Spring in Crete - Landscape, history & archaeology
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Overview
Highlights
- Concentrates on the extraordinary civilization of the Minoans, but also pays due attention to Classical and later cultures.
- Plenty of time for Knossos and the main sites and includes many remote and little-visited ones.
- Wonderful, contrasting landscapes at a beautiful time in the island’s calendar.
- Explore various cultural layers, history, landscape and tradition
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Destinations
Activities
Trip includes
- Air travel (economy class) on scheduled flights with Aegean Airlines via Athens (Airbus Industrie A321 & A320)
- Travel by private coach
- Hotel accommodation
- Wine, water and coffee
- All admissions to museums and sites
- All tips for restaurant staff, drivers and guides
- All state and airport taxes
- The services of the lecturer and a local guide
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Itinerary
Fly at c. 12.15pm from London Heathrow to Heraklion via Athens (Aegean Airlines). Overnight Heraklion at the Lato Boutique Hotel.
Knossos Palace and Archaeological Museum. The capital of Minoan Bronze Age Crete, Knossos resonates in both myth and archaeology. At its peak it comprised a magnificent palace with courts, religious buildings and mansions. Excavated by Sir Arthur Evans at the beginnin...
Festos, Agia Triada, Gortyna. A day in the Mesara, the rich agricultural plain on the south coast. Phaistos is the second largest Minoan palace, dramatically located on a ridge overlooking the plain. The Agia Triadha Minoan villa is situated to appreciate the green an...
Knossos. A second visit to the Archaeological Museum gives a more detailed appreciation of Minoan art and artefacts, and a chance also to see the unique Daidalic sculpture of Archaic Crete and the statues of the Classical and Roman periods. The Historical Museum compl...
Mallia Palace, Elounda (to take boat to Spinalonga Island). Set on a fertile coastal plain is the Minoan palace of Mallia. Further east is the beautiful Elounda Bay, with a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mirabello and the mountains of east Crete. The island of Spinalonga, site of the Venetian fortress that became a 20th-century leper colony is sheltered in the bay. Overnight Heraklion.
Knossos Villa Ariadne, Fourni, Anemospilia. The Villa Ariadne was Arthur Evans’ home while excavating Knossos. Our private guide tells a host of stories revealing the life of the Villa from Evans until modern times. Archanes Fourni cemetery, the most complete excavate...
Arkadi Monastery, Armeni Cemetery, Rethymnon. Heading to Chania and the mountainous west of the island, Arkadi is one of the great fortified monasteries of Crete. Its active role in the 1866 revolt against Turkish rule make it a symbol of Cretan resistance. Armeni cem...
Aptera, Souda War Cemetary, Agia Triada Monastery. One of the most powerful Graeco-Roman city states, Aptera is a huge site with Roman ruins, a theatre and a Turkish fort. See the British war cemetery at Souda Bay. Moni Agias Triadas on the Akrotiri peninsula above Hania was founded in 1630 by Venetian nobles and has some of the finest monastic architecture on the island. Overnight Chania.
Chania. A morning walking tour includes the Archaeological Museum, Minoan Kastelli, Old town, Harbour Mosque and Synagogue. The extensive Venetian town of Chania provides an opportunity to bring together all the threads of Cretan history. The walking tour takes in the...
Fly to London Heathrow via Athens, arriving c. 3.30pm.
The opening of sites on Crete is arbitrary and can be influenced by the politics at the time of the tour. This may mean that at short notice not all sites listed can be visited.
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with Martin Randall Travel.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.
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Logistics
What's excluded
- Personal Expenses
Accommodation
Lato Boutique Hotel, Heraklion: family-run 3-star hotel with small but well-appointed rooms. Good location by the Venetian port. Kydon Hotel, Chania: 4-star hotel well located close to the old town and port. Single rooms are doubles for sole use throughout.
If you have to cancel your participation on a tour, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before the tour the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of the tour will be due:
between 56 and 29 days: 40%
between 28 and 15 days: 60%
between 14 days and 3 days: 80%
within 48 hours: 100%
If you cancel your booking in a double or twin room or cabin but are travelling with a companion who chooses to continue to participate on the tour, the companion will be liable to pay the stipulated single supplement.
We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation.
All breakfasts, four lunches and five dinners
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