Palace of Knossos

I really enjoyed the day and pleased I did the tour. A good way to see more of Crete after a week walking in Western Crete. The local taxi pick up from my hotel to connect with the bus was on time as was the taxi waiting to meet the bus to return to my hotel at the end of the day. Excellent driving by the bus driver ( he managed so well in the narrow streets with the way the Greeks park) and the tour guide was excellent. Overall an excellent tour. However I did expect/ would have liked to have quite a bit longer on Spinalonga Island which was my reason for booking the tour.
Tour Wednesday 15 May 2013. No photos as my camera jammed and I am waiting for some from some one I met up with on the bus.

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

We were collected on time and the rep was (Anraka )very friendly .we enjoyed spectacular scenery on the drive .
The boat trip to the small island was enjoyable however I wouldn't recommend it for any one with mobility problems ! The BBQ lunch was very tasty, washed own with wine or juice .
Spinalonga was fabulous , I was disappointed that we only had one hour on the island , no where near enough time !
On the return coach journey the Russian rep NEVER stopped talking over the intercom in Russian , the English people aboard and a lot of the Russians got feb up of her non stop jabbering , we all were saying sushhhhhh !
I would recommend that longer was spent on spinalona, and less time on a very rocky beach !

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

The half day tour I booked for was on a Monday, but I was contacted to be told that the date was to be changed to Saturday, which was not suitable and so I was scheduled for a Tuesday tour. Although no one told us so, it turned out that we had been put on a full day tour with a Russian group which also included a visit to a winery/olive pressing plant and an hour or so in Heraklion. Luckily, we had the time to accommodate this change, but I think we should have been told about it. Having said that, our English speaking guide at Knossos was excellent and we enjoyed the day.

Doing what: Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour

This is one of the worst tours we have ever taken. I was surprised as this was not our first tour with Viator and we really expected it to be much better. The tour was rushed, and we did not even enter the most important part of the palace, the throne and painting rooms. The tour guide said we had to do that on our own, but with only half an hour and hundreds of people waiting in line we were left with absolutely no time. The tour included a trip to see a film about wine making in Crete, which was not part of the original itinerary, and I really did not see what that had to do with an archeological tour. I do not recommend this tour. It was a huge disappointment.

Doing what: Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour

Note from Viator: We are following up with our local supplier based on your feedback. Thanks for alerting us to this issue, your feedback is a critical part in our ability to ensure a quality experience from our local suppliers.

Great service being picked up directly from my hotel. Slight confusion as you book with viator but the trip is run by another company. Lovely day out with really well informed tour guides. Shame that you only have 30mins to explore Spinalonga on your own, also be prepared for the masses of other tourists doing the same thing.

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

Both of our guides were really good and had a lot of knowledge on the area. They were also helpful in making sure we made our connections back to the hotel so that we could catch our flight to Rhodes. The only complaint would be the cost of the tour for what we received. The booking said it was a 5 hour tour but really was 1.5 hours at site and then a short bus ride to the town square for a couple hours of shopping / free time. I expected more. The museum is closed due to renovations so perhaps that is part of the problem.

Doing what: Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour

We enjoyed the trip and had a first class guide for the palace of Knossos. Glad that the trip was in the morning as it was very hot as we were leaving.

Doing what: Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour

We had a great day out and enjoyed the BBQ and swimming from the boat. The day was well planned.

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

Amazing day of relaxed sailing, swimming and seeing a wonderful island with an unusual history.

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

Wonderful tour with excellent guide. Fascinating place. All the most famous pieces are in archaeological museum though. It's still amazing to walk thru

Doing what: Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour

Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies

Doing what: Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch

Santorini is stunning.

Doing what: Santorini Island Day Trip

The sea was very rough on our visit, which caused not only the entire boat full of tourist to vomit for 3 hours straight but it also caused us to land late on the island. This caused a strain on time as we only had 1 hour in Oia and about 20 minutes in Fira before we had to get back on the bus and go back to the boat. I can only hope that on a more smoothly run trip that the time on the island lasts longer than that If not, then I would suggest allowing tourist much more time on the island. Leaving earlier from Heraklion would be a good start. I also wish there was a more convenient way for the tour guides to communicate with people on the bus. Listening to the same description 5 different times, first in English, then Dutch, then German, then Italian, then French, etc. etc. gets extremely tiring. You start to ignore all of it after a while. Maybe a recording with headsets would be more reasonable.

Doing what: Santorini Island Day Trip