Is Crete Worth Visiting?

Crete holds the ruins of Europe's first advanced civilization, the Minoans, who built a palace complex at Knossos so elaborate that later Greeks turned its layout into the myth of the labyrinth.

Crete, Greece's largest island, spans about 260 kilometers from west to east, and the Palace of Knossos, just outside Heraklion, ranks as Greece's second most visited archaeological site after the Acropolis, with restored red columns and murals giving a clear sense of the Minoan civilization that flourished here around 1900 BC. Chania, in the west, keeps a Venetian harbor lined with old fortifications and narrow lanes that make it the island's most popular base for travelers.

The Samaria Gorge, one of the longest gorges in Europe at roughly 16 kilometers, cuts through the White Mountains down to the Libyan Sea, narrowing at one point to just four meters between cliffs 500 meters high, known as the Iron Gates. The hike takes most people five to seven hours and ends at Agia Roumeli, a village with no road access, reachable only by the trail itself or by boat, and the endangered Cretan wild goat, the kri-kri, still roams the park that surrounds the gorge.

Elafonisi and Balos pair pink and pale sand with shallow turquoise water in the island's west, while Preveli, framed by a palm grove along a river, and Vai, lined with a natural palm forest, add variety on other coasts. Cretan cuisine draws on the island's own olive oil, wild greens, and dishes like kalitsounia, small hand-pies filled with cheese or herbs, and the island's mountain villages and wineries give food-focused travelers plenty to explore beyond the coast.

Crete has two main airports, in Chania and Heraklion, with direct flights from Athens and much of Europe, plus overnight ferries from Piraeus. It suits nearly every kind of traveler, from history buffs and hikers to beach travelers and families, and most visitors find a week barely enough to cover even one region properly, since crossing the island end to end alone takes about five hours.