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Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete

almirojb

By almirojb,
in Greece Ports

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almirojb

almirojb

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We will be in the above mentioned port on September 11, 2009 via the Navigator of the Seas. The ship offers only three excursions and all don't see interesting. Is there anything to do or see in this port? My wife and I are in our mid-30s so we don't want to see all the traditional "tourist" stuff but would like a small town to walk around, etc. Is this available in this port? Thanks.

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Fafos

Fafos

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We will be in the above mentioned port on September 11, 2009 via the Navigator of the Seas. The ship offers only three excursions and all don't see interesting. Is there anything to do or see in this port? My wife and I are in our mid-30s so we don't want to see all the traditional "tourist" stuff but would like a small town to walk around, etc. Is this available in this port? Thanks.

 

here you can read about villages around Heraklion: http://www.greekhotel.com/crete/heraklion/heraklion-villages/home.htm

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Fafos

Fafos

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Fafos -- that's a phenomenal link! Thanks for that.

 

A question to you: are the beaches listed on that website open to the public, or must you be a hotel guest to access them?

 

From this site:

 

http://www.greekhotel.com/crete/heraklion/heraklion-beaches/home.htm

 

 

all beaches are open to public in Greece...some organized beaches require ticket for entry, but they are few.. if I remember well, at Heraklion all beaches are free (I've go many years before there for swimming)...

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Fafos

Fafos

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On another forum, it was mentioned that the Archeological Museum in Heraklion is closed for remodel, except a small building with just a few artifacts. Can anyone confirm this?

 

yep.. that's true.. we waiting finish the remodel this year but the money are over and maybe need 2-4 years more... here is Greece:p

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  • 2 weeks later...
Clay Clayton "Live from...." Rare

Clay Clayton

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When we were there in May of 2008, we had a great day in Crete. I had pre-arranged a rental car and we left the ship as quickly as possible and beat some but not all of the tourists to knossos. After our visit there, we continued driving away from town to a village an online Creatan friend has suggested called Archanes. Its a little village, very quiet, had a wonderful day wondering the streets, visiting a few small churches and eating a WONDERFUL lunch. It was one of the highlights of our cruise.

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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On another forum, it was mentioned that the Archeological Museum in Heraklion is closed for remodel, except a small building with just a few artifacts. Can anyone confirm this?

 

The part that is open is fairly small, but there are more that just a few artifacts. We spent about 45 minutes in the temporary museum space, and thought that it was an interesting follow up to our visit to Knossos (we were on our own, but a guided group came in while we were there, so we eavesdropped a bit.) We also had time to explore a bit of downtown Heraklion on foot.

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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Hi Albert,

We took it back (last October) ... had planned to take it on the way there, but hailed a taxi just outside of the port area as we headed to the bus stop. The taxi took 4 of us to Knossos for 10 euros. (Taxis inside the port area are a different story ... they want to do tours, and if you find a taxi that will agree to just take you to Knossos, it will be at double the price that a taxi outside the port will be.)

 

I don't think you'll have any problems with the bus ... it's a city bus that runs regularly and there is a stop right beside the entrance to Knossos. We bought our tickets at a kiosk next to the bus stop (next to Knossos).

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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Susan: Thanks for the info; we are on the same cruise and wondering how likely it would be to get a taxi at Knossos to take us back to the port if we did not want to return by bus? Thanks.

 

We didn't look for taxis on the way back, so I'm not sure. The road is a fairly busy one, and it's only a few miles from Iraklion, so chances are there will be taxis in the area. The bus is quite easy to do though, and it goes down by the port (we got off in the centre of town and and walked back to the ship after exploring the city centre and museum.)

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  • 2 weeks later...
jms2362

jms2362

Posted
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When we were there in May of 2008, we had a great day in Crete. I had pre-arranged a rental car and we left the ship as quickly as possible and beat some but not all of the tourists to knossos. After our visit there, we continued driving away from town to a village an online Creatan friend has suggested called Archanes. Its a little village, very quiet, had a wonderful day wondering the streets, visiting a few small churches and eating a WONDERFUL lunch. It was one of the highlights of our cruise.

Was the car rental at the Port? We want to rent one, I emailed them 2 days ago and still have not gotten a areply. Where is Archanes? I had someone else mention this village and I am unable to find it on the map.

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Clay Clayton "Live from...." Rare

Clay Clayton

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No, the car rental wasn't at the port, but they picked us up at the port and drove us to their location downtown. Where we transferred to "our" car. As I recall, when we got back to port, we had to call them and then they came and met us....not sure why we didn't just take the car back to them, but doesn't seem like we did. Anyway, checked my records and we paid 39euros ALL inclusive incl insurance for a small four seater...but I am a six foot seven, 300lb, big boned man and it was fine. Anyway, their website is:

http://www.athenscars-crete.gr/car-hire/

 

Regarding Archanes, it is about 30 minutes inland, due south?, UP, from the port. I just went to google maps, and put in Archanes, Crete, Greece and it shows up on the map just about where I thought it should be. If we had of been more daring, I think we would have continue on south and tried to see the other side of the island. But we had a long delicious lunch and ended up just enjoying doing nothing but having another glass of Raki and enjoying the afternoon.

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jms2362

jms2362

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No, the car rental wasn't at the port, but they picked us up at the port and drove us to their location downtown. Where we transferred to "our" car. As I recall, when we got back to port, we had to call them and then they came and met us....not sure why we didn't just take the car back to them, but doesn't seem like we did. Anyway, checked my records and we paid 39euros ALL inclusive incl insurance for a small four seater...but I am a six foot seven, 300lb, big boned man and it was fine. Anyway, their website is:

http://www.athenscars-crete.gr/car-hire/

 

Regarding Archanes, it is about 30 minutes inland, due south?, UP, from the port. I just went to google maps, and put in Archanes, Crete, Greece and it shows up on the map just about where I thought it should be. If we had of been more daring, I think we would have continue on south and tried to see the other side of the island. But we had a long delicious lunch and ended up just enjoying doing nothing but having another glass of Raki and enjoying the afternoon.

 

Thanks so much for that information, it is really appreciated. This is why I love Cruise Critic, it helps us to" get out there" and see everything. When you left the cruise were you in Athens? Trying to figure out how to get to the airport reasonably. Just saw you are from Raleigh, we are from Asheville, NC, it is a small world. Mary and Jim

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Clay Clayton "Live from...." Rare

Clay Clayton

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No, we boarded in Athens. We were VERY satisfied with the Athens subway system. If I recall correctly, it is something like six euros and only took thirty or forty minutes to get us to our hotel in town. We took the subway to the ship also, which was very easy except for getting from the end of the line station to the actual ship...we did it on a bus, but we had a Greek friend with us who knew the ropes. I think I would suggest snagging a cab when you get off the ship and tell them you want to go to the subway station and then take the train from there. From what I could find out, traffic in Athens can be awful and can make the airport run take signiicantly longer than the subway.

 

It is a great cruise, ya'll will have a wonderful time. Since you obviously don't object to driving yourself, I highly recommend tha tyou rent a car in Santorini...we drove from one end of the island to the other...had a WONDERFUL day...the relaxing highlight of the trip.

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DEL67

DEL67

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Susan: Thanks for the info; we are on the same cruise and wondering how likely it would be to get a taxi at Knossos to take us back to the port if we did not want to return by bus? Thanks.

 

We were in Crete last week. All the taxis we tried wanted much more to go to Knossos than had been reported on CruiseCritic so we took the bus in both directions. The bus stop was about a 15 minute walk from the pier, near the shopping area.

 

There seemed to be many taxis near Knossos, but I do not know how many were waiting for their passengers to return.

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Susan-M

Susan-M

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We were in Crete last week. All the taxis we tried wanted much more to go to Knossos than had been reported on CruiseCritic....

 

 

Did you try to get a taxi inside the port area or outside? We walked just outside of the port area and flagged one down ... it was a lot less expensive than what the taxis inside the port area were asking.

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jms2362

jms2362

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We were in Crete last week. All the taxis we tried wanted much more to go to Knossos than had been reported on CruiseCritic so we took the bus in both directions. The bus stop was about a 15 minute walk from the pier, near the shopping area.

 

There seemed to be many taxis near Knossos, but I do not know how many were waiting for their passengers to return.

How did yu get to the bus stop, what direction do we go, we are thinking of taking the bus to Knossos and then a bus downtown to go to the museum. Do you get a ticket at the same time in Knossos for the museum also, and get a better price?

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