Give Heraklion three days. Day one is Knossos at opening time, then the Archaeological Museum in the afternoon, in that order, so the frescoes and the Phaistos Disc land after you have seen where they came from. Day two is the town: the Venetian walls to Kazantzakis’s grave, Koules, the 1866 Street market and bougatsa on Lions Square. Day three goes south to Phaistos and Matala, or east to Spinalonga.
Updated · Wimup Editorial
Heraklion is Crete’s working capital: a busy port inside the longest-standing Venetian walls in Greece, five kilometres from Knossos. It is not a pretty town at first sight. Give it a morning at the museum and an evening in the old lanes and it becomes the best base on the island for the Minoans.
The largest Minoan palace on Crete, five kilometres south of the centre, part restored in concrete by Arthur Evans after he dug it from 1900. The reconstructions are debated and still the clearest picture of a Bronze Age palace you will get.
The world’s main collection of Minoan art: the Phaistos Disc, the bull-leaping fresco, the snake goddesses and the bull’s-head rhyton. Go after Knossos, so the rooms fill in what the ruins leave out.
Seven bastions ring the old town, and the Martinengo is the highest. Nikos Kazantzakis is buried on top under a plain wooden cross and his epitaph: “I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.”
The Venetian sea fort the Venetians called Rocca a Mare, built in the 16th century to guard the old harbour. The rooftop is the view: the fishing boats below, the ferries beyond, the town walls behind.
Byzantine to modern Crete in one mansion on the seafront, with two paintings by El Greco and a reconstruction of Kazantzakis’s study. Open 09:00 to 17:00 daily from 18 May to 31 October 2026.
Heraklion’s breakfast is bougatsa: flaky pastry around sweet cream or salty mizithra cheese, eaten beside the Morosini Fountain of 1628. Kirkor and Phyllosophies have both worked the square for about a century.
The old market street runs from Lions Square to Kornarou Square: herbs, olive oil, thyme honey, cheese and raki. The stalls nearest the square sell souvenirs; the food shops get better towards Kornarou.
The Venetian Loggia of 1626 to 1628 is now the town hall; the square behind it holds Agios Titos, church, mosque and church again. Its relic of Saint Titus, Crete’s patron, came home from Venice in 1966.
Heraklion’s wine country starts twenty minutes south of town, with estates growing Vidiano, Kotsifali, Mandilari and Liatiko. Boutari’s Skalani estate is the closest; Lyrarakis below Peza revived near-lost local grapes.
Phaistos is Crete’s second palace, about an hour’s drive south-west over the mountains, on a ridge above the Messara plain. Pair it with Gortyna on the way and a late swim under the cliff caves at Matala.
The Morosini Fountain of 1628 and the town’s meeting point, ringed by bougatsa shops.
The Venetian nobles’ club of 1626 to 1628, rebuilt after the war and now the town hall.
One of the largest churches in Greece, finished in 1895 for the town’s patron saint.
The Venetian Bembo Fountain and an Ottoman kiosk turned café, at the top of the market.
The 16th-century sea fort, then the long harbour wall locals walk at dusk.
The writer’s life and work in Myrtia, about 15 km south-east among the vines.
Seafood mezedes facing the Venetian fortress at the port end of Marineli.
The other bougatsa shop on the square, its line going back to a Smyrna pastry master.
Good Friday processions from every parish, then midnight fireworks on Saturday. The date moves each year.
Ceremonies across the island marking the German airborne invasion of 20 May 1941, Heraklion among its targets.
A three-day music festival on the sand at Matala, a nod to the bay’s hippie years.
The city’s summer season of theatre, music and dance, much of it in open-air venues.
A free wine festival on the square of Dafnes, one of the region’s wine villages.
Crete’s patron saint, with a procession from his church in the old town.
Village stills fire up after the grape harvest to make tsikoudia, and many invite people in.
Heraklion’s patron saint, a public holiday in town, centred on his cathedral.
Heraklion “Nikos Kazantzakis” (HER) sits about 5 km east. City bus line 1 runs to Eleftherias Square; a ticket bought before boarding costs less than one from the driver.
Minoan Lines and ANEK sail overnight to Piraeus all year, about nine hours. In summer Seajets fast boats run to Santorini and the Cyclades.
KTEL runs from the station by the port to Chania, Rethymno, Agios Nikolaos, Phaistos and Matala. Buy at the station or on board.
The old town is walkable. Line 2 reaches Knossos from the centre. Hire a car for the wine villages and the south coast.
Heraklion’s breakfast: flaky pastry around sweet cream or salty mizithra.
Barley rusk under grated tomato, mizithra, oregano and olive oil.
Small cheese pies, savoury with herbs or sweet with honey.
Snails fried face down in salt and olive oil, then doused in vinegar.
The wedding pilaf: rice cooked in rich meat stock, finished with butter.
A rich cream from sheep’s milk, spooned over fried eggs or pilaf.
Pork cured in vinegar and smoked over herbs, served in slices.
Crete’s grape-pomace spirit, poured free at the end of most meals.
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