Knossos, Phaistos, and the Amari valley
The Bronze Age sites are taken in careful order — Knossos with an archaeologist before the museum in Heraklion, then Phaistos later, once the pattern of a palace complex is understood. In between, three nights in the Amari valley slow things to olive groves, Byzantine chapels and a single village taverna, which is the counterweight the archaeology needs.
- Length
- 8 days · 7 nights
- Months
- March – May, September – November
- Stops
- 4
The route on a map
1 · 4 nights
Heraklion
The island's capital, home to the Archaeological Museum and the closest base to Knossos.
2 · A day here
Knossos
The reconstructed Minoan palace, best visited early with a guide.
3 · 3 nights
Amari valley
Stone villages and olive groves beneath Psiloritis, with almost no tourist traffic.
4 · A day here
Phaistos
The second great Minoan palace, on a ridge above the Messara plain.
Day by day
Day 1
Arrive Heraklion
Sleep · Heraklion
Flight to Heraklion, fifty minutes from Athens, or the overnight ferry; evening at the Koules fortress.
Day 2
Knossos, early
Sleep · Heraklion
A guided morning at Knossos before the coach groups, afternoon free in Heraklion's old town.
Day 3
Into the Amari valley
Sleep · Amari valley
Drive south-west via Rethymno's Fortezza, stopping at the Byzantine church of Panagia in Thronos.
Day 4
Villages beneath Psiloritis
Sleep · Amari valley
Walk between Amari and Meronas, lunch of wild greens and sheep's cheese at a village kitchen.
Day 5
The Amari monasteries
Sleep · Amari valley
Asomatos monastery and the frescoed churches of the valley, a raki tasting at a family producer.
Day 6
Phaistos and the Messara plain
Sleep · Heraklion
Drive south to the Phaistos palace and the smaller site at Agia Triada, back to Heraklion by evening.
Day 7
The museum
Sleep · Heraklion
A full morning at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum to see the finds from Knossos and Phaistos together.
Day 8
Depart
Departure
Morning flight or ferry.