Photo by JACK REDGATE via PexelsWritten to be useful whether or not you ever book with us. Where a fact is not confirmed, we say so instead of filling the gap.
The three guides that cover the most ground if you are still deciding on a shape for your stay.
Walk the old town early and the Fortezza late, swim outside the middle of the day, and use Rethymno’s position to reach both coasts — the south coast beaches and gorges, the mountain villages inland, and Chania or Knossos east and west. The town itself takes a day; the region takes a week.
Go south for gorges and the Libyan Sea, inland for monasteries, caves and villages, west for Chania and Lake Kournas, east for Knossos and the Heraklion museum. South is the most scenic, inland the most shaded, west the most popular, east the longest drive.
Day one in the old town, walked early and late with the middle of the day off. Day two crossing to the south coast for the gorge and a swim. Day three inland for the monastery, the cave or the villages. Decide the order the night before based on the wind.
Beaches, villages, access, weather and transfers — the specific questions.
Rethymno town beach is long, sandy and walkable from the old town, but exposed to the north wind. For clear, calm water, cross to the south coast — Preveli if you can manage the stepped descent, the Kalypso coves if not. For children, Lake Kournas is the calmest water in the region.
Spili for the spring line and the lion-head fountains, Margarites for working pottery, and the Amari valley villages for olive country and long lunches. An hour each is enough to look; half a day is what they are worth if you eat there.
Move the inland day forward. Melidoni Cave is unaffected by weather, the Margarites pottery workshops are under cover, and Arkadi Monastery has arcades and a museum. In town, the Fortezza is a poor rainy-day choice but the museums and the covered lanes are not.
Drive or take a private transfer to the upper car park, then descend a steep stepped path to the beach. Buses run a limited seasonal service and leave you with the same descent. Seasonal boats from Plakias and Agia Galini are the only way that avoids the stairs entirely — when they are running.
Chania is usually the shorter drive to Rethymno; Heraklion has more flights. Your options are a pre-booked private transfer, a taxi from the rank, the public bus, or a hire car. Private transfers are priced in advance and door-to-door; the bus is cheapest and leaves you at the station.
