Help with Crete itinerary

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lextravel
lextravel

I have read a lot of great posts and advice on this forum, and have decided to spend much more time on Crete as a result, concentrating on the west and south. I would appreciate some help stitching together an itinerary that makes sense, eg minimizes backtracking or repetitive lengthy trips back and forth across the island's witdth. So I'm thinking either "clockwise" from Heraklio to southern coast, ending up in Chania for last couple of days, then back across north to Heraklio, or the opposite direction. Also, it seems it makes sense to rent a car, but is it safe to leave it overnight or longer in Hora Sfakion or Plakias if we are taking ferries to Loutro? I have so far for our seven days (PS trying to keep it below EUR100 per night for hotels):

  1. Fly into Heraklion from Athens in the morning, see Knossos and Arch museum in town, waterfront/Old Town for dinner, overnight at Marin Dream Hotel.
  2. Drive/tour southwest of Heraklio, ending up at Matala or Plakias (Phaistos is supposed to be great but I don't know if we'll beinterestsed in seeing more Minoan ruins after Knossos)
  3. Matala or Plakias to Hora Sfakion (Sfakia) seeing/hiking a bit in Kourtalitiko Gorge on the way, maybe seeing Frangocastello? Overnight in Sfakia or
  4. Ferry to Loutro, stay overnight (Hotel Kyma?) ferry back to Sfakia next morning, shuttle etc to hike Imbros Gorge OR ferry/water taxi/hike to Sweetwater Beach, another overnight in Loutro?
  5. South coast to Chania (if we drop off car in Sfakia we can take ferry to Sougia and bus to Chania, or else retrieve car in Sfakia and drive via Vrissis to Chania)(or time to "do" Imbros Gorge before return to Chania)
  6. Chania, plus perhaps western beach such as Falasarna or all the way to Balos, or else Akrotiri peninsula/beaches)
  7. Chania to Heraklio on north coast, overnight in Heraklio (Marin Dream)
  8. Morning ferry to Santorini.

Does it make more sense to do the trip in the reverse order? I was thinking for last day that returning on the major north coast highway would be least wear and tear (and more time in Chania or Heraklio if there's more we wantto see) I've read that dropoff charges can be very high if not returning rental car to same city. so I'm thinking it might make sense to keep the car for a week even if there is a day or two it is just sitting (safely???) in a lot in Hora Sfakion? Also I have a concern about beaches (my daughter's priority) and winds. How much of the time does wind preclude beach time?

Appreciate any feedback!!

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lextravel
lextravel

PS Beaches I consider a couple of hours each, not an entire day roasting. Appreciate any advice on restaurants or hotels, good or ones to avoid!

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artemis2
artemis2
  • it seems it makes sense to rent a car, but is it safe to leave it overnight or longer in Hora Sfakion or Plakias if we are taking ferries to Loutro?*

Yes.

  1. Prefer Matala much more compared to Plakias (have stayed in both). Phaistos and 2km further Agia Triada are really nice. Don't compare them to Knossos as both of these sites are much more rough and much less cleaned up. Also, they won't have the hordes of tourists that come to Knossos.
  2. You won't be able to drop off the car in Hora Sfakia, or at a very high cost. Keep the car for the rest of your trip, even if that would mean that you won't use it for one or two days.
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