Ancient sites in Crete
For those of you who have visited Crete, you will know there is much more to this beautiful Greek Island than white, sandy beaches. Although Crete is the perfect location for lazy days on the beach soaking up the sun, there is plenty more to see and do if you like culture, museums and visiting ancient sites. Here is a guide to Archaeological sites in Crete:
The resort of Chania has a few ancient ruins you can visit, the most important one being Aptera which was built on a site 15km from Chania. The city walls still stand today and reminiscent of Cyclopean walls of Tiryns and Mycenae. As well as the walls you can see the remains of a small temple of Demeter, a Roman Theatre and the enormous vaulted cisterns of the Roman period. It’s free entrance. Nearby is the ancient town of Falassarna which has remains of Cyclopean walls, tombs, house foundations, sculptures that are carved from rocks, and a throne. This is also free to get in. You can visit Kissamos Archaeological museum in Chania which holds treasures of local history from prehistoric times. There is a small fee to enter this museum.
The resort of Rethymnon has 3 building complexes of the Old Palace period with Tholos tombs of the Postpalatial period. You will also find a Minoan cemetery with tombs carved out of rocks at another site in Armeni. Rethymnon also hosts the Fortezza fortress of Rethymnon which is star shaped with 3 gates and 6 bastions. All these are free to enter.
Heraklion, is rich in ancient sites, so for all you culture vultures out there, stay around this area if you want to visit some of the ancient sites that Greece has to offer. For a fee, head to Aghia Trias where you will find ruins of a royal villa and a museum. 46km south of Heraklion is Gortys, which was the capital of the Roman province of Crete and Cyrenaica.
5km of Heraklion is Knossos, where you will find the first palace of Knossos that was built around 1900BC. It costs around 6 Euros to enter where you will find places of worship, treasuries, workshops and storerooms, courts and a museum. 34km east of Heraklion you will find excavations of a palace similar to the ones of Knossos. Many of the objects on display in Heraklion’s Archaeological museum were found in Malia.
Directline Holidays offer a range of holidays to Crete to all the major resorts and their low holiday deposit scheme, starting from £25 per person gives more flexibility in booking your holidays now.
Guest post: Ervin Cenmurati is a expert travel adviser and freelance writer on anything about travel.
Leah on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:12 am
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am thirty-two soon and have itchy feet that are ready to try out foreign soils.
It is a fear of leaving the security of the day to day grind of paying the bills and living a safe and non-challenging way of life that has put me on hold for some time.
I hope (as it has I) your post will inspire others to go and follow their bliss – Leah 🙂
Patricia GW on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:54 am
Travel and experiencing a new culture really has put it into perspective, and filled that void with purpose (and joy).
In three weeks I’ll be moving to Paris myself for one month. I have the same feeling – the incredible surreal realization that I’m going to be living there…. it’s thrilling!!
Abby on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 2:11 pm
Oh, Jenny! Escargot isn’t palatable — it’s delicious! I love your writing style; it’s so fun and energetic. Can you believe how far we’ve come? Everyone, Jenny and I were in the exact same industry and have known each other online and via work emails for years and years. But we’ve only met once, many, many years ago. And one of those jobs she was sleeping next to her BlackBerry for was one I’d just left. And now she’s 33 and living abroad, just like I was last year. Kindred spirits. Jenny, you’re a true inspiration — I can’t wait to see how your adventure unfolds!
Debbie Beardsley on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 3:22 pm
Your life in Paris sounds ideal. It is nice to read about people who follow their dreams instead of wishing they had! Enjoy the rest of your journey.
Terriaw on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 1:40 pm
Wow, fabulous and well said! I love your new outlook on like. After experiencing career burnout and feeling a little lost and purposeless lately, you have encouraged me. I look forward to seeing Paris someday!
Jenny on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 6:50 pm
merci for all the sweet comments! @abby we are soooo kindred spirits! well except when it comes to our differing feelings on escargot…;) and congrats patricia on the move! thrilling indeed!
shawna on Thu, 9th Jun 2011 1:32 am
you’ve reawakened my travel bug. must. return. to. france. (someday.) eat a croissant for me!
Weekly Travel Blog Links — LandingStanding on Mon, 13th Jun 2011 6:16 am
[…] how badly I want to go to Paris… If only we could afford living there for an extended period of time during our travels! Any […]
G. Michael Schneider on Sun, 19th Jun 2011 3:36 pm
I am a firm believer in living and working overseas, just as you described. However, many of us actually like our jobs and our homes and are simply looking to renew and refresh our lives, not change it. However, you can have the same type of cultural experience without having to reach into your own wallet and without having to quit your day job–by taking what I call a “working vacation.” My wife and I have done this 15 separate times, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Turket to Tibet, Mauritius to Mongolia. I describe how to do it in my blog otherguysdime.wordpress.com and via Twitter at @otherguysdime. Learn how to have fun without having to have burn any of your bridges behind you.