The vacation started by a strike of the airport personnel in Heraklion and it took us a few hours to get to the hotel. Yes, hotel, this was my fist and so far only ever self-booked hotel vacation with breakfast and dinner included. Normaly I prefer to travel more free. Would I do it again? With kids, maybe, but as a couple or solo traveler, I prefer to have more diversity, so rather not. Don’t get me wrong, the service was really good, everyone was friendly, the food was tasty, everything clean and I still enjoyed it. We had a great time, just very different from the type of traveling I rather do. This was not traveling, it was vacation. Having breakfast at an accommodation is nice, it makes you leave in the morning without the urge to find a nice place soon. But I would rather stay open for food on the go as for the other meals. Still, our view right at the coast wasn’t too bad.

Malia

View form the Ariadne Beach Hotel terrace - Not so bad though. Still, I don't get having a pool while your right in front of the ocean.

A bus fromthe airport took us to the tourist town Malia. Why such a touristy town?Another compromise since he wanted diverse restaurants and bars around. Would Istay there again or recommend someone to stay there? With kids, maybe yes. Forall the others, better choose a more authentic town and if you want to seediverse places get a car, motorcycle or a quad.

View over Malia. We took a small litte train who passes the streets of Malia every now and then and you can hop on and off.

Samaria Gorge

Our first day trip took us to the famous Samaria Gorge for a day of hiking. I love being in nature and since we went short before the summer season at the end of May there weren’t too many tourists with us. Still, I am afraid of heights and was out of shape. It was a hard time for me. The gorge is 17 kilometers long and takes you from 1200 meters hight to sea level. As today I got a few more hikes behind me and challenged my fear of heights a couple of times, I am sure I would do way better today. Anyway, they give you enough time to get though it but especially the first hour of just going down on small a rocky path was hard for me. At the end, the view and nature around us was absolutely worth it. My recommendation: Wear good shoes, I had the bad idea to go with Chucks and bring a big water bottle. You can refill it on the way with fresh water.

This is around the first hour of hiking. So steep, so better watch your seps...

This view though.

Felt like being above the clouds.

As to me it looks like from a fantasy movie.

The path was very diverse and natural.

Almost at the end of the hike day.

We made it! A viw at the ocean is always the best reward.

Boat trip back to the next big village and then the bus took us to the hotel.

Chania and Rethymnon

Next day trip brought us to a few bigger cities. First of all Chania, the oldest city on the island. Very touristic but beautiful. The second city we saw that day was Rethymnon.

This lady was our guard during the whole city trip. I loved her.

Small harbor of the city.

Love these cute little side streets. I mostly recommend going of the normal path.

Aren't these streets of Rethymnon adorable?

So glad it was off season, so away from the main tourist stream. That way you can feel a little more relaxed while exploring.

Exploring the surroundings

Another daytrip took us by quad through the rough nature, up a mountain and into an again very touristy cave. We should have gotten a off road quad because we really pushed ours to the limit.