Private Tour Knossos & Heraklion City
Description
This tour is a unique experience, to visit the most important places in Heraklion City. The tour schedule is flexible regarding the time spent at its attraction. Our driver will pick you up from your Hotel or Port in Heraklion City. The transfer is private and our English-speaking driver will drive you around the sightseeings.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Knossos archaeological site represents the center of the Minoan civilization and the capital of Minoan Crete. The main site of interest is the Palace of Knossos, where you can see: -the Great Palace; it is the largest of the preserved Minoan palatial centers and contains the royal quarters, workshops, shrines, storerooms, repositories, the throne room, and banquet halls. - the Little Palace, where it was found the famous Bull's Head made of steatite. It is exhibited in the museum of Knossos. - the Royal Villa. -the House of the High Priest. -the Caravan Serai, where it was the entrance to the palace. It served as the public baths. - and the Royal Temple Tomb-Sanctuary, which it is considered to have belonged to one of the Last Minoan Kings.
The Venetian Walls were part of the fortress of the city. The city was called Candia by the Venetians. Two of the city gates have survived among the centuries, Chania and Kainouria. Take time to walk outside and around the walls. At the southwestern corner of the City Walls, you will find the Tomb of Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1947), the local author of "Zorba the Greek" and "The Last Temptation of Christ". One of the most important Greek authors through time. Take your time and enjoy the panoramic view of the city center and the beautiful sea.
The Cathedral of St. Minas, is dedicated to the Patron Saint of Heraklion. It suffered from the battles of the past great damage and it took 30 years to be rebuilt. Right next to the imposing Cathedral it is a smaller and older St. Minas church and on the nearby square you can visit the former church of St. Ekaterini, where nowadays byzantine ecclesiastic treasures and icons are exhibited.
Morozini’s fountain or Four Lion Square was constructed during the Venetian Era to cover the needs of Candia, the capital city of the island. Today it is the meeting point for the locals surrounded by various shops ready to serve coffees, ice-creams and other delicacies. Opposite the Fountain, you can see the Basilica of St. Mark, one of the most important buildings from the Venetian times which now hosts the Municipal Art Gallery and is open to the public almost all day, every day.
The Venetian Loggia is in the center of Heraklion city. It was constructed by Francesco Morosini during the Venetian rule. It is an impressive building of the Venetian times that has survived through time and today hosts the Town Hall of Heraklion.
The Venetian Fortress Koules - also Castello a Mare or Rocca a Mare, according to the Venetians - dominates in the entrance of the Venetian Harbor and its main purpose was the protection of the city..
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Hotel pick up and drop off within 50 km with no extra charge.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Our drivers are able to provide you with information regarding the places but are not allowed to get inside at any permises. For this reason you will need an official guide
Reviews(34)
I travelled solo to and from the airport and it was amazing service. I felt safe at all times , they were prompt and on time and I would totally use them again
We greatly appreciate it. We always try our best to meet customer expectations. Best regards, CreteCab
Great taxis service cars were clean and the drivers are extremely politeful and helpful
It is an honor for our business to get such positive feedback. Best regards, CreteCab
We had a fantastic time on this tour! Our guide (I think his name was Petros?) was very knowledgeable and informative about the history of Crete. He was very patient and did not rush us at any of our stops. He and his drive made us feel very safe and we thoroughly enjoyed this as our cruise excursion!
A huge thank you to Petros for such a fantastic experience exploring Heraklion. Every step of our adventure was perfectly curated to what we wanted and honestly surpassed our expectations. Petros navigated the region safely, getting us to all our stops while making sure to include opportunities for beautiful photos and extra background information we would have missed otherwise. He answered our questions and provided meaningful context for everything we were seeing. What I found particularly impressive was how logically the sites and background information flowed, making the learning feel intentional. We stopped at a water bridge for photos at the start of our journey, which later connected to the primary fountain in the city that it fed by the end of our trip. I can’t overstate how important it is to have a guide who truly knows the area, can avoid the crowds, and understands the best time to visit each site. Thank you, Petros, for welcoming us to your island! 10/10
We had the most wonderful day on our tour of Knossos and Heraklion City. Emmanuela was wonderful and full of interesting information on the area. We loved seeing the archeological site at Knossos- it is so well preserved. We visited several other areas in Heraklion City, and then she and our driver took us to Kanopolis(I think that is correct) for a delicious and authentic Greek meal in a small villa/B&B Restaurant. The food was fabulous- the best we had so far on our trip, and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. We all thought this was an amazing stop. We could not have had a better guide than Emmanuela! She was just a joy. We would definitely tour with her again.
Petros was a very kind, helpful and knowledgeable driver/guide. We had a person who brought and used a collapsible motorized scooter and were very pleased with the entire process
Great day in Knossos with our guide Giorgios. He Knows how to get you to the main attractions in a timely manner. Had a great day.
Be sure you choose the correct port. We missed our tour because I had the wrong port of entry. It was completely my fault, but I couldn’t give a five star review because I didn’t go.😔
Dear Mrs. Moritz, Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback, even though you were unfortunately unable to complete the trip. As you may recall, our representative reached out to you several times to confirm the reservation details, and these were verified with your confirmation. It is of course disappointing for us not to have had the chance to welcome you on the trip and provide you with the full experience. We kindly hope you can understand our perspective, as your review relates to a service that could not be carried out due to the reservation details confirmed at the time. We truly value all feedback, as it helps us improve and ensures we can continue offering the best possible service to our guests. We would very much look forward to the opportunity to host you in the future under better circumstances. With warm regards, CreteCab
I booked this tour So called "Private tour Knossos & Heraklion City" Through Viator for my Oct.07 trip to Crete for six people, it was very clear the tour is privately guided. However, I didn't hear from anything about the tour guide, no contact information for my next day trip. I spent hours chatting through the Viator App and tried to reach a person about my next day trip. The customer service promised me through the chat that my tour guide will contact me next day for the trip! On the next day of our trip, only the taxi driver showed up, he is a very nice guy, but he said very clear he can not give guide for the tour, he can only drive us to the locations on the original Viator Tour Itinerary! What a shock and a big surprise! My tour was charged $387 and the tour ended up no tour at all. I put a request to customer service once I came back on Oct.15, the gentleman named Glam put a refund request right away for me, but I received an email this morning, the customer service representative, Adyan emailed me back that unfortunately they can not offer a refund for this fake tour! What a joke!
Dear Guest, Thank you for your comment and rating. Usually, negative feedback is what helps a company improve its services. However, after reading your review, we believe that the misunderstanding may have come from incomplete or incorrect information provided by Viator, and therefore the responsibility should lie with them. In the description of our product, nowhere does it state that a licensed guide is included. On the contrary, in the exclusions section, it is clearly mentioned that a guide can be added only with an extra cost and prior arrangement – information that, unfortunately, we never received from you. The amount you paid corresponds to the private tour service, meaning the hire of a professional driver and vehicle for 6 people / 6 hours, to complete the stops mentioned in the program (and possibly some additional ones, depending on time). To give you perspective, the cost of an official licensed guide for the Knossos site alone (approximately 1.5 hours) is between €250–€300, depending also on the language. Therefore, it is clear that the price you paid could not realistically cover a 6-hour private guided tour. We kindly ask you to reconsider and correct the title “fake tour”, as the tour you received delivered exactly what was described, and as you also mentioned, you were assisted by a very good private driver, exactly as stated in the program. Sincerely, CreteCab Team
Due to our tour guide Anna we had a great tour of the Palace of Knossos! I would highly recommend this tour. Anna was very knowledgeable and taught us a lot of Greek history along the way! Do yourself a favor and take this tour!
