Crete in April? or elsewhere?

Planning ahead, I am looking at a cruise that will drop me off in Greece, where I plan to stay for 6-8 weeks. The best timing for me is shoulder season, and I have found an itinerary that ends in Piraeus in April.

I'm considering Crete for the long stay, as it is the farthest south and likely to be a bit warmer, is accessible by ferry from Piraeus, and has readily available housing in small villages that are not too far from the larger towns.

Those of you who know and love Greece: does that sound like a good idea? Or would you direct me elsewhere for a long stay in April/May?

With grateful thanks in advance,

This April just finished was excellent warm weather on Crete, people were even on the beach & some in the sea! But it has been unusually warm. April is my favourite month, everything is fresh & green, the wildflowers are out in abundance. Lovely weather for walking & exploring. But usually not warm enough for beaches, & still cool in the evenings. & there can be some days of rain in amongst the sunshine. But overall it is a great time to visit, as the place has a 'waking up' feel, holiday places being painted & bars starting to open etc. but the roads are still quiet & there is plenty of time & space for exploring.

You may want to look for accommodation in one of the larger towns, or in a village with year - round population, rather than 1 of the tourist resorts.

Crete is ideal at that time of year. We have had numerous seven day stays on Crete.

One of our favourites was a stay in Rethymnon right after Greek Easter.

We have never tasted honey as good as that which we have had on Crete.

Thank you, both! Quiet but waking up, good for walking and wandering -- it sounds like exactly what I'm looking for.

It is a big island with lots to see.

Highly recommend renting a car and doing some touring. Accommodation will be easy to obtain and the locals will be glad to see the first batch of tourists arrive.

We have visited Crete three times for two weeks each trip. We love it, though the water will likely not be warm enough to swim. It is a very big island so I would suggest multiple locations. We like exploring the west end, near Maleme and Kissamos to visit that side. Chania is beautiful with some great restaurants.

You need to visit the south side, Spili, Phaestos, the large monastery etc etc. Heraklion is not our favourite. The east side, Aghios Nikolas, Elounda and Istron all make a good base for exploring Malia Palace, Knossos, Vai and the east.

Agree with Iancal on the honey, we always bring home big tins of it. Luckily our local Italian store carries Greek honey and the Greek mountain teas.

Absolutely. Worst thing you could do is get stuck in one of the resorts near Heraklion for your entire time. They are fine but this is not the way to see the island or part of the island. Driving in very easy on Crete. Our advice would be not to try to tour the entire island if you have a week or less.

Thank you so much for the helpful feedback. My tentative plan is to find a place in a village for a month to 6 weeks, and use that as a base to explore further: Crete, other islands, and eventually I will end up with a week or so in Athens before flying home. That raises some follow up questions:

Can you recommend a favorite village or area in Crete that would be ideal for the 2nd half of April and all of May? Ideally, I would have access to walking/hiking, a local taverna or two, and a larger town center not too far away. Home base will be a sort of walking/writing retreat.

When I explore the other parts of Crete, would renting a motorbike be sufficient, is there sufficient public transportation if I plan it right, or should I look into short-term car rentals?

With many thanks for your guidance,

My favourite area is Apokoronas, a district to the East of Chania. There are mountains & beaches, old villages, olive groves, beautiful scenery, nice sea, & places people live in all year. & half an hour or so to lovely Chania.

Have a look at Kalyves, Plaka, Vamos, Gavalohori, these are all villages with a couple of tavernas (more in Kalyves, the local town, which has Bank & Post Office etc). Or Almyrida, a pretty little beach resort, which will be very quiet but not closed in April.

From these villages it's only half an hour to be up in the mountains, less than an hour to Rethymno, just over an hour to drive to the South coast.

For reservations, if you look at the private villa websites, places like homeaway etc, then contact the owners you should get a much better price for a longer stay. I know places I could suggest for you but it is probably not appropriate on the forum.

The same with a car hire - a car would be much better than a bike, contact some hire car co's & negotiate hard, should be good value at that time of year.

Enjoy your planning.

Thank you so much for the helpful feedback. My tentative plan is to find a place in a village for a month to 6 weeks, and use that as a base to explore further: Crete, other islands, and eventually I will end up with a week or so in Athens before flying home. That raises some follow up questions:

 

Can you recommend a favorite village or area in Crete that would be ideal for the 2nd half of April and all of May? Ideally, I would have access to walking/hiking, a local taverna or two, and a larger town center not too far away. Home base will be a sort of walking/writing retreat.

 

When I explore the other parts of Crete, would renting a motorbike be sufficient, is there sufficient public transportation if I plan it right, or should I look into short-term car rentals?

 

With many thanks for your guidance,

It would be hard to explore other islands from Crete because of the distances. Would you consider spending 3-4 weeks in Crete and then moving to a smaller island for a couple of weeks? I would pick Naxos or Paros which makes it a much easier base to get to other islands in the Cyclades. For example, you can do day trips to Santorini or Mykonos from there using ferries or local excursion boats.

For exploring other islands I assume you are planning to use the ferries. Look up ferry schedules at that time of the year to give you an idea of the distances and time involved.

For sea temperatures look at this:

https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/greece/

It would be hard to explore other islands from Crete because of the distances. Would you consider spending 3-4 weeks in Crete and then moving to a smaller island for a couple of weeks? I would pick Naxos or Paros which makes it a much easier base to get to other islands in the Cyclades. For example, you can do day trips to Santorini or Mykonos from there using ferries or local excursion boats.

Thank you, marazul. I love this idea: spend the first month in Crete, then move north to the Cyclades as the weather turns warmer. Island exploring via ferry is clearly easier from the Cyclades, and is something I've always longed to do. What do you think about Sifnos (rather than Naxos or Paros) as a home base in late May?

Wonderful suggestions, all -- thank you for all the tips!

We loved the small village of istron and stayed in a lovely Kavousanos apartment with a view of the sea from two terraces. It had the best village bakery nearby and the family run restaurant. The family practically adopted us! It is on the bus route to Aghios Nikolas.

Truly though Crete is so big that I would spend two weeks near Chania, we liked the larger village of Kissamos and a few days exploring the south coast. We enjoyed the Nautilus hotel on the sea, very modern with a great breakfast near some excellent restaurants; then two weeks in Istron. We loved Paros as well, so great advice on splitting your time.

Thank you, marazul. I love this idea: spend the first month in Crete, then move north to the Cyclades as the weather turns warmer. Island exploring via ferry is clearly easier from the Cyclades, and is something I've always longed to do. What do you think about Sifnos (rather than Naxos or Paros) as a home base in late May?

 

Wonderful suggestions, all -- thank you for all the tips!

Sifnos would be a great base too. Naxos and Paros are half hour away from each other by ferry.

I would let the neighboring islands you want to visit determine your decision. For example, Milos is easier from Sifnos, and Amorgos and Santorini are easier from Naxos/Paros. There may be different ferry lines and routes involved. So spend some time in the ferry booking websites, such as https://www.letsferry.gr/en/ or http://www.greekferries.gr/ and decide which one suits you best.

And you have the luxury of time. Eight weeks in Greece! Can I be disruptive and suggest 3 weeks in Crete, 2 in the Cyclades and 2 in the Dodecanese? For the Dodecanese, Kos - I know, touristy in some areas - but half way between Patmos and Rhodes and with easy ferry connections. From there you could also visit some of the out of the way islands like Lipsi and Leros, and even take a day trip to Bodrum.

I'm jealous!

IF you are planning to spend 6-8 weeks on Crete you might consider dividing up you time rather than staying in one place. Have on the eastern and the other half on the western. This will cut down considerably on the driving.