slower pace, with Crete’s South-West Coast – a seven-night self-guided getaway which wanders the hillsides above Paleochora, taking in the Lissos Gorge and the ancient ruins of the same name. Prices start at £865 per person, excluding flights.
Alternatively, if great holes in the rock are a personal love, The Natural Adventure (020 3962 1455; naturaladventure.com) targets two of them – the Imbros Gorge and the Aradena Gorge – on its Crete North to South Coast Trek. Less demanding than it sounds (though still strenuous), this unescorted odyssey covers 50 miles over eight days, wandering between the northerly village of Vamos, and the bottom of the island at Loutro. From £540 per person, flights extra.
If you would prefer to avoid exercise of any kind, Art Safari (01394 382 235; artsafari.co.uk) offers a week-long holiday of painting and tuition, based in Chania, from September 17-24. From £2,295 per person, including all meals and accommodation (flights extra). If you are more invested in archaeology than art, the Wonders of Ancient Crete group tour run by Cox & Kings (0333 060 2995; coxandkings.co. uk) peers at the island’s past in detail, visiting not just Knossos, but sites including the Minoan palace at Phaistos, and the 16thcentury monastery at Arkadi (a building which occupies an Alamo-type sacred space in local folklore, having been one of the bloody focal points of an island revolt against Ottoman rule in 1866). Five departures are in the diary for 2024, the first in May, the last at the end of October. From £1,895 per person (including flights).
On a budget
Into the maze Holidaymakers with children should certainly aim for Labyrinth Park (labyrinthpark.gr), 15 miles east of Heraklion in Hersonissos. Not only does it have a superbly challenging maze (complete with a Minotaur statue) included in the reasonable entry price (visitors over 11 €10; 4-11s €6; under-fours free); each other element of the theme park (including a Trojan Horse laser course, miniature golf and horse-riding) is priced separately (usually €3), meaning you can add on as much or as little as you wish.
Budget back-stories While Knossos, as an A-list slice of history, costs €15 per adult, Crete has a wealth of archaeological sites, and many are far cheaper. For example, entry to the Ruins of Gounia – an ancient port at the south end of Mirabello Bay – costs €2.
Gorge-ous looking Crete’s geography is one of its star attractions, and much of it comes without a price. The Ha Gorge
– a spectacular gap in the Thrypti mountain range – is entirely free to those who can find it, a short drive off the road between Pachia Ammos and Ierapetra.
End of term
As with all of Greece, Crete is considerably better value if you avoid the height of summer. Wait until autumn, and a seven-night half-board stay at the four-star Aelius Hotel & Spa, on the north coast at Kato Gouves, flying from Gatwick on October 15, costs from £426 per person, with On The Beach (0871 474 3000; onthebeach.co.uk).