In short
Crete is the largest Greek island and behaves like a region in its own right: mountains above 2,400 metres, gorges, four main cities and a claimed identity distinct from the mainland.
Chania and Rethymno, to the west, keep their Venetian harbours and old towns. Heraklion, in the centre, is the administrative capital and holds the archaeological museum. The south is wilder, less built up, and reached by mountain roads.
Arriving and getting around
Two airports: Heraklion and Chania. They are two and a half hours apart by road — choose according to the part of the island you are aiming for. Overnight ferries from Piraeus arrive at Heraklion or Chania.
A car is necessary for the interior and the south. KTEL buses adequately link the north-coast towns, and much less so the rest.
What it really costs
Crete is markedly cheaper than the Cyclades, for accommodation and for eating out, and that is one of its major arguments.
Village tavernas charge prices unrelated to those on the tourist seafronts.
When to come
April–June and September–October. The island stays warm late in the season; swimming is comfortable into October.
July–August are scorching and full. Winter is mild on the coast and snowy in the mountains — you could ski and swim on the same day, in theory.
What nobody tells you
The Samaria Gorge is sixteen kilometres long and walked in one direction only, from the Omalos plateau down to the sea. You do not walk back: you take a boat at Agia Roumeli then a bus. The walk takes five to seven hours and the park is open only from roughly May to October, depending on flooding.
Knossos is partly a reconstruction: Arthur Evans, who excavated the site in the early twentieth century, had columns rebuilt and frescoes repainted according to his own hypotheses. The debate over the validity of those choices is still open. The original frescoes are in the Heraklion museum.
Elafonissi and Balos, the pink-sand lagoons, lie at the end of long, poor roads, or are reached by boat. They are protected: taking sand is forbidden.