subject: Plan to go to Crete? [print this page] Plan to go to Crete? Plan to go to Crete?
All you need to do to live all of these unique experiences is to rent a car Crete will be at your feet. Or wheels, actually. Your starting point can be any of the three major airports on the island, as car hire in Crete is available almost everywhere. From there, you can set off towards one of the three mountainous ranges spanning the island from east to west. In the White Mountains, or Lefka Ori, located in the western prefecture of Chania, you will be amazed by the more than 50 gorges, with the best views offered by the renowned Samaria Gorge. Going eastwards, you will then cross the Idi Range, with the legendary Mount Ida, Crete's highest peak, legendary sanctuary of Titaness Rhea and childhood hiding place of Zeus, at Idaion cave. A further drive eastwards will end your journey with the Dikti Mountains, with Diktaion Antron cave, known according to some legends as the birthplace of Zeus.
Routes from Chania and Platanias Areas
Chania Acrotirion
Chania Omalos Samaria
Chania Moni Gonias Kasteli Platanos
Chania Vrysses Chora Sfakion
Chania Kandanos Paleochora
Iraklion Gortys Phaestos Agia Triada Kokkinos Pyrgos Matala
Rethymnon Moni Arkadiou
Iraklion Gortys Phaestos Agia Triada Kokkinos Pyrgos Matala
Rethymnon Spili
Agios Nikolaos Ierapetra Makris Yialos
If you are planning on an exotic vacation where you intend to rent a car, Crete is definitely the perfect option for you. With more than 8,300km2 of tumultuous history and awe-inspiring landscapes, more than 1,000 kilometres of coastline bordering four different seas and car hire in Crete as cheap as you could possibly find in a well-known tourist destination, it is the ideal place to go whether you want to have an unforgettable cultural experience, admire mesmerising panoramas or just lay in the sun and swim on a lazy afternoon.
Legendary places and marvellous views are not the only treat you will come across if you decide to hire a car in Crete. More than 130,000 years of history will unveil themselves to you starting with neolithic settlements at Kephala, which was even larger than the Bronze Age Knossos palace later built there. Speaking of which, Crete is also home to Europe's oldest advanced civilisation, the Minoans, with their legendary birth place at Gortys, on the edge of the Lybian Sea as a result of an affair between Zeus and Europa. It remains to this day an important archaeological site, with the Roman Praetorium, built in the early period of Rome's, and later the Byzantine Empire's, rule of the island, being an important tourist attraction. However, the main centre of the Minoans laid 45 kilometres further north, where you can easily get via the accessible roads if you rent a car in Crete, where the aforementioned Knossos palace near Iraklion, home to the legendary King Minos and his Minotaur, represent to this day one of the major visiting objectives for the island.
