We arrived in the Port of Heraklion around 7AM. The sky was overcast, and the ship noisily connected with the gangway. We’re on deck 6 on the starboard side of the ship adjacent to the gangway side, so when I looked out over our balcony, I was able to see folks milling about portside and exiting the ships for the earliest tours. I was greeted with views of a busy little port town with mountains and hills in the background, and once the clouds parted, a gorgeous snow-capped mountain far off in the distance.
We didn’t book a tour this time, so instead, I spent a relaxing morning drinking coffee on the balcony, doing some yoga, read my devotional (currently reading through Deuteronomy), and practiced a little meditation (currently working through the “Relationship with the Self” series in the Calm app, which I love). At around 10:30, we ate a light breakfast in the Kings Court buffet, and then left the ship.
We caught a shuttle bus for the very short jaunt to the port exit (we received a notice saying we were not to walk through the port), and then looked for a taxi. We had considered catching a bus to get to Knossos for a more local experience, but after receiving a notice from the ship the night before to watch out for extremist activity in Crete, we decided on a taxi, and I’m so glad we did! So far, we’ve taken big, busy coach tours to each of our destinations, so this was very different.
TAXI TOUR
All the taxi drivers spoke English, which was helpful, and we quickly found a driver. We agreed on 90 euros for a 3 hour tour for the 4 of us with a wonderful cabbie named Ilias who was born on Crete and hoped to die on Crete (his words). If you’re traveling to Crete and need a recommendation for a taxi service, send me a note, and I’ll share his number with you. We first journeyed through the edge of the city of Heraklion where Ilias shared some information about Crete.
It is the largest of the Greek isles, and the 7th largest island in the Mediterranean (this fact I got from the ship’s guide the night before), and there are roughly 2.5-3 million people on the island with about 100k in Heraklion. Heraklion, where the port is, is one of 4 large cities on the island. As we drove through the countryside toward Knossos, it reminded me of the hill country in Texas. One part of the road, in particular, looked like a section of the road near Beeville in Austin with winding roads and road outcrops along the edge, but the steeper mountains looked much moreso like a stunning roadside view of the Rockies when driving south from Denver to Colorado Springs.
Ilias shared information about the 30 million+ olive trees that dot the landscape of Crete, which produce extra virgin olive oil during the harvests in August, which is one of Crete’s primary exports. There were also many orange trees, and we learned that wine is another significant export from Crete.
PALACE OF KNOSSOS
We arrived at Knossos after about 45 minutes of touring the countryside and stopping for a few photo spots, including at a beautiful aqueduct. Located in ancient Crete, it was the renowned home of the mythical King Minos and his famous Minotaur. Its spectacular 3-story structure boasts some impressive artifacts scattered around the grounds, as well as incredible labyrinthine walls. Built by Minoans around 2,000 BC, the site is impressively preserved.
We were just planning on meandering around the site, but the taxi driver encouraged us to find a guide, and when we arrived, a woman wearing a tour guide license offered her services for 60 euro (she said it was typically 100 euro during the busy season, for reference) for 1 hour. Payment was in cash, and there’s an ATM located across the road. There’s a restroom and cafe at the site, so we made a quick pitstop and grabbed coffees for our walk, and you still have to purchase tickets to the site, which were 8 euro each.
Hiring a tour guide turned out to be a great suggestion! She provided maps, images of what different areas of the ruins would have looked like, and a history of the area as well as the mythology of the Minotaur. She shared how the legend is an allegory for the taxation that the Greeks had to pay to King Minos for trading, likening the high taxes to paying akin to sacrificing children (a “blood sacrifice”).
If you look at the map of the Mediterranean, you can see how control of that strategic island allowed for control of trade through the eastern part of the sea and control of the Aegean Sea. It helped that the Minoans were excellent shipbuilders and seamen.
We had the opportunity to see the King’s throne, which is the oldest still existing royal throne in Europe, and it was well preserved in a little room with a deep bowl in front of it where it is believed that the king would engage in ritual cleansing before undertaking ceremonies. The throne was tiny, and I believe the people were quite small.
Another small throne sat in a room about 20 yards from the king’s room that is believed to have been reserved for the goddess. The goddess appears to represent mother nature, and based on the artwork throughout the palace, the Minoans held the goddess in high esteem. Our tour guide suggested that one current theory is that an “actress” would have played the role of the goddess so the people could witness her, though not much else is known of her, and unfortunately her name is lost to history.
The throne my kiddos were most fascinated by, though, was the “toilet throne.” They had indoor plumbing for the royals, and the queen’s “throne” was upstairs, using gravity to carry waste downstairs and through a sewer system, which lay beneath stones so as to conceal any bad odors. Water was pumped through the sewer system, and the waste was then carried out to sea. Pretty impressive system given that much of the west still lacked indoor plumbing until the past century! Some of the clay pipes used to convey water still remained and were visible through a grate.
The part of the tour I found most fascinating was learning that now empty hillside was dotted with about 20,000 houses during the Minoan period. Nature has indeed taken its course and reclaimed its landscape as it was hard to imagine such an urban civilization in an area overtaken by olive trees and quiet spaces.
Another fascinating aspect of the palace was the flooring. Every space, from the alleyways within the palace grounds to the storage rooms, had stone floors, and much of them were found during excavation to be beautifully preserved.
We arrived after the busy cruise ship tours had left, so there were very few people at the site, and the tour was quiet and allowed for the kids to ask countless questions (granted most of them were about the Minotaur…). All in all, a great “field trip” per the kids, and left mum and dad feeling like winners at homeschooling that day!
TOUR OF HERAKLION
After Knossos, the toured by the Fortress at Heraklion, which has guarded the city since it was built during the Venetian Period of the 1500s. We also took a quick stop by one of the spectacular Greek Orthodox churches, and went inside for an opportunity to pray and take photos. The entire ceiling as well as the church was covered in dramatic artwork and the ornate chandeliers hanging throughout the church were no exception. Our guide finally whisked us through the city before arriving in the center at the Morozini Fountain, which was built in 1629. We had a 30 minute opportunity to take a break and walk around before returning to the taxi for the trip back to the port.
WHAT TO WEAR
Despite being mid-January, the weather was temperate, a nice change from spending the past couple of months in the cold in NY, across the Atlantic, and in the northwest corner of Europe. I wore leggings, a t-shirt, Skecher Go Walks, and a light windbreaker and sunglasses, and was perfectly comfortable. I dressed the kids in jeans, long sleeve shirts, light rain jackets, and hiking shoes, which was a good call as they’d otherwise have muddied and scuffed up their sneakers clamoring around in the ruins of Palace of Knossos.
FOOD IN CRETE
I wouldn’t usually advise eating local fruit, but our taxi driver insisted that bananas from Crete are delicious, and he stopped the car at a greengrocer and hopped out, and came back a couple of minutes later proffering bananas and water. Totally worth the try! The bananas were firm and smelled stronger than American bananas. We only had a short period in the town to try some local goodies. We found an adorable little bakery that marketed itself as “healthy living” a stone’s throw from the Morozini Fountain in the center of town, and they had great service. I had a cappuccino and falafel wrap. Chuck had an espresso and split a sugar free chocolate cake with the kiddos. They were more enthused by watching the pigeons than finding a snack, and we didn’t have much time left, so we left our Greek food ventures at that. Fortunately they had Greek themed food on the ship that night–greek salad, greek soup, and an aubergine moussaka, so all’s well that ends well, but if I got to go back again, there were so many cute little cafes near the fountain to try.
MONEY IN CRETE
Bring euros, but not too many. Crime and pick-pocketing are apparently a big concern, but there were also plenty of ATMs around, even at Knossos, so it wasn’t a big deal. All in all, we spent 150 euros between the taxi and the tour guide, and another 20 euro for coffees and snacks in the town. The bus tour through the cruise ship would have cost more than that, and we ended up with a much more personalized tour, so we felt like the day was a win.
I wouldn’t venture alone without a tour at all the ports, but for most European ports, finding alternative plans doesn’t seem to be too challenging. The important thing to do is to identify what you want to achieve from the day–what locations to visit, what food or drinks to try, what photos to take, what souvenirs to find, or what experiences to have, and then identify a good means of transportation. If traveling independently with a taxi or rickshaw, for instance, make sure to establish the agreed upon price before getting into the vehicle.
WHAT IS AT THE PORT OF HERAKLION
Unlike at our previous stop in Lisbon, there were no shops at the port and nothing to walk to in the immediate vicinity. Lisbon had offered duty free shopping with candies for the children, convenient toiletries, wine/ spirits, and souvenirs, but Heraklion’s port unfortunately did not offer anything, much to the disappointment of the kiddos. The port would definitely benefit from adding these as apparently ships arrive daily during the busy season. During the off-season like when we arrived, however, they only have 1-2 cruises arriving per week. There were a couple of car ferries in port, though I’m not sure where they traveled to. The one interesting thing I did note is that once we went through security at the port, the adjacent room was packed with cruise-goers making phone calls back home. There was free wifi offered in that room. We have cell service and an internet package on the boat, so we didn’t stop to see if it was good, but there was a lot of happy chattering going on!
If I went back to Crete, I’d definitely visit some of the other cities. There were beautiful looking villages, like Margarites, and beaches like Triopetra that I’d love to visit. Crete is definitely an interesting place with a deep history but modern cities, and yet so much of Crete has the feel of a sleepy fishing village, but one with the strength of having mastered trade, architecture, and technology 1000s of years before anything of its kind ever occured in the west.
