Tours/Crete/Knossos & Heraklion Tour with Professional Certified Guide
Viator · group up to 49 pax

Knossos & Heraklion Tour with Professional Certified Guide

4.7(35)Crete1 hour
VIATOR4.5(4)TRIPADVISOR4.7(31)

Description

We start from Rethymnon around 8:00 am with comfortable transportation and a certified professional guide. Our first stop is the Palace of Knossos, inhabited since Neolithic times and the seat of the Minoan dynasty. Discover its fascinating history and legends, including the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. Please note the entrance fee is not included (15€ for Knossos or 20€ combination ticket with the Museum, payable in cash). Next, visit Heraklion, with 4 hours of free time to explore at your own pace. Enjoy the Archaeological Museum, shop for souvenirs, have lunch, or relax with a coffee. Return to Rethymnon around 6:00 pm after a day full of history, culture, and unforgettable experiences. Note: Bring 20€ in cash for Knossos and 12€ Museum entry.

Tour Options

Knossos
  • Pickup included

Itinerary

240 min

Visit the capital of Crete Heraklion. Explore the Knossos Palace. Visit the archeological museum in Heraklion.

Admission not included120 min

Explore the archeological place of Knossos with a skip line ticket

Highlights

Air-conditioned vehicle

What's included

Included
Air-conditioned vehicle
Not included
Entrance Fee to Knossos Archaeological Site only (€20)
Entrance Fee for Museum (€20)
Food and Drinks are not included.
Gratuities

Pickup Locations & Times

There is no pick up from Grand Rimondi ( we can pick up Grand Rimondis customers from OPAP shop in Stavromenos) There is no possibility to drive to each Hotel, we will send you the nearest pick up point for you! Guests staying at Ideon Hotel - Old Town Rethymno - Olympic Palladium - Jo An Palace pick up provided from the municipal garden bus stop

Traveller Ratings

4.7
35 reviews
5
25
4
10
3
0
2
0
1
0

Important Information

  • Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Reviews(35)

R
Rochelle E
June 3, 2026
Good opportunity to see some sights

We went on this trip from Rethymnon beach to Knossos palace and then on to Heraklion city. The tour operator was super organised, we had our exact pickup time confirmed the morning before we went (8.30am) and the tour guides were lovely and very well educated on the history of Crete and Greece. It was around a 1.5hr from pickup to get to the first stop, and then 15mins onto the city and around 2hrs back when we were leaving at 5pm. Knossos palace itself was quite crowded with lots of guided tour groups which made it quite slow and difficult to move around. It was a nice historical spot to see but you don’t really need a lot of time here (one hour is plenty). This particular trip also gave you the chance to have a group guided tour if you’d prefer that but we made our own way around. Heraklion was much more city vibes. We didn’t actually go to the archeological museum and chose instead to go to the fortress on the Marina which was 10€, small again but some really interesting history around the fall of Crete under the Venetians to the Ottoman Empire. Do take plenty of water as it gets quite hot walking around the dusty archeological sites and city!

S
Susan_P
October 9, 2025
Good trip overall

Our tour guide was wonderful and picked us up on time with great communication before hand and provided interesting information along the way. Unfortunately we only had 1 1/2 hours at Knossos instead of the planned 2, which made it very rushed and needed to skip things since we did not have enough time. If we were short on time I would have preferred less time in the city. Also, you are on your own to get tickets for the archaeological museum. We needed to wait in line for 30 minutes, which if I knew in advance I would have order in advance.

P
Peter R
August 23, 2025
It was just a great experience

It was just a great experience. Could have read more before the visit. Remember water because it's hot. The Cicaks were loud.

E
Elliot p
July 3, 2025
Knossos and Heraklion tour

Anastasia was a amazing guide very helpful it was nice to go at your own pace around Heraklion 4 hours seems plenty of time to get food chill go to the museum and some shops didn’t need to rush The tour offers pick up and drop of but because the steeets can be tight in areas and one way systems we had to walk 5 minutes to a restaurant to be picked up witch was totally fine we had a phone call and a email to clarify pick up point (very reassuring) which was nice Knossos palace is amazing kept us intregued the whole time. remember to bring cash I recommend 70 if your doing the museum too Totally worth it

H
Hityeuooooo
April 23, 2025
First Trip

First trip of the season.It was that good we have booked to go again Saturday. Anastasia was the tour guide. She made it fun while entertaining. She was very knowledgeable and switched from English to German smoothly. A very good tour. The coach was comfortable and Kostas the driver was first class. Highly recommend.

1 people found this helpful
8
838stefanh
August 19, 2024
Great travel company, great guide, great excursion!

Great experience with Markidis, Anastasia was a dream of guide. Till the agreed time arrived on time. Useful information about the country, people and destination during the bus ride. No queuing time in Knossos, the tip to visit the museum in Heraklion was golden. Greeting from the couple to Anastasia, who was “first” on the bus at 4:28 p.m. at 4:30 p.m. departure, but was the first couple to get off at the hotel as a reward.

1 people found this helpful
E
Evelyn_M
June 30, 2024
Good trip

Good full day tour, good value. I liked that it took us direct to the sites but then we had free time at each rather than a guided tour. Sufficient time in each place. Good guide Anastasia gave plenty of information while on the bus and a good driver. Nice to be given a town plan for Heraklion. Additional entry fee for Knossos worked easily with us paying the guide and then she went to buy tickets, although a bit of a wait but probably better than queuing individually. Museum in Heraklion was fantastic too, well worth visiting.

S
Safari770839
June 29, 2024
Wonderful day trip

This trip was absolutely brilliant and well worth every penny! Our tour guide Anastasia was friendly and incredibly informative about Crete, Heraklion and Knossos, and shared some fascinating facts relating to the island's history and mythology. The trip itself was perfect in duration, and pick up and drop off was extremely well organized and located conveniently for us. Definitely recommend!

D
David B
May 15, 2024
Excellent well organised experience

Excellent trip, perfect timing for pick up from our hotel and really good information from our host Anastasia on route to our first stop at Knossos. She took our payments for our entry to Knossos Palace to allow us to skip to queues to purchase tickets and allow more time to explore. Knossos Palace is well worth a visit. After this a short trip to Heraklion for a four hour time slot to explore the vibrant capital of Crete. Had time for a nice lunch, explore many shops and wander around before visiting the Archeological Museum to see all the artifacts excavated from Knossos and other sites. Then a quick journey back. A really great day out.

G
Globeprinter
May 8, 2024
Great tour and guide, would recommend!

The tour is great! We were picked up on time from the hotel by bus. The tickets to Knossos and the Archeological museum in Heraklion is not included in the price, but we liked that the tour was more about free time and that we just needed the bus to go where we wanted. You get about two hours in Knossos and four hours in Heraklion, it is enough time to do and see the most imoprtant things in the old town. Anastasia our guide was professional and effective, she speaks english, german and franch. Would highly recommend Markidis Travel :D

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