Day 1 - Dublin to Crete

Arrival at Chania Airport. Meet your local tour guide and transfer to your hotel. Check-in and overnight at your hotel.

Day 2 - Chania, The Orthodox Academy of Crete, Gonia Monastery and the Holy Trinity Monastery 

Breakfast at your hotel. Enjoy a tour of Chania with its Venetian walls, narrow streets and Turkish buildings. Continue to the Orthodox Academy of Crete and Gonia Monastery. Today you will also visit Agia Triada (Holy Trinity) Monastery, one of the most impressive monasteries in Crete due to its scale and Venetian architecture. Dinner and overnight in your hotel. 

Day 3 - Free day

Breakfast at your hotel. Today is free to explore the region at your leisure. Dinner and overnight in your hotel. 

Day 4 - Arkadi, Rethymnon and Lake Kournas

Breakfast at your hotel. Start today with a visit to the Monastery of Arkadi – a national Cretan shrine. During the rebellion of 1866 against the Turks the monastery was used as a refuge for Cretan insurgents. The defiant defence of this fortress-like monastery during rebellion is legendary and inspirational. You will continue your journey to the old town of Rethymnon. The Venetian harbour, combined with the pedestrian streets below, strewn with charming old buildings, makes Rethymnon very photogenic. There numerous shops to buy souvenirs or local products. The old and the modern combine to make this a colourful and buzzing town. Before you return to your hotel you will stop at Lake Kournas – the only freshwater lake in Crete. Kournas village is perched on a hill overlooking the lake. Return to hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 5 - Free day

Breakfast at your hotel. Free time for shopping and sightseeing at your leisure. Dinner and overnight in your hotel. 

Day 6 - Knossos, local winery & Heraklion

Breakfast at hotel. Depart for the Palace of Knossos, the most famous attraction in Crete. You will journey back 5000 years into the myths and legends of the oldest civilisation in Europe – the Minoan. The palace is a maze of workrooms, living spaces, and store rooms close to a central square where detailed images of Cretan life in the late Bronze Age are visible on the walls. After Knossos visit a local winery and continue to Heraklion, the largest city in Crete. Here you will visit the old Market Street and soak up the atmosphere and buzz of the city. Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

Day 7 - Free day

Breakfast at your hotel. Free time for shopping and sightseeing at your leisure. Dinner and overnight in your hotel.

Day 8 - Departure

Breakfast at your hotel. Free time in Chania before transfer to the Airport for departure. Flight home to Dublin.