Crete is the largest island in Greece and the second largest in the Mediterranean. It’s history is rich and full of invasions and conflict. It now remains as a lovely island with about a one third of its population living in Iraklion, or Heraklion, the capital of the island. This is where our cruise ship docked.
We purchased a “Hop-on, Hop-off” bus tour experience through the cruise company (Norwegian Cruise Line,) since they had provided a $50 shore excursion credit which essentially gave one of us a free tour. Our excursion included an hour walking tour and provided bus reserved for just the tour passengers, that we were bussed directly to. This made the experience much nicer.
The walking tour was interesting and led through the main shopping area and the town square. The shops were plentiful and varied. There were plenty of cafes where one could stop for a coffee or snack. They all offered outdoor seating with a great chance to people-watch and enjoy the Greek experience. We were introduced to several historical buildings that contained interesting history. We abandoned the tour at the locals’ shopping street, went into a few shops and made a few purchases. The bus tour itself drove us through the city where the sights were of buildings and apartments. Other than seeing the what the city looks like, that part was not really interesting. The stop at the Minoan Palace offered, for an additional price, a walk through the site with a look into the archeological reconstruction, and part of the area was closed due to Covid. I think that if you were a real archeological buff then you would spend a lot of time walking through the site. We however, are not. So we spent about 45 minutes walking through the area reading some of the signs and then headed back to the bus. It wasn’t worth the price of admission, other than to say that we came and we saw. The area across the street did provide some shopping entertainment while the husbands waited in line to purchase the tickets. Turned out that the area provided some of the cheaper souvenirs of the islands. So, shopping there was more economical if you are looking for Greece items, not specific to the islands. The area is a more modern city type of environment, the charm of the Greek islands you are expecting isn’t found in Crete’s capital.