Crete self drive holiday, Greece
Description of Crete self drive holiday, Greece
Discover the timeless allure of Crete on a bespoke fly-drive holiday designed for the discerning traveller. Your chosen journey can combine the ultimate blend of freedom and luxury, allowing you to explore the island’s breathtaking landscapes, ancient ruins, and charming coastal villages at your own pace — all while enjoying premium accommodation and insider experiences.
Your holiday can begin with a direct flight to Heraklion or Chania, where your private hire car awaits. From there, embark on a scenic drive through olive groves, mountain passes, and seaside roads, uncovering Crete’s rich tapestry of culture and cuisine along the way. Highlights may include the atmospheric streets of Rethymnon, the world-renowned Minoan Palace of Knossos, and hidden gems like the Lassithi Plateau or the secluded coves of the south coast.
Stay in hand-picked small & boutique hotels offering exceptional service, local character, and stunning settings. With our tailor-made service, your itinerary is crafted to match your preferences, whether you wish to indulge in gourmet dining, explore archaeological wonders, or simply unwind by the sea.
This is independent travel with the polish of a luxury escape — a fly-drive experience where every detail is taken care of, yet every day is yours to design. Crete awaits.
The example holiday here is one of our suggested trips following a carefully crafted itinerary around some of the island’s most stunning, ancient archaeological sites, traditional villages and mountain landscapes. Moving from one small hotel or guesthouse to another enables you to cover some good ground on this, Greece’s largest island, albeit at a relaxed pace.
World renowned Minoan sites include Knossos, just south of the capital Heraklion, which boasts a collection of ancient palaces; Gournia, an excavated Minoan town with about sixty houses around a central palace and Phaistos, a truly breathtaking site on a hilltop facing the Libyan Sea.
Mountains are what many people also seek out on Crete, with a number of individual peaks and ranges; on this particular holiday you will have time in the foothills of Mount Ida, the highest on the island at 2,456m, and for a walk in Rouvas Gorge.
Of course, you can’t visit Crete without time at some of its stunning beaches and so we include the likes of Preveli, Almiros or Rethymnon on your much needed ‘chill out by the sea’ days. Crete is also very much about taking it easy, after all, especially if you are travelling with children in which case just let us know and, with our expert local knowledge, we can create the perfect Cretan itinerary to suit the ages and interests of your group.
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5 Reviews of Crete self drive holiday, Greece
Reviewed on 28 May 2023 by Sam Younger
The highlights were the Minoan and Byzantine sites, along with the quality of the hotels we stayed in. Read full reviewReviewed on 08 May 2022 by Margaret McCulloch
Excellent....Visiting the different archeological sites and the Archeological Museum in Heraklion, which was one of the main reasons I have always wanted to go to Crete. Read full reviewResponsible Travel
Planet
We have chosen to include places to stay where there is greater opportunity for you to interact with the local people, to practice the local language and to minimise your carbon footprint. The small hotels we offer use predominantly local produce in the preparation of meals, reducing the foodmiles and carbon footprint associated with larger hotels.Our local agency specialises in sustainable adventure and wildlife holidays in Greece. They offer diverse travel packages that allow for flexibility, affordability and variety. Our aim is to promote ecotourism and sustainable adventure holidays at the same time as providing a unique travel experience and allowing you to enjoy the fantastic nature and scenery of this part of Greece, a world away from busy tourist resorts. All staff have a wide knowledge of local areas that you visit during the trips and, most importantly, they know how to protect them.
We strongly believe in the need to protect and enhance the places we travel to, and in the potential of responsible tourism, to be a positive force in environmental and cultural conservation.
As a company we employ responsible policies such as recycling paper, ink cartridges, glass and cardboard; we minimise the use of electricity and conducting the vast majority of our correspondence and promotion via the internet and email, minimizing the amount of paper used for our activities. We also compost waste in our company garden.
People
Accommodation on this holiday is in primarily, family run, small hotels. The food served in the hotels is sourced locally and a large number of dishes on the menus are home made. We encourage you to employ local guides in places where their expertise and local knowledge will enhance your experience and understanding of the historical context and on the environmental impact of your visit.As well as supporting the local community and economy directly, our holidays also encourage support indirectly. As this is a self-drive holiday, visitors can access towns and villages which are off the beaten track, thereby supporting smaller local economies outside of the main towns and resorts of the north coast. Greater interaction with local people and local tourist service providers leads to greater understanding and respect which, almost always leads to better tourist and local relations.
100% of our guides and drivers in Greece are local people. We firmly believe that a local licensed guide can offer more insight into the countryside and region as a whole as well as enhancing the local economy. Their expertise and local knowledge will enhance your experience and understanding of the historical context and the environmental impact of your visit. This is preferable, in our opinion, than sending a guide from another country or even from elsewhere in Greece.
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