Lonely Planet™ · Thorn Tree Forum · 2020

Crete or Rhodes?

Country forums / Western Europe / Greece

I am coming to Greece mid next year, and was wondering which Island out of Rhodes and Crete (mainly Chania) would be best? I am most likely doing Mykonos.

What would be the best base on these Islands? and what are good things to do?

Also what type of accommodation would be best within the 3 or 4 stars.

I don't have an exact time decided, however it would be at least 2 weeks minimum for islands.

Initially I chose Rhodes, however recently I have been looking at Chania in Crete which looks really nice.

This would be for young adults early 20's. We would like nice beaches/scenery, history would be good and also vibrant nightlife.

I know you might be thinking if I am doing Mykonos I should probably just stick to the Cyclades. However I have been set on both these islands for a while. I would want to go to at least one if logistically possible.

This is probably difficult to answer however any input would be helpful.

During the season, there are daily catamarans between Mykonos and Iraklio (Crete) from where Chania can be reached by (frequent) bus. If you want to do all by sea, you may take the 15.15 catamaran to Piraeus and the 10pm overnight ferry to Chania.
Mykonos - Rhodos is a bit more difficult:
Hellenic Seaways boat to Ikaria or Fourni or Samos, sleep there and go on the following day by Dodecannese Seaways catamaran to Rhodos. You may also fly via Athens.
There are 4 and 5 star tourist ghettos on all 3 Islands.

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"There are 4 and 5 star tourist ghettos on all 3 Islands." I like that expression!

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Unlike rhods, Crete is a very large greek island and even though the distances are not that far, because the roads are really bad it takes long time to arrive. Try to choose trips close to Rethimno region which will save you lots of driving.

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there are nice beaches and vibrant nightlife both on rhodos and crete. the same goes for history and beautiful scenery. personally, i totally prefer crete. i liked rhodos (the island), and the old town of rhodos (the town)is very nice and well preserved, but it dont really feel that i need to go back to rhodos. crete on the other hand is a place i would love to go back to. its very varied - you can stay in a very touristy place like malia or rethymnon, and drive for 30 minutes and be in a very untouristy place. i would recommend to rent a car to explore the island.

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Thank you.

I literally want to do both. So many things I have seen I like.
With Crete can you go straight to Chania? I would mainly stick with that part of Crete.
Could I do both with 4-5 days on each or is that just a waste.
I was also thinking maybe just Rhodes and go around the nearby islands there like Symi?

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With Crete can you go straight to Chania?
by boat from Pireaus (port of Athens) only
by plane from Athens, Basel, Billund, Bologna, Bremen, Bristol, Charleroi, Dublin, Duesseldorf, Weeze, East Midlands, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Hahn, Hannover, Glasgow, Katowice, Leeds, Stansted, Manchester, Marseille, Memmingen, Bergamo, Oslo, Paphos, Paris, Pisa, Roma, Stockholm, Thessaloniki, Treviso, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw, Wroclaw, Zurich........

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