Tours in Crete

Crete is the largest Greek island and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean — 260 kilometres end to end, with a spine of mountains running the whole way and rising above 2,400 metres at Psiloritis. Almost everything happens along the north coast, where the three cities sit: Chania in the west with its Venetian harbour and Egyptian lighthouse, Rethymno in the middle with the most intact old town on the island, and Heraklion in the east, the working capital, next door to Knossos. The south coast is different country — steeper, emptier, reached over the mountains, with Plakias, Matala and Loutro at the bottom of the descents. Inland are the gorges, of which Samaria is the longest in Europe at sixteen kilometres, and the Lasithi plateau with its windmills. Offshore lie Spinalonga, the fortress island used as a leper colony until 1957, and the pink sand at Elafonissi and Balos.

Crete is booked as a driving island. The classic days are the Samaria gorge, walked downhill with a boat out at the end; Balos and Gramvousa by boat from Kissamos; Elafonissi across the shallow lagoon; and Knossos with the Heraklion museum, which holds the frescoes the palace no longer has. Beyond those, there are wine estates in the Peza and Archanes valleys, olive mills, the mountain villages with their midday tavernas, and the diving and sea kayaking along the north coast. Cretan cooking is a genuine draw rather than a regional variation, and the cooking classes here take it seriously.

Practical. Distances are the thing visitors underestimate: Chania to Heraklion is two hours on the north-coast highway, and anything crossing the mountains takes far longer than the map suggests, so pick a base rather than touring. A hire car is close to essential and cheap; the coastal buses are good but stop at the highway rather than the beaches. Samaria opens from May to mid-October and closes in rain. Beach days at Balos and Elafonissi start early because the boats and the coaches converge by eleven. The season runs April to October, with the south coast swimmable earliest. Bring shoes for the gorges and reef shoes for the pebble bays.