Heraklion and Crete: Samaria Gorge European Grand Canyon, the Elafonisi Pink Lagoon, Rethymno Venetian Town, the Chania Harbor Pearl, the Cretan Diet Village Tavernas, and the Heraklion Airport Island Network
The Crete experience beyond Heraklion covers the Samaria Gorge 16-kilometer descent through Europe's longest gorge, the pink tidal lagoon of Elafonisi, the most complete Venetian old town of Rethymno, the Chania harbor old city, the original Mediterranean diet Cretan village kitchen, and the Heraklion airport as the second-busiest in Greece.
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Samaria Gorge: The European Grand Canyon
Samaria Gorge in the White Mountains of western Crete, the 16-kilometer hiking trail through the longest gorge in Europe descending from 1,227 meters to the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli, is the most famous single hiking experience in Greece and one of the great walking routes in Europe. The gorge narrows at the Iron Gates to 3 meters wide and 300 meters deep in the most dramatic section of a geological spectacle that accommodates 500,000 hikers per year in the May to October season.
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Elafonisi: The Pink Sand Lagoon
Elafonisi, the tidal lagoon island at the southwestern tip of Crete with the pink-tinged sand from the crushed red coral shells and the shallow warm water of the enclosed lagoon, is the most unique beach environment in Greece and one of the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. The 80-kilometer drive from Heraklion through the Cretan mountain villages and the Topolia Gorge is itself the most scenic road journey in western Crete.
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Rethymno: The Venetian Town
Rethymno, the third city of Crete 80 kilometers west of Heraklion, preserves the most complete Venetian old town in Crete with the Fortezza castle, the lighthouse, the 16th century Venetian loggia, and the Rimondi Fountain in a streetscape that also includes the Ottoman minarets of the mosque conversions, creating the most charming mixed Venetian-Ottoman urban environment in the Cretan island chain.
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Chania: The Western Crete Pearl
Chania, the most beautiful city in Crete for the combination of the Venetian harbor with the Egyptian lighthouse, the old town lanes, the Covered Market, the Splantzia Turkish quarter, and the surrounding beaches of the Akrotiri Peninsula, is the preferred base for the western Crete visitor who wants the authentic Cretan city experience combined with the beach proximity. The Chania Archaeological Museum in the Venetian church of San Francesco presents the Minoan finds from the western Crete excavations.
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Cretan Cuisine: The Mediterranean Diet Source
The Cretan diet, based on the olive oil, the legumes, the wild greens, the fresh fish, the goat cheese, the honey, and the whole grain bread dakos that constitutes the most nutritionally studied diet in the world for its association with the longest healthy life expectancy in the 20th century Keys study, is best experienced in the village tavernas of the Cretan interior where the seasonal ingredients and the traditional recipes of the yiayia kitchen are preserved against the tourist restaurant standardization of the coastal resort strip.
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Crete Practical: The Heraklion Airport and the Island Network
Heraklion Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport is the busiest airport in Greece after Athens, serving direct charter and scheduled flights from all major European cities in a schedule that peaks from June to September with the package holiday market. The internal Crete transport connects Heraklion to Chania in 2.5 hours by KTEL bus or by rental car on the E75 north coast highway, with the ferry connections to Piraeus Athens in 8 hours providing the overnight travel option.