Crete Family Holiday

Welcome to Crete! Greece’s largest island offers something for everyone, from inviting beaches to rugged canyons and thousands of years of culture and history. Your family adventure begins in Chania, a delightful city famed for its restaurant-lined 14th-century Venetian harbour. A welcome meeting will take place at 5pm this evening where you’ll meet your local leader and the other families joining you on this adventure. After the meeting, you may like to get to know your group over dinner in town. Cretan food is fresh, healthy and never boring – the dakos salad is a must-try, and the kids will love Cretan cheese pies.

Today will be spent discovering the treasures of Chania, starting out with a walking tour of the Old Town. Your leader will show you highlights and local hangouts as you explore a charming tangle of colourful streets. The Dimotiki Agora is the town’s central market, selling the fresh produce that supplies many of Chania’s restaurants. Pay a visit to this vibrant hub to sample some local specialties from the market stalls. Then, you and the family will get a behind the scenes look at Cretan cuisine during a hands-on cooking class where you’ll learn how to make Crete’s most beloved snack, the Kalitsounia. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savoury, sometimes filled with cheese and always delicious, these tasty little pastries are sure to please the whole family. The rest of the afternoon is free for your own explorations.

It’s time to get active today and get to know some of Crete’s natural wonders! Start the day with a 1-hour hike around the Kydoni Gorge, following a shady path beneath towering trees and lush vegetation before descending through a centuries-old olive grove and passing by the church of Saint Demetrius. After your walk, take some time out for a well-earned lunch, then you’ll experience one of Crete’s biggest attractions – the beach! The sea is warm and calm, making a perfect spot for little ones to swim, and there’s few more picturesque places to lay back and relax.

See a different side of the island today as you catch a public bus to the city of Rethimno, from where you’ll travel to a local organic farm. Here you’ll get a glimpse of rural Crete and the kids will have a chance to be a farmer for the day! There’s plenty of fun to be had here, picking vegetables, collecting eggs, milking goats, baking bread and preparing stuffed vegetables. But it’s not just a day for the kids – you’ll also visit the wine press and sample some fantastic organic wines. After an exciting day, take a private transfer to the port city of Heraklion, Crete’s capital and your base for the rest of your adventure.

Today the family will take a step back in time during a visit to the famous archaeological site of Knossos. Once the capital of the Minoan civilisation, the city’s ruins conjure up images of what life here once looked like. Enjoy a guided tour through the remains of a palace, courtyards, baths and private apartments. Your guide will bring the site to life for you and the kids and they’ll and be on hand to answer any questions the family has about the fascinating civilisation that once thrived here. Afterwards, return to Heraklion and head to a soap making workshop where the whole family will have a go at creating your own traditional Cretan soap with the guidance of an experienced chemist – this is a hands-on experience you won’t soon forget!

Crete is home to more than 3000 caves, but the most legendary is the Diktaion cave, believed to be the birthplace of father of gods, Zeus. Aside from its mythological weight, the cave itself is dazzling, featuring unusual rock formations, enormous stalactites and stalagmites and even a lake. Explore the chambers of the cave as your leader shares stories of its geological features and the myths attached to them. Back in the light of day, pay a visit to the delightful village of Agios Nikolaos, founded in the 14th century. Take some time to explore the village’s traditional streets then enjoy an afternoon at leisure.

With no activities planned for today, your Crete family adventure comes to an end after breakfast this morning. If you’d like to spend more time exploring Heraklion, just get in touch ahead of time and we can help to arrange additional accommodation (subject to availability).