Welcome to part 1 of our honeymoon series! I decided to spilt our trip up into a few different posts because I have a LOT to tell you! So below are the pieces that I’m working on, I’ll include these links on each post I publish so that you easily navigate between them!
- Part 1: Our Experience in Crete, Greece
- Part 2: Santorini + Why It Wasn’t Our Favorite
- Part 3: Don’t Sleep on Paros
- Part 4: How to Spend 2 Nights in Athens
- Part 5: Flytographer Shoot + Tips for Getting the Perfect Greece Photo
My goal is to post all of these within the next month, so wish me luck 😉
Ok, so here we go with Part 1 – CRETE!
Getting There
Our first stop in Greece was Crete and I was SO excited to check out the biggest island and one that so many people spoke highly of! Crete is beautiful, but it probably doesn’t look like the Greece you’re picturing from social media (cliffside homes, blue domes, etc.), but still gorgeous in it’s own right!
There are two main airports in Crete, one in the city of Chania and then the other is in Heraklion. Heraklion is also home to the islands ferry port. When you’re booking your trip, just a note that these cities are two hours apart, so it’s helpful if you try to fly into the one that you’re staying in or near! We took an EasyJet flight right into Chania and then met a driver there who took us to our hotel.
Getting Around
One thing we learned VERY quickly was that getting around Greece isn’t easy – especially Crete because it’s such a large island. They don’t have Uber, so you really have to rely on taxis unless you want to rent a car (**if you rent a car, check and see if you need to get an international drivers licence**). Some cities do have a bus system, but it’s not always convenient to where you’re trying to go!
I organized a car through our hotel to make things easy and I’m so glad I did! Someone was waiting for us at the airport with a sign and we had a fixed rate so we knew what to expect. If you’re not staying in the city that you’re arriving in, I would try to arrange a car to your destination (usually hotels or airbnb hosts will help you out) but they do have taxi stations at the airport/ferry port if you’re not able to!
Also, if you find a driver that you like, grab their card – they’ll usually have “regulars” who they take around during their trip 🙂
The Hotel
We stayed at Royal Senses Resort and Spa and I actually picked it because it was a Hilton property and I had a ton of points saved up from work travel over the years! The resort was considered 5-star and was a new build on the coast right in the middle of the island. Once we arrived, we were greeted with snacks in the lobby, then they checked us in and brought us up to our room!
We were staying in a suite which was really nice (we booked a basic, but they were able to upgrade us at check-in) and it had a balcony with a sea view. We put our things down and decided to explore the resort!
We quickly found out that the resort had a few different restaurants and bars in addition to 2 pools, a kids pool, spa, gym, and then a shuttle to a sister properties private beach. They also had a little on-site boutique where you could grab anything you may have forgotten – sunscreen, hats, bug spray, etc.
I put together a video on Instagram with pros and cons of this resort – you can watch it here – but I also wanted to list out some pros and cons below in case you’re not on the gram 🙂
Pros:
- Beautiful 5-star resort with multiple on-site restaurants. Great if you’re just looking to just chill for a few days!
- Two large pools which always had seats available + food and beverage service.
- Nice/spacious rooms with ocean views and they’ll work to upgrade you at check-in depending on availability!
Cons:
- The resort was very isolated. If you don’t rent a car, leaving the resort will cost you at least 25 euro one way to the nearest town and 100+ euro to the airport or ferry port.
- The prices at the resort were pretty high and the food and drinks were just ok compared to what you could get in the city for much less.
- It’s advertised as a beach resort, but the beach is a sister properties beach down the road. They had a convenient shuttle to and from, but it just wasn’t what we expected when we booked!
After four nights at Royal Senses, Ben and I both agreed that, while the resort itself was nice and did have a lot of pros, we wouldn’t stay there again. It was just too isolated for us being without a car and too expensive for what you were getting. After learning more about the island, I would recommend staying in or near one of the larger cities instead of a better mix of beach/city life.
Rethymno, Crete
We heard a ton of great things about the two larger cities in Crete, but we spent a majority of our time in a smaller town called Rethymno due to our location! We LOVED Rethymno though (watch a video I made of the city here). If we were going back to Crete, we would easily spend a night or two there! It’s the sweetest little beach town with a stretch of white sand beaches, cute shops and countless restaurants and bars. If you head to Rethymno, here are the two dinner spots we would recommend!
- Achinos: Our favorite meal of the trip – that’s right, the whole trip lol so you know it’s good! We had the most amazing meal here and ordered a few different appetizers and entrees, with our favorites being the Dakos, Seabass Carpaccio and Shrimp Saganaki.
- Castelo: A beautiful restaurant (the interior is seriously amazing and so unexpected) in the alleys of Rethymno. We loved everything we ordered here as well!
Final Thoughts
Overall, we liked Crete and we were happy we made it a stop on our trip! We do wish we stayed closer to one of the cities and spent less money on/at the hotel and more on experiences on the island. Otherwise, the island was beautiful, the people were really sweet, and there was a ton to explore! If you’re planning a trip, I would say to consider renting a car and that 2-3 nights on Crete would be perfect!
