Best Resorts in Crete: The Island Is 260 Kilometres Long

Crete is 260 kilometres long. That single fact is the most useful thing to know before choosing where to stay, because the island is not a resort with regions — it is a region with resorts, and a hotel at one end is five hours from the other.

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This guide compares the parts of the island rather than ranking individual properties, because the part you choose decides the holiday. For the island beyond the resorts, see where to stay in Crete, our Crete itinerary and our Greece itinerary.

Best resorts in Crete: the island in four parts

Chania and the west

Chania has the most attractive old town in Crete: a Venetian harbour with a lighthouse, a lane network behind it, and a working city around that.

West and south of it are the island’s best-known beaches — Balos, Elafonissi and Falassarna — and the Samaria Gorge, a sixteen-kilometre walk down a mountain ravine to the Libyan Sea.

This is the part of Crete most first-time visitors should choose, and it is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Heraklion airport.

Rethymno and the centre

Rethymno sits between the two, with a smaller Venetian old town, a fortress and a long sandy beach running east from the centre.

It is the compromise base: old town and beach in the same place, with reasonable access to both ends of the island.

The strip east of the town is where the large beach hotels are.

Heraklion and the north centre

Heraklion is the capital and the main airport, a working city rather than a resort, with the archaeological museum — which holds the Minoan collection and is one of the most important in Greece — and Knossos on its edge.

East of it, Hersonissos and Malia are the package and nightlife strips, which some visitors want and most do not.

Stay in Heraklion for the archaeology and the transport, not for a beach holiday.

Agios Nikolaos and the east

The eastern end is calmer and more developed for comfort: Elounda is where Crete’s luxury hotels are concentrated, on a sheltered bay with the island of Spinalonga opposite.

Agios Nikolaos is the town, built around an inner lake joined to the sea.

The water here is calmer than the west coast and the landscape is gentler. It suits people who want to swim and eat rather than drive and walk.

Smaller resorts along the north coast

Between the main towns, the north coast has a string of smaller resorts that suit a beach week better than a city base. Individual hotels vary, but the character of each place is consistent.

Platanias and Agia Marina, just west of Chania, are a continuous strip of sandy beach with hotels, tavernas and bars, a short drive from Chania’s old town. It is the easiest beach base in the west if you want a resort rather than a town.

Georgioupoli, between Chania and Rethymno, has one of the longest sandy beaches on the island and a small village centre, and is quieter than the strips on either side.

Bali, between Rethymno and Heraklion, is built around a series of small coves rather than one long beach, which gives it more sheltered swimming.

Agia Pelagia, west of Heraklion, sits in a bay with calm water and a short transfer from Heraklion airport, which makes it one of the more practical choices for a short stay or with young children.

All of them face north, so in July and August the meltemi can bring wind and waves on some days. If calm water is the priority, look east or south.

Staying on the south coast or in the far east

The south coast faces the Libyan Sea and is far less developed than the north. The resorts are small: Paleochora in the south-west, Plakias south of Rethymno and Matala south of Heraklion, with Loutro and Agia Roumeli reached only by boat or on foot. Accommodation is mostly small hotels, rooms and apartments rather than large resorts.

The appeal is quieter water, fewer people and a sense of being somewhere other than a resort. The cost is the drive: every route from the north coast crosses the mountains, so allow more time than the distance suggests, and expect fewer services outside the main season.

The far east, beyond Agios Nikolaos, is the least visited end of the island. Sitia is a working harbour town with its own small airport, used mainly for domestic flights, and nearby Vai has a palm grove behind its beach. Ierapetra, the largest town on the south coast, and Makrigialos cover the south-east. Choose this end only if quiet matters more than the west’s beaches and gorges, which are a full day’s drive away.

Do you need a car?

Almost certainly yes, unless you intend to stay on one beach for a week.

Buses run along the north coast between the main towns and are good. What they do not reach are the beaches, the gorges, the mountain villages and the south coast, which is most of what makes Crete worth visiting.

If you are not driving, base in Chania or Rethymno, where day tours run to the gorge and the famous beaches.

What the accommodation is like

Large beach hotels dominate the north coast strips, often all-inclusive and aimed at package holidays.

Boutique conversions in the Venetian old towns of Chania and Rethymno are the most characterful option, usually without lifts.

Villas and apartments are widespread inland and on the south coast, and are the sensible choice with a car.

Luxury resorts cluster at Elounda in the east.

Four things to check

Distance from the airport, since Chania and Heraklion are two and a half hours apart.

Whether the beach is sand or pebble, which varies sharply along the coast.

Whether it is a resort strip or a town, because the two are very different evenings.

Opening season — much of the island’s resort infrastructure closes from November to April.

One point that confuses people: beaches in Greece are public. A hotel can hold a concession to put sunbeds and umbrellas on part of a beach, but it cannot close the beach, and a 2024 law limits how much of a beach concessions may cover and requires access to stay open. A “private beach” in a listing usually means hotel sunbeds on a public beach, which matters if you were expecting seclusion.

When to go

May, June, September and early October are the best months: warm sea, open everything, and fewer people than peak.

July and August are hot, busy and expensive, with the meltemi wind affecting the north coast.

November to April is quiet and green, with much of the coastal infrastructure closed and the mountains under snow.

How many nights

A week is the normal length and it suits one end of the island. Ten days or two weeks allows two bases — typically Chania and the east — which is the better way to see Crete.

What to do beyond the beach

Crete has more to it than any other Greek island, which is the argument for a car.

Knossos, outside Heraklion, is the Minoan palace complex, and the archaeological museum in the city holds the finds that explain it. Do both or neither.

The Samaria Gorge is a sixteen-kilometre walk down a mountain ravine to the sea, open roughly May to October, and a serious day out.

Spinalonga, a fortress island off Elounda that was a leper colony into the 1950s, reached by boat.

The mountain villages of the interior, where Crete is least like a resort.

The south coast — Loutro, Agia Roumeli, Matala — which is reached by boat or over the mountains and is the quietest part of the island.

All-inclusive, and when it makes sense

Crete has a large all-inclusive market concentrated on the north coast strips.

It works if you want a beach holiday with children and do not intend to explore, because eating out for a family twice a day adds up and the resorts are set up for it.

It works against you if you came to see the island, because you will be paying for meals you do not eat while driving to gorges and villages.

Decide which holiday you are taking before you book the board basis.

Crete with children

The north coast resorts between Rethymno and Heraklion are built for it: shallow water, pools, and short transfers from the airport.

The east around Elounda has the calmest sea. The west has the best scenery and the longest drives, which young children find hardest.

Whatever you choose, check the transfer time from the airport before booking: two and a half hours at the end of a flight is a long way with small children.

How long to stay

A week suits one end of the island and one base.

Ten days or two weeks allows two bases, and the usual split is Chania or Rethymno in the west and Agios Nikolaos or Elounda in the east, with the drive between them broken at Heraklion for Knossos.

Anything shorter than five nights is probably better spent on a smaller island, because a large part of Crete’s appeal is the distance between its parts.

Getting to and around Crete

Two airports and two ports, and which you use changes the drive.

Heraklion is the main airport, central on the north coast, about two and a half hours from Chania and an hour from Agios Nikolaos.

Chania airport serves the west and is far more convenient if you are staying there.

Ferries from Piraeus run overnight to Heraklion and Chania, which is a genuine alternative to flying from Athens.

On the island, the north coast highway is fast and the mountain and south coast roads are slow, narrow and spectacular.

When each part of Crete works

April and May: wildflowers, green mountains, cool sea. Excellent for walking and the gorges, and the coast is quiet.

June to early July: warm, open, and not yet at peak.

Late July and August: hot, crowded and expensive, with the meltemi wind on the north coast and the south coast often calmer.

September and early October: the warmest sea of the year and thinning crowds, which many regular visitors consider the best weeks.

November to March: much of the coastal infrastructure closes, the mountains get snow, and Chania and Heraklion carry on as ordinary cities.

One base or two

The decision that matters most on Crete.

One base for a week works if you have chosen a region and intend to explore it: Chania and the west, or the east around Agios Nikolaos. Day trips of up to ninety minutes each way are comfortable.

Two bases for ten days or more is the better way to see the island, splitting west and east with the drive broken at Heraklion for Knossos.

What does not work is one base and an attempt to see all of Crete from it, because the island is simply too long for that.

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The short version

Chania and the west for a first visit, Rethymno for old town and beach together, Heraklion for Knossos and the museum, the east for calm water and comfort. Hire a car unless you intend to stay on one beach. Check the airport transfer time, whether the beach is sand or pebble, and whether your dates fall outside the April to October season. One base for a week, two for ten days or more.

Frequently asked questions

Which part of Crete should I stay in?

Chania and the west for the best old town and beaches, Rethymno for a balance of town and sand, Heraklion for Knossos and the archaeological museum, and Elounda or Agios Nikolaos in the east for calm water and comfort.

Do you need a car in Crete?

Almost certainly. Buses link the north coast towns well but do not reach the beaches, gorges, mountain villages or the south coast, which is most of what makes the island worth visiting.

How far apart are Chania and Heraklion?

About two and a half hours by road, and that is only the central section — the island is 260 kilometres long. Check the distance from your arrival airport before booking anything.

Where are the best beaches in Crete?

The west: Balos, Elafonissi and Falassarna are the famous ones, all reachable from Chania. The east has calmer, more sheltered water, and the north coast strips have long developed beaches.

Is Crete good for a beach holiday or a touring holiday?

Both, but not from the same base. A week on one beach works from a resort; seeing the island needs a car and ideally two bases, usually Chania and the east.

When is the best time to visit Crete?

May, June, September and early October — warm sea, everything open and fewer people. July and August are hot and busy, and much of the coastal infrastructure closes from November to April.