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A blue and white boat on clear sea below a rocky Cretan mountain

Greece · Crete

Crete

Big enough to have four different holidays on it and two airports to reach them by. Which one you fly into matters more than which hotel you pick — get it wrong and you'll spend three hours on a coach each way.

4h 20m directNo visa for UK passportsApr–Oct seasonGuide price from £389pp

The short version

Pick the airport before you pick the hotel

Crete runs 260km end to end and has airports at both Heraklion and Chania. A cheap flight into Heraklion for a hotel near Chania means a transfer of well over two hours — each way, after a 4am start, often with children. It is the commonest and most avoidable mistake on this island, and comparison sites won't warn you because they don't know where your hotel is until after you've booked the flight.

An aerial view of turquoise water along the Cretan coast

North or south

Two coasts, and only one of them is developed

Nearly every package hotel is on the north coast, because that's where the airports, the roads and the sheltered water are. The south coast is wilder, hotter, emptier and reached over the mountains — Plakias, Matala, Loutro. If you want a resort holiday, stay north. If you want to feel like you've left England properly, go south and hire a car.

A weathered blue gate in a whitewashed wall

Why here and not Rhodes

Crete is a country pretending to be an island

It has its own dialect, its own music, mountains at 2,400m with snow into May, and a food culture the rest of Greece defers to. You can do a beach week here and never notice — or you can drive an hour inland and be in villages where nothing is aimed at you at all. That range is why we send more people to Crete than anywhere else in Greece.

Pick your corner

Four regions, and the resorts within them

Listed west to east. The airport note matters — check it against any quote you're comparing.

A harbour lined with old buildings on the water

West · CHQ airport

Chania

The best half of the island. A Venetian harbour with a lighthouse, a warren of old streets behind it, and the wildest beaches on Crete within an hour's drive. Fly into Chania, not Heraklion.

Chania old town: Stay inside the walls. Venetian townhouses turned into small hotels, and dinner on the harbour.
Platanias & Agia Marina: The main resort strip, ten minutes west. Sandy, lively, good value.
Almyrida & Kalyves: East of town, quieter, shallow water. Where families who've been before go back to.
Falassarna: Far west. A vast sunset beach and almost nothing else. Hire a car.

A Venetian stone building in an old town

Centre-west

Rethymno

The compromise: a genuine old town with a Venetian fortress, a long sandy beach running east from it, and roughly an hour to either airport. Less pretty than Chania, cheaper, and easier to reach.

Rethymno town: Old town at one end, hotels along the beach at the other. Walkable, and the nicest town beach on Crete.
Panormo: A small fishing village turned low-key resort. Good for couples.
Bali: Three coves and not much else, despite the name. Quiet and steep.
Plakias: South coast. Dramatic, windy, and a different island entirely.

Centre · HER airport

Heraklion & the north coast

Where the big package resorts and the main airport are. Not the prettiest stretch, but the shortest transfers, the widest choice of all-inclusive, and Knossos on the doorstep.

Hersonissos: Big resorts, waterparks, family-focused. Twenty-five minutes from the airport.
Malia: Two Malias: a genuinely old village, and a strip that's the island's party centre. Know which you're booking.
Stalis: Between the two, calmer than both, and a good family compromise.
Agia Pelagia: West of the city in a sheltered horseshoe bay. Smart, small, and steep.

East · Lasithi

Elounda & the east

The luxury end. Elounda has the island's five-stars on a sheltered gulf, with Agios Nikolaos nearby for restaurants and Spinalonga a short boat ride out. Ninety minutes from Heraklion airport.

Elounda: Crete's five-star address. Private-pool suites, calm water, and prices to match.
Agios Nikolaos: A proper town built around a deep lake. Restaurants and life without a resort strip.
Sissi & Milatos: Small, low-key harbour villages between the airport and Elounda.
Vai: The far east. Europe's only natural palm forest, and a four-hour round trip.

Our speciality

Add Santorini on the end

The fast ferry from Heraklion reaches Santorini in about two hours. Three nights there after a week on Crete gives you the photograph everyone wants without paying Santorini prices for the whole holiday — and you fly home from Santorini rather than doubling back.

Chania4 nightsOld town and the west-coast beaches.
Drive · 2h 30m
Heraklion3 nightsKnossos, then the port.
Fast ferry · 2h
Santorini3 nightsOia and the caldera. Fly home from JTR.

Ferries run daily in season and less often either side of it. We book the crossing with the holiday so it isn't a thing you have to sort out at a kiosk on the day.

When to go

May, June, September, October

July and August run to 32–35°C with the meltemi wind on top, and prices at their highest. The shoulder months give you high twenties, warm sea and half the crowds. October still swims; April doesn't, quite.

JanClosed

FebClosed

MarQuiet

Apr19°

May24°

Jun28°

Jul32°

Aug32°

Sep28°

Oct24°

NovClosing

DecClosed

Most resort hotels close from early November to late April, and UK flights largely stop with them. Sea temperature peaks around 25°C in August and September, and September is the warmest water of the year.

Worth the early start

What we'd actually book

Balos lagoon

The north-west tip. Boat from Kissamos or a rough track and a walk down. Turquoise shallows and a Venetian fort above.

Elafonissi

Pink-tinged sand from crushed shell, shallow water for hundreds of metres. Get there before ten in July.

Samaria Gorge

Sixteen kilometres downhill through the White Mountains, finishing at a beach with a boat out. A full, hard day — book the bus.

Knossos

The Minoan palace, twenty minutes from Heraklion. Go at opening; there's little shade and it gets very hot.

Spinalonga

The leper colony island off Elounda, and the setting for Victoria Hislop's novel. Boats run all day from Plaka.

Preveli

A palm-lined river running into the sea on the south coast. Steep steps down, and worth every one.

Chania old town

Venetian and Ottoman streets behind the harbour. Eat away from the waterfront — one street back halves the price.

Eating properly

Raki with everything, dakos, snails, and mountain cheese. Cretan food is the best in Greece and it isn't close.

The practical bits

Things that catch people out

Two airportsHeraklion (HER) and Chania (CHQ). Roughly 2h 30m apart by road — check which one your quote uses.

Time zoneTwo hours ahead of the UK, all year.

CurrencyEuro. Cards widely accepted; village tavernas and beach kantinas often cash only.

Car hireGenuinely worth it here, unlike most islands. Roads are good; mountain routes are slow and narrow.

Sea temperature19°C in May, 25°C by September. Warmest at the end of the season, not the middle.

Meltemi windBlows hard on north-facing beaches in July and August. South-coast and sheltered bays escape it.

Sun bedsCharged for on most organised beaches, typically €10–15 a pair with an umbrella. Not usually included.

PassportsEU rules: three months' validity beyond your return date, and under ten years old on entry. We check both.

Before you book

Five things worth knowing

Match the airport to the resort. Worth repeating because it's the one that ruins holidays. Chania for the west, Heraklion for the centre and east.

Malia is two places. The old village is charming and quiet. The strip is one of the biggest party destinations in Greece. They share a name and sit ten minutes apart — we'll make sure you get the one you meant.

Balos and Elafonissi need planning. Both are famous, both are remote, and both are unpleasant by mid-morning in August. Early boat or early car, or don't bother.

All-inclusive is worth more here than usual. Cretan hotel food is genuinely good, and the north-coast resorts do it well. On the other hand, if you're near Chania or Rethymno, half board and eating out is the better week.

The season really does end. By early November most resorts shut and flights thin out. A cheap late-October deal can mean half the restaurants are already closed.

Next step

Tell us your dates and we'll match the airport

Send your dates, party and rough budget and we'll come back with the right corner of the island, the right airport, and the payment plan written out in full.

Your money is protected. Trip Tides is a travel agent — we book your holiday with a travel company, and that company is named on your quote and confirmation. Your contract is with them. If your holiday is a package including flights, put together by an ATOL holder, you'll get an ATOL certificate naming that company. We confirm in writing what protection applies before you pay.

Crete packages

Flights, accommodation and transfers as one package. Every one can be reshaped — different dates, different board, a different airport, or a stopover on the way.

7 nights in Crete

All inclusive · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
All inclusive throughout
Financial protection confirmed in writing before you pay

from £479per person

Get a quote

10 nights in Crete

All inclusive · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
All inclusive throughout
The extra nights cost proportionally less — fixed costs don't change

from £609per person

Get a quote

14 nights in Crete

Half board · May–Oct

Return flights and private transfers
Half board throughout
Best value per night, and worth it on a longer flight

from £729per person

Get a quote

Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.