Instagram
Heraklion and Knossos Palace Tour with free time in Rethymnon
Excursions & day trips
Crete, Greece
4.3/5
Free Cancellation
Language:
English
,
Italian
Mobile voucher accepted
Duration:2 hours
Do this because
You'll visit Knossos Palace, home to one of Europe's earliest civilizations
There's a visit to the resort of Rethymnon on the agenda, where you'll have some free time
A guided walking tour of the highlights Heraklion's history-steeped streets is on the agenda
You'll can check out the royal apartments and throne room at the Palace of Knossos
Your local guide will tell you all about Crete's history during this guided tour
What to expect
Thought to be the cradle of Europe's first civilization, the UNESCO-listed Palace of Knossos is one of the most important ancient sites in Crete. Let an expert bring history to life as you explore the island's most-prized archaeological gem. This trip also includes free time in the resorts of Rethymnon, plus a tour of the Cretan capital, Heraklion. Andreas, one of our expert local guides, says, ‘The Minoans were very advanced, and the Palace of Knossos showcases architectural techniques such as multi-storey buildings and a sophisticated drainage system that were ahead of their time.'You'll start the morning in Rethymnon's maze of colourful streets, where you can browse the shops, find a little cafe or head down to the harbour. Curving around the small bay, Rethymnon harbour is as pretty as it is old. The views of the Venetian-era Fortezza and out to sea are a delight. Next up is Crete's capital, Heraklion. Here, you'll enjoy a guided tour of the city's best bits, such as the Venetian lion fountain and the loggia. There'll be some free time to explore at your own pace, too.Last but by no means least, the last stop of the day is a guided visit of the Palace of Knossos. Admire treasures like the throne room, royal apartments, and the fabulous frescoes. The ancient frescoes are particularly impressive, depicting scenes of everyday life, religious rituals, and mythical creatures. You'll also experience the Labyrinth, where legend has it, the fearsome half-man, half-bull creature known as the Minotaur lurked.
What's included
Transport
Guide
Admission fees
Knossos App
What to remember
Knossos App allows guests to see a 360º and 3D view of the archaeological site
This tour uses the Pop Guide App, which is filled with audiovisual cultural content, including a city map or museum/cultural site plan with relevant points of interest, introduction to the content, audio tracks, texts, and a gallery of representative images of each point of interest. You'll be able to access this app with unique login details that you'll receive with your booking info.
Not suitable for guests with reduced mobility
Some entrance fees and optional extras are payable locally
Food and drinks not included
Bring your passport or official EU identification
Provider
tui-supplier+tui-hellas-ae@musement.com
Booking Fee
Good news! No extra fees are applied to this booking.
Cancellation Fee
Receive a 100% refund if you cancel up to 1 day before the experience begins
Reviews
great
4.3/5
Based on
28 reviews from verified customers
L
Lidia
November 2024
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 22 years old
Excellent
Instructions about meeting point were clear. The guide - Maria, had really nice calming voice, giving informative instructions about the trip and what to expect, very knowledgable and clearly passionate about the history. The stop at Rethymnon breaked down the trip niceley allowing us to explore the charming old town and adding a nice break to the journey. I appreciated how Maria planned our visit to Heraklion and Knossos to avoid peak crowds, making the excursion more enjoyable.
A
Annie
October 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 51 years old
Excellent
Maria the guide was exceptional, very knowledgeable and explained everything really well. We loved the itinerary. It was a full day, well planned and interesting. Nothing negative
M
M&J G
September 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 43 years old
Excellent
The whole day was great! Our guide Maria was wonderful, very well informed and interesting to listen to!
G
Gez
September 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
Great
It was quite expensive and a very long day with a lot of time travelling on the coach.
J
J M
September 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 20 years old
Excellent
Maria made this tour for us, she was very friendly and so knowledgeable. The tour of Knossos was amazing and her recommendation for lunch was fab too It is a long drive back and 2 hours in Heraklion isn't quite long enough, but it would mean taking time from elsewhere and Rethymnon is simply stunning
T
Tigger
September 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 35 years old
Average
D
Dee
September 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 40 years old
Great
I had to walk 20mins to another hotel for the pick up point, where we were the first people being picked up and no-one was joining the tour from that hotel. The coach then drove back along where we had walked picking no-one else up. I asked for us to be dropped off in our village on way back to save us walking 20 mins for no reason. The guide said we should have been told off a change in pick up - I wasn't and had actually used the app to double check the hotels name using the message facility
J
Jacqui
August 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 38 years old
Great
The tours were amazing, the guide was very informative and friendly, we had plenty of time to explore the areas. My only gripe is that it would have been useful to have a toilet on the coach and the air conditioning wasn't great.
T
The Yawnocs
July 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 31 years old
Excellent
Martha was an excellent and knowledgeable guide. The trip was enjoyable but by time we got to Knossos Palace it was far to hot to enjoy it fully, maybe the palace should be first port of call in the mornings when it’s not so hot
E
Elaine RJ
June 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
With friends
- 50 years old
Great
We enjoyed the day on the whole even though it was 42C, however we would have preferred to visit only one of the big towns and seen it in more detail as we felt those visits were too rushed.
S
Suzanne
June 2024
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 37 years old
Excellent
It was a very enjoyable experience and great to be taken to all of Rethymno, Knossos and Heraklion in one day. Our guide, Maria, was very friendly and knowledgeable. There was a bit of a delay when we arrived at Knossos because there was a problem at the entrance with scanning the tickets which the guide had been given for our group, but apart from that the day went smoothly.
T
Tepa
October 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 29 years old
Great
Kuulokkeitten käyttö retkellä oli mielestäni aika turhaa, suhteellisen tiiviissä ryhmässä oppaan puhe kuului kyllä muutenkin. Kohteessa jaettiin vielä tabletit ja sitten yrität vielä käyttää kameraa, niin tuntui että tekniikan kanssa pelaaminen "ajaa jo aiheen yli". Suomenkielinen opastus olisi tietysti ollut mahtava
W
Waddi
September 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 53 years old
Great
overall good day trip. Rethynmon was great. Heraklion least favourite . Just felt like a city with not much special to see. Knossos was very interesing and guide Maria was excellent. Good idea to go in the afternoon.
T
Tracy
September 2023
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
Alone
- 42 years old
Excellent
Very knowledgeable guide, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. It was very hot though.
R
Rory
August 2023
From Australia
Traveled as
With family
- 30 years old
Great
A nice short walk around Rethymon followed by a trip to Heraklion. Museum in Heraklion is great and well worth a visit. The Knossos site is underwhelming due to the level of early 20th century re-construction however if you see the original artefacts in Heraklion museum, you appreciate Knossos more. The tablets used to assist visualisation in Knossos are great and helped visualise what the site would have looked like 3800 years ago.
M
Micke
July 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
With family
- 32 years old
Excellent
Väldigt intressant och en jättebra guide
L
Laurie
June 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 42 years old
Excellent
The guide Maria was outstanding and very knowledgeable, that for us was made the trip more enjoyable. It’s a long day but we’ll worth the early start.
T
Torlan
June 2023
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 48 years old
Great
Fint at se to byer og Knossos , men turen varede 12 timer og ikke 8 som det stod. Hvis vi havde vidst det havde vi droppet denne tur og taget en anden kortere. Samlet tid ved Knossos var 2 timer ud af de 12 timer. Sød guide - Maria - men man fik alt for meget information og for mange detaljer
C
C-J
October 2022
From Sweden
Traveled as
With family
- 32 years old
Excellent
I enjoyed both the guided tour and the free time in Rethymnion and Heraklion. Especially, in my case, being able to visit the Archeological museum in Heraklion was a wonderful experience.
B
Bianca
October 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 15 years old
Excellent
We had a good amount of tine in Reythmo and Heraklion and Knossos Palace. Maria was brilliant on this trip, she gave us alot of information and alot of historical facts as we walked around.
M
Mike H
October 2022
From United States of America
Traveled as
As a couple
- 62 years old
Excellent
Our guide was key to our enjoyment of the walking tours and the brilliant whisper wireless earpieces and 3D view tablets enabled Maria to explain everything without us having to crowd her and each other. The Knossos ruins needed explanation to bring them to life in our minds and this was done in a very effective way. The drive across Crete and the 2 city stops left us feeling we had come close to the beating heart of this charming Greek island.
D
Daniel
September 2022
From Sweden
Traveled as
With family
- 20 years old
Great
B
Barry
September 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 30 years old
Average
Knossos palace itself was excellent and the tour guide very knowledgeable. The trip cost was way too expensive however, If I had known the cost of the entry ticket I would have hired a car. If Tui could do just a tour to Knossos that would be better. We had to visit rethymon as part of the trip as that was only one available from where we were staying. (Chania) the trips and staff were very good, but think about packaging the tours differently and to just individual places.
D
Diane
September 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 46 years old
Great
Very long day - 12hrs with 2.5hr drive back with no stop on very hot bus ( poor air conditioning) and no toilet. Trip info said it was an 8hr trip! Guide was excellent - almost making up for the travel discomfort.
T
Tracy
September 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 35 years old
Average
We booked through the app 2days before - we were given no accurate pick up point so we messaged that evening to find out where the pick up point actually was - no response. Spoke to a rep from another travel company to see if they knew where the road was that it said on booking - she wasn't sure but it was naming the next village 3km away. Messaged again - reply that a taxi would pick us up - if we hadn't messaged we would have been left waiting at hotel - not even number for reps available
J
Jeremy
August 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
As a couple
- 36 years old
Great
Worth doing, particularly if you’re in Chania for your holiday. But... Coach was packed, & some families split-up. Left Rethymnon at 10am, which made it feel rushed. At Heraklion although we were walked to the centre, there was no “guided walk of its highlights”. Knossos was certainly worth the visit, given the history, and the tablets provided to give a 3D impression was nice. However, it was a shame for the description to say we'd see the Minotaur's Labyrinth, given there is no Labyrinth there
F
Fiona
August 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 31 years old
Excellent
Rethymnon, Heraklion and Knossos are all definitely worth a trip and this is a great way to see them all hassle free! It is a long journey from Chania but our guide for the day was fantastic. She was Cretan and was extremely knowledgeable about the island, it’s ancient and modern history and the mythology around it. She spoke to us quite a bit on the coach journey, which helped pass the time. Her guided tours were excellent but we also had a bit of free time which was nice.
M
Mum of Ty
July 2022
From United Kingdom
Traveled as
With family
- 39 years old
Excellent
What a great day!! Although it was a long day (7.30am to 7pm) it was so enjoyable, interesting and full of information about Crete. The guide (Maria) was so lovely and explained everything. Her stories of Cretan history and Greek myths and legends were fascinating. The only down side was the 2 and a half trip back was non stop and therefore did not offer any toilet breaks.
You might also like
Activities
Get ready to go off-road on this adrenaline-p...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 102.00
Activities
Tear through Crete's rugged landscape with th...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 73.00
Excursions & day trips
Sunset on the Med? Check. Tasty spread? Check...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 98.00
Excursions & day trips
Make holiday memories with an experience that...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 38.00
Activities
Sprinkle some magic on those holiday memories...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 118.00
Excursions & day trips
Experience a leisurely boat trip in the north...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 50.00
Activities
This easygoing hike is ideal for a day out li...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 33.00
Excursions & day trips
The volcanic island of Santorini lies north o...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 201.00
Excursions & day trips
Troy is an edge-of-your-seat adventure brough...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 76.00
Excursions & day trips
Cretans are renowned for throwing a great par...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 56.00
Excursions & day trips
Level up your bingo game at Crystal Beach Clu...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 43.00
Activities
This sunset safari takes you off the beaten t...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 86.00
Activities
Calling all adventure-seekers – this is your...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 87.00
Excursions & day trips
Friday nights get messier as you swap sand fo...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 22.00
Activities
This full day tour lets you be at one with Cr...
Crete, Greece
Instant Confirmation
Fee Cancellation
From:
$ 35.00
Get Updates & More
Inspired inbox, ignited!
Made with ❤ in Santa Catarina.
Copyright © 2025 by Tripdo.