birthday archeological trip
Family hotel, quiet. There were less than 10 guests during our stay. Located within the city of Heraklion (suburb). There are few rooms. Very interesting security system. The rooms are divided into "front rooms", key-tablets are used to enter such a front door, at the bottom there is an intercom. The key is given one for a double room, if you are traveling separately from a companion, you must use the intercom. The owner of the hotel and his staff are very friendly, always trying to help guests. Even if you do not speak English well, they will try their best to convey the necessary information to you.
The rooms can apparently also serve as apartments: there is a kitchenette with a place for a stove, a refrigerator, a sink, a TV, an air conditioner. You can not buy half board, but buy food in a nearby store and store it in your room. Hairdryer give "on bail" (it seems 20 euros). On the balcony there are ropes for drying bathing accessories (but it is very damp, everything dries badly).
Breakfast at the hotel is "Spartan", continental type, quite late from 8 to 9. Every day the same thing: sandwiches, muesli, juices from bags, coffee "from the tank", tea "from the tank" (the bags are already in the tank) , canned fruit, yogurt (the last two - not every day).
Three courses are served for dinner: something different every day, i. e. you can get acquainted with the local cuisine (similar to Turkish). The most boring was probably the dessert. Drinks are ordered separately.
The hotel is located near the main street, along which city buses run to Herakleion (or the airport), 100 meters to the beach along the lane on which the hotel stands. If you are going to travel around the island, this location of the hotel is very convenient. On the beach there are sun loungers (paid), showers.
On the territory of the hotel there is a small swimming pool (5x2 meters), more for children, but deeper. There is a wave on the sea even in the morning. Please note: there are sharp stones (marked with buoys), pebbles at the junction of water and beach, sea urchins. The sand gets very hot in the sun. It is best to have slippers for swimming.
A little about travel agencies that accept tourists, and about excursions in Crete.
We were hosted by Le Grand. Despite the fact that we specifically chose a hotel near Herakleon, the first thing they tried to impose on us at the airport was a 4-star hotel somewhere in the tourist "reservation" in Malia (40-50 kilometers from Herakleon, intercity bus). We spent two hours demanding to be sent to the booked hotel. We were taken by taxi. The meeting with the representative of firm has been appointed only next day. Then she called and rescheduled the meeting. As a result, we lost half a day on the first day and the whole next day.
The tours offered were superficial and boring (since we knew what we wanted to see, we weren't happy with that).
I bought only one excursion from this company (Roman Gortyn - Kaliviani Monastery - Matala Beach), because I already knew by that time that it was very difficult to get to these places and it would not work in one day. The start time and the place where they should take me on an excursion were moved, but only the time was reported, they forgot about the place. As a result, I spent 40 minutes figuring out on my mobile phone why the company's bus drove past me without stopping, then I was picked up by a guide who arrived in a taxi and yelled at me. At the same time, neither the representative of the travel agency nor the guide apologized to me. The tourists who were waiting for us with a guide on the bus also expressed their claims (though not so expressively). There were problems with the speaker on the bus, at the end, where I was sitting, the tour could not be heard. Despite the fact that I told the guide twice about this, my requests remained unheeded. I heard her excursions only outside the bus. Here I can say that everything was quite professional.
I went on the rest of the excursions, buying tours in the Alfa travel agency located next to the hotel.
In Santorini, everything was generally well organized. But for the Russians, the excursions were of lesser quality than, for example, for the French. There is an archaeological museum in Fira, which the French managed to visit, and the Russian guide sent us there 15 minutes before closing, although at the beginning of the day she knew that we really wanted to go there. As a result, we did not see the most famous exhibits of the museum (everything was already closed, we were only allowed into the halls at the exit). The excavations were also closed (follow the information on the Santorini website). The excursion around the volcano is an absolutely senseless waste of time and money. Tourists are offered it on the ferry going to Santorini. The boat stops near the island next to the volcano. Tourists are offered to dive into the water. What doesn’t float there: packages, gasoline. Near the coast - hot springs. In the heat, such swimming can satisfy only boys.
I traveled to the Samaria Gorge with the Turin Club travel agency without Russian accompaniment. Everything was organized, without delay, on schedule. Nobody got lost, nobody lingered. True, with long-distance accommodation (further than Chania), you arrive in Samaria by 10 am, so there is much less time left for the transition itself (15 km up and down the gorge, from one river bank to another). The transition is difficult, because you have to go quite quickly. If you are not in the habit of long hikes, it is better not to even try to go there. It is necessary to weigh your strengths well, because. there will be only one way out of the gorge - by the Libyan Sea, or the way back - up to a height of about 2000 m.
With the same company "Turin Club", but with Russian accompaniment, I went on two more excursions. One: Palace of Knossos (1.5 hours) - Lassithi plateau (Dikti-Zeus cave) - Kera monastery. Double-decker bus, more than 60 people in a group. Almost nothing can be seen or heard in the palace. In addition, 1.5 hours for these excavations is very short (I was there on my own, spent more than 4 hours in Knossos). Kera Monastery is a very interesting place (if you are religious). Photography is prohibited there. The Cave of Zeus is a climb uphill along a serpentine on foot or on a donkey, descending into a cave where it drips from above, and dirty puddles underfoot, again ascending and descending. Consider dirty dampness and your strength. I advise you not to wear long trousers. The cave is very beautiful (if you have nothing to compare).
I advise you to go to Knossos in the morning, then to the Archaeological Museum in Herakleion (only one hall is open, the rest are under reconstruction), then see the city (it is small). Do it in one day, at your own pace. On the first Sunday of the month, Knossos and the museum are free.
The second trip was to a mountain village for a "Cretan evening". If you are a disco lover, this is the place for you. I went to see folk dances, to try local food, because I am interested in ethnography. I didn't find this. Buffet, the roar of power tools in the room where the tourists were "driven", there is nowhere to hide from the noise. Stage for dancing - for 8 people. Tourists were trampling around, pushing each other. Dance better at your resort. And it is better to taste local food in a tavern.
In general, a set of excursions in travel agencies is of the same type, rather boring (probably so as not to tire tourists). Design your own itinerary.
We tried to explore the rest of the places with the help of intercity buses. Please note that even if the guide says that the excavations close at 17 or 19, this may not be the case: they often close at 13-15. The same applies to churches and monasteries. At the same time, the churches do not have a timetable for their work. So you have to go early. Local buses also return early (the last one can be at 15-17). Perhaps this is for security reasons: it is getting dark, and the roads are mountainous, narrow, with serpentine. Some places cannot be reached at all (such as Kato Zakros, the monasteries near Zaros).
It is quite possible that excavations in Phaistos are free on the first Tuesday of the month (we were there on Monday, I saw an ad at the ticket office that was closed at 15:00 for free). The bus does not go to Festus, in the last village you have to transfer to the "foundling", the driver will say. Back - also. If you go by bus, you may be the only tourist who came to Festus by bus). Agia Triada cannot be found on foot at all (although it is only 3 km on the sign). Herakleon bus stations are located at opposite ends of the city. The division is as follows: if you need to go west or east along the new high-speed highway of the north coast - station A at the port, if you need south - station B in the west of the city at the gates of Chania. The schedule generally coincides with that indicated on the KTEL website.
City buses - blue shades, long-distance - green, with air conditioning. Stops are not announced. In the city, on the bus, a scoreboard with a running line in English and Greek, and in intercity buses, you have to pester the driver. The bus number is written on the tickets.
It is best to rent a car (if you had to drive a car in the mountains) and if several people can change places in the car (it is very difficult to drive all the time in the mountains). Then you will see more and be able to visit other beaches of the island, not counting the hours. In Crete, it is not the distances that should be assessed, but the mountain roads: speeds are lower, it is more difficult to drive, because everything is much slower than you are used to on flat terrain.
Crete is very beautiful, but it is better to watch it in October. In the last days of our stay there were more than 30.
