Crete · A city of many names and stories
Heraklion
Heraklion, the capital of Crete, is a lively university city holding the island's blockbuster sights, from the Minoan palace of Knossos to the second largest museum in Greece. We design private Heraklion itineraries that dig past the concrete to its Minoan, Venetian and Ottoman layers.
The capital of Crete is a lively university town with unparalleled historical landmarks and an energetic atmosphere.
A city of many names and stories
The city’s harbour once served as the port for Knossos, the Bronze Age capital of the Minoan civilisation, and later for an ancient city called Heraklion. The port was fortified in the Middle Ages, when Saracen pirates made it their main base on Crete and called it Chandakas. Then came the Venetians, who kept the city as the island’s capital but renamed it Candia, filling it with beautiful buildings still visible today. Under the Ottomans it became Megalo Kastro, the Big Castle, before reverting to its original Greek name once the free Cretan State was established in 1898; the whole island joined Greece in 1913. Modern Heraklion is a bit of a concrete mishmash, the result of hasty rebuilding after the Second World War, so it takes a little exploring to discover its hidden charms. We can point the way.
Explore Heraklion
Heraklion is home to Crete’s blockbuster sights. It may not be a classic beauty, but there is plenty going on if you know where to look.
Knossos
One of the most important archaeological sites in Greece, and the best possible place to start learning about the extraordinary history of ancient Crete. This was the central palace of the Minoans, flourishing roughly between 1900 and 1375 BC and systematically excavated by Sir Arthur Evans from 1900. Knossos contains more than a thousand rooms and winding corridors in a maze-like layout that may have inspired the myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur.
The Archaeological Museum
Heraklion has many museums, among them the Museum of Natural History, the Historical Museum of Crete and the Museum of Christian Art, but this is the one to put at the very top of your list. Pair it with a morning at Knossos and a city visit becomes a journey four thousand years deep.
Koules Venetian Fortress
The stronghold guarding the city’s harbour, known as Koules from the Turkish for fortress, or Castello a Mare, castle on the sea in Italian. Walk the ramparts where Venetian cannon once stood and take in the sweep of the waterfront, with the mountains of Crete rising behind the rooftops.
Pairing Heraklion
Heraklion is the eastern gateway of a full Cretan route through Rethymno and Chania, and its port connects onward to Santorini and the Cyclades under sail.
Known first-hand
Our best picks in Heraklion
- Best Beach Amnissos Beach
A beautiful sandy beach with clean water nine kilometres east of the city, popular in summer for its well-organised watersports, sunbeds, umbrellas, showers and seaside fish tavernas.
- Best Dining Ippokampos
Our favourite fish restaurant in the city, overlooking the harbour, with dishes like seafood en papillote and lobster spaghetti. For a purely Cretan affair, Peskesi hides in a photogenic alley of plants and fairy lights: try the slow-roasted goat in yoghurt.
- Best Casual Table Indigo
Unusually for a Greek cafe, Indigo goes beyond the frappe and freddo cappuccino with a long menu of single estate coffees and interesting teas, and outdoor seats looking onto the Church of Agios Titos.
- Best After Dark The historic centre
In a university town the fun after dark is guaranteed: Korai, Dedalou, Perdikari, Androgeo and the pedestrian streets east of Lions Square are jam-packed with small bars and raki joints. Follow your nose to the buzziest.
- Best Sight Koules Venetian Fortress
The legendary fortress guarding the old harbour, also called Castello a Mare, built by the Venetians and now the emblem of the city. Worth the small entrance fee for the views back toward town alone.
- Best Activity Heraklion Archaeological Museum
The second largest museum in Greece and the best place anywhere to meet the Minoans: pottery, jewellery, figurines, frescoes, and the mysterious Phaistos Disc, uncovered in 1908 and resisting full decipherment to this day.
Heraklion has Crete's busiest airport (HER) and a major ferry port with year-round connections to Piraeus and seasonal links to the Cyclades.
Design
Design your experience
Tell us the occasion, the season and who is coming. One of our Epicureans will come back with a first sketch of Heraklion, and will tell you if another corner of Greece suits your dates better.