Last Updated on August 6, 2023
This July we chose to make our summer vacation (and work-cation) in Crete, Greece. We absolutely love Greece; last year we flew to Thessaloniki twice and we even got in engaged in Kardamyli, Greece. Beautiful beaches, amazing seafood and friendly locals all make Greece a spectacular vacation destination. Greece is also incredibly baby-friendly: this was our third trip there with our then 13-month old daughter. We ended up choosing the beautiful island of Crete for our summer destination. Read below for how to have an amazing summer in Crete, Greece as well as everything you need to know before your trip.
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Which Side of the Island of Crete Should You Stay On?
Choose between flying into Heraklion and Chania airports
We flew from Berlin to the Heraklion airport on Crete Island, which is on the northwest side of the island. Your other option is to fly into Chania, on the northeast corner of Crete. Heraklion is the capitol city of Crete and a bustling metropolis. We chose Heraklion quite simply because it was the closest airport to our Airbnb (we found our Airbnb before planning the rest of our trip). That being said, Chania is a beautiful city and closest to some of the most famous beaches of Crete, including Elafonissi and Balos.
Plan your trip carefully in order to make the most of your time in Crete
Beware, Crete is HUGE! To drive from Heraklion to Elafonissi is 3.5 hours one way. If you have limited time, we would recommend flying into Chania in order to enjoy the beautiful beaches of the western coast. However, if you have two weeks or more, you could fly into Heraklion and out of Chania, or vice versa, in order to make a tour of the whole island. We flew in and out of Heraklion, but this is because we had a less traditional approach to our vacation planning.
Take the advice of locals when planning your trip around the island of Crete
We actually did not plan any of our trip around the island until after we were already in Crete. We only booked our Airbnb in Gouves for three weeks and decided to make our travel plans after getting a better feel of the island and consulting our Airbnb host. This of course meant that we paid double for our accommodation the three nights we spent in Kissamos while touring the western side of the island. However, accommodation in Crete is very cheap. And we did have the benefit of soliciting the advice of multiple locals before finalizing our itinerary. Which would not have been possible had we booked everything in advance of arriving. Sometimes it does pay off to be a little bit spontaneous (but for sure can cost more).
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Where to Stay for an Amazing Summer in Crete
How to have an amazing summer in Crete? Stay at Eléa Suites & Residences in Gouves near Heraklion
When planning our trip, we looked for our perfect Airbnb before deciding on our destination. The Airbnb we found was Eléa Suites & Residences located in the small town of Gouves, 20 minutes outside of Heraklion city. Eléa was exactly what we were looking for: close to the beach (~ 10 minutes walking) and with a pool, and comfortable enough to also work remotely there for 1-2 weeks. Eléa has the comforts of a hotel with the convenience of an apartment. Giannis, our host and the son of the family who lives at Eléa, is there practically 24/7 to take care of all your needs: car rental, restaurant recommendations, your itinerary of all the best spots to visit on the island, and more. His mother, Maria, prepares breakfast every morning from 9 – 11 am to order, which you can enjoy from the balcony overlooking the pool. The pool is heated – which is nice on brisker days and evenings – and complete with chairs and umbrellas.
Eléa Suites & Residences is perfect for a workcation
Our apartment had a small kitchenette, which was enough to prepare small dishes like scrambled eggs for breakfast – with eggs from Giannis’ dad’s chickens next door to our apartment. We woke up every morning to the sound of crickets, chickens and roosters and were greeted by cats as we ate breakfast from our balcony. Giannis also offered us his office to work from (I worked 6 days remotely and JC 10). Eléa is really a magical place, and we look forward to coming here many more times with our families in the near future. We can only recommend it for long and short trips alike.
How to Get Around the Island of Crete
Take the bus for short distances and rent a car for longer trips
As mentioned before, we did not plan our trip around the island in advance. For this reason we also didn’t rent a car until after we had already arrived on the island and planned our excursions with the help of Giannis, our Airbnb host. Renting a car can get very expensive, so we wanted to see how public transport was before committing ourselves to a car. In our first week, we took the bus one evening to Hersonissos from Gouves to eat at Akrogiali restaurant, which was a short 15 minute bus journey. However, the bus times are super unreliable, so we ended up waiting almost 30 minutes to take the bus there, and coming back was even worse. If you want more flexibility and don’t want to lose time, definitely rent a car.
Renting a car in Crete is very economical
We ended up renting a car twice in the three weeks that we were on the island of Crete. Once, our second weekend in Crete for two days in order to take day trips to Heraklion and Plaka. We paid 80 EUR in cash for the two days, with full insurance and a baby seat (and manual transmission). In Europe, automatic transmission cars cost sometimes double that of manual transmission cars!
The second time we rented a car for five days to take a day trip to Matala, as well as make our 4-day 3-night journey to the western side of the island to visit some of Crete’s (and Europe’s) most famous beaches, including Balos and Elafonisi. If renting a car in Gouves, we would highly recommend visiting John (Giannis) at John-Mary Rent a Car. We paid 190 EUR for 5 days for manual transmission, which comes out to 38 EUR per day. This also included a baby seat. No credit card is required (you can pay with debit card or cash) and all rates include full-insurance. Furthermore, John is a real pleasure to chat with and speaks great english!
How to Have an Amazing Summer in Crete: Exploring the Eastern Coast
Take the Following Day Trips from Gouves
Day Trip Option #1: Gouves to Heraklion City
Take a trip to Heraklion City from Eléa either by bus or car
If staying at Eléa in Gouves, you must take a trip to the capitol city of Crete: Heraklion. Driving, the trip is around 20 minutes, and you can park at the Heraklion port all day for about 3 EUR. You can also take the bus to Heraklion from Gouves; however, the bus times are unreliable. Also, the route to Heraklion by bus is very windy, so if you get easily carsick, I would not recommend it either. While I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time in the city in the high heat of midsummer, it is worth it to go to Heraklion just to spend a few hours wandering the streets and buying a few souvenirs. There are also some wonderful restaurants in Heraklion, our favorite being Ippokampos.
Eat seafood at Ippokampos Restaurant while in Heraklion
One of our favorite restaurants that we ate at during our entire three weeks in Crete, was Ippokampos located right at the sea port of Heraklion city. If you park at the Heraklion sea port, Ippokampos is only a few minutes walking away. JC and I ordered the steamed mussels to share to start, and then JC had the dorado and I decided to try a seafood moussaka. While everything was delicious, the real highlight were the steamed mussels. At 7 EUR, we would recommend ordering two of them! We saw other tables sharing big heaping dishes of seafood pasta that also looked amazing, but unfortunately, we did not have another opportunity to come back. Next time in Crete for sure!
Day Trip Option #2: Gouves to Plaka and Kolokytha Beach
How to have an amazing summer in Crete? Drive to Plaka for beautiful beaches and delicious seafood
Located about 1 hour driving from Gouves, Plaka is the place to go if you want the best seafood on the western side of the island. You can also take the bus to Agios Nikolaos and then take a second bus to Plaka. However, we decided that the buses were too unreliable and the journey was too long with a baby. The drive to Plaka from Eléa is beautiful. High up in the mountains, the view on the way to Plaka is spectacular.
Once in Plaka we stopped to eat at Jiovanni’s, which had been recommended to us by our Airbnb host. The food was very good, but not excellent (we are a little spoiled by all the amazing food in Greece), and a bit expensive compared to other meals in Greece (we paid ~60 EUR for lunch for the two of us + baby). However, what was amazing was the small rock beach located below the restaurant. With crystal clear water, it was the perfect way to cool off after our lunch.
Continue to Kolokytha beach after Plaka for an off-the-beaten track experience
About 20 minutes driving from Plaka is Kolokytha beach. Kolokytha is not an ‘official’ beach, so it doesn’t offer beach chairs, umbrellas, etc. Furthermore, to get there is completely off-road driving. The road to get there is very narrow; two cars cannot pass one another. After arriving at the ‘parking area’ you need to trek about 10 minutes down to the beach. We forgot to bring the baby carrier with us, which proved to be a mistake, as it was very difficult to carry Isabella down the path. I would advise wearing sneakers to walk down. We only had flip flops, and our feet were covered with mud coming back, not to mention it was very difficult to walk over all the rocks. The beach is mainly rocks, however, there is a small sand beach where we went.
Day Trip Option #3: Gouves to Matala
How to have an amazing summer in Crete? Take a day trip to Matala and eat at Restaurant Scala for breathtaking views of the ocean
Our third weekend in Crete, we drove to the beautiful town of Matala. Matala is about a 1.5 hours drive from Gouves. Matala is a hippie town, with colored and eclectic streets and cute cafes and shops lining the center of town.
Matala has a beach; however, be warned that the water is rough and with waves. I tried to go snorkeling and immediately returned after my breathing tube quickly filled up with water. The main highlight of Matala, is Scala Restaurant, easily the most beautifully located restaurant we have ever eaten at.
On the way to Matala, we stopped at the Minoan Palace of Phaistos, which is only 13 minutes driving from Matala. You could also stop there on the drive back to Gouves from Matala. We did not pay to enter (it doesn’t look stroller friendly), but we did make a quick pit stop to take a photo with the ancient ruins.
How to Have an Amazing Summer Vacation in Crete: Explore the Western Coast for the Best Beaches
Use Kissamos as your home base to explore the western beaches of Crete
When traveling to Crete, there are a few must-do’s, including: stay at Eléa in Gouves, eat at Restaurant Scala in Matala, and visit Balos and Elafonissi beaches. As mentioned before, Crete is huge and doing Balos and Elafonissi from Gouves is not advisable. Therefore, we decided to use the town of Kissamos, west of Chania as our home base for exploring the western coast of Crete. We rented an Airbnb for three nights and got a rental car for four days to best explore the west. We chose Kissamos instead of Chania as our home base because it is much closer to both Balos and Elafonissi beaches. Read below for our full itinerary:
Day 1: Gouves to Georgiopouli to Chania to Kissamos
Day 2: Kissamos Ferry Port to Balos and back to Kissamos
Day 3: Kissamos to Elafonissi Beach to Kedrodasos Beach to Kissamos
Day 4: Kissamos to Taverna Drimos near Patsos Gorge to Rethymno to Gouves
Day 1: Be sure to make a stop in charming Chania town, the Venice of Crete
Chania is known as the Venice of Crete because its port harbor was built by the Venetians in the 1300s. Chania is a beautiful town with small narrow streets and many cute shops and cafes. We unfortunately did not have time to eat a meal in Chania, but did take time to stop for a freddo cappuccino, wander the streets and admire the beautiful port before continuing our journey to Kissamos.
Day 2: Take the ferry from Kissamos to Balos and Gramvousa
We booked our ferry tickets to Balos and Gramvousa with GetYourGuide for 25 EUR per person from the Kissamos Ferry Port. It doesn’t seem to be possible to visit Balos without visiting Gramvousa. Our ferry was scheduled for 10:40 am, but ended up leaving 20 minutes earlier, so definitely be sure to arrive at least 45 minutes before departure! You can park for free at the Kissamos Port parking lot. The ferry ride is approximately 1 hour long from Kissamos Port to Balos. Once at Balos, if you want chairs and/or an umbrella you need to pay. Otherwise, you can just lay your towel on the sand for free. The water is crystal clear and a beautiful turquoise color. It really is unreal and much more beautiful in person than in photos (if you can believe it).
How to have an amazing summer in Crete? Eat at Gramboussa Restaurant outside of Kissamos
The most amazing restaurant we ate at while on our trip on the west coast of the island of Crete was surely Gramboussa Restaurant, 10 minutes driving from Kissamos. We loved this restaurant so much that we ate here two out of our three dinners in Kissamos. The setting is beautiful, overlooking the coutryside of Crete. The restaurant itself is beautifully done, an artful mix of old world with modern touches. The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is delicious. We ordered the steamed mussels (as usual) and seafood pasta with orzo to share. We also ordered Isabella fried mushrooms, which she gobbled up, along with our pasta. The staff of the restaurant were great with Isabella, holding her and walking her around the restaurant. Greece is incredibly child-friendly. We never felt like we were inconveniencing anyone taking a child into a restaurant. Quite the contrary.
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Day 3: Drive from Kissamos to Elafonissi, the pink sand beach
Besides Balos, the next most famous beach in Crete is Elafonisi, the pink sand beach. The sand is slightly pink; however, we found it difficult to capture the pinkness in photos. Elafonisi is about 1 hour driving from Kissamos. Be sure to get there early as the beach does get very crowded, especially in the summer months. Parking is free and you can rent chairs, buy drinks, food, etc there. Our daughter, Isabella, particularly enjoyed the warm shallow water at Elafonisi. Elafonisi is definitely a must visit while in Crete.
If you are looking for less crowds, try Kedrodasos Beach, 10 minutes from Elafonisi
Our Airbnb host, Giannis, told us that Kedrodasos beach was even more beautiful than Elafonisi, in his opinion. About a 10 minute drive from Elafonisi, Kedrodasos is not an official beach, in that there are no beach chairs, umbrellas, food, etc. You also need to trek down the side of a mountain about 10 minutes to get to the beach. This time, after Kolokytha beach, we were more prepared and had the carrier to hold the baby. It is not an easy trek down. There are a lot of rocks and it is very steep. However, the beach is beautiful with crystal clear water and a lot less people than Elafonisi.
Day 4: If you have children, consider driving to Taverna Drimos on your way back to Gouves
On our drive back from Kissamos to Gouves on day 4 of our road trip, we made a stop at Taverna Drimos, about 30 minutes driving from Rethymno. The Taverna serves typical Greek and Cretan dishes for bargain prices (maybe the cheapest prices we saw the whole trip). The Taverna also has a farm with chickens, ducks, sheep and miniature ponies, some who even wander the taverna freely. From the Taverna you can hike to the Patsos Gorge, but we read it was a difficult hike and we were not properly dressed to do it. Instead, we took a short 10 minute walk to the Church of Agios Antonios, which is in a cave, where you can write a wish on a piece of paper (they have paper and pen) and stick it in the walls of the church so that it comes true.
We had the most magical three weeks in Crete thanks to beautiful beaches, lovely people and amazing food and hospitality. This is also why we keep coming back to Greece for our vacations time and time again, and why our now 18 month old daughter has been to Greece three times already! We would highly recommend to choose Greece and choose Crete for your summer vacations, especially if traveling with children. We hope this post helps you plan how to have an amazing summer vacation in Crete. Tell us in the comments below your favorite places in Greece and in Crete.
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Great content! Keep up the good work!