Minoan Crete and Santorini

INFO

9 days

from £2375 per person

Stunning landscapes and superb archaeology create an unforgettable experience. Discover the Minoans, named after legendary King Minos, and marvel at the views from Santorini, one of the world’s most amazing places. Our itinerary is perfectly designed to explore Minoan archaeology’s fascinating array of Bronze Age sites, artistic wealth and deep-rooted mythology.

Highlights:

The stunning island of Santorini and its buried Bronze Age city of Akrotiri.
A clear focus on the archaeology and artistry of the Minoans, Europe’s first civilisation.
Famous sites including Knossos and Phaistos.
Special access visits to hidden-away gems.
Spectacular Mediterranean scenery.

Dates & Prices:

30 September–08 October 2026. Only £2375. Booking open.
03–11 May 2027. Only £2475. Booking open.
19–27 September 2027. Only £2475. Booking open.

Single supplement only £295. Early booking is recommended.

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What’s Included:

Eight nights’ hotel accommodation (see ‘Hotel’ tab above).
All breakfasts, all evening meals and two lunches.
Daily excursions with all transport, entrances and guiding.
Expert Cretan archaeologist accompanied by a UK tour manager.
Flexible flight arrangements and airport transfers (see ‘Flights’ tab above)..
100% TTA financial guarantee.

Overview

This is where European civilisation first emerged, around 4000 years ago, producing the vibrant culture, luxurious palaces and superb artistry of the Minoans. Their profound legacy is remembered in a deep-rooted mythology which includes the birth of Zeus, the Minotaur and Atlantis, and is tangible today in a fascinating array of archaeological sites and exquisite artefacts. Based for eight nights in a charming hotel by the sea, we explore famous sites like Knossos and Phaistos, and enjoy special access to hidden away gems as we get off the beaten track into Crete’s beautiful, wilder landscapes. The scenic highlight is the island of Santorini, regarded as the original site of the lost city of Atlantis.

See the ‘Itinerary’ tab above for full itinerary details.

: Archaeological site of Gournia [1]

: The palace at Knossos [2]

: Bull's Head Rhyton from Minoan Knossos. Carved in steatite with gilded wood horns [3]

Your Tour Director

Dr Kostas Georgakopoulos

Kostas is a Cretan archaeologist with an MA in Prehistoric Archaeology from the University of Crete, and a PhD in Minoan archaeology from the University of Liverpool. He has participated in many excavations around Greece and Turkey, and has taught Minoan and Mycenaean Archaeology at the Democritus University of Thrace as well as at the University of Liverpool. He is also a qualified tourist guide, and currently teaches the course in Prehistoric Archaeology for the National School of Tourist Guides of Crete.

Activity Level

This tour requires a reasonable level of mobility and independence. Most of the archaeological sites are easily accessible by coach but a few are reached by walks of up to 1 km and have patches of uneven ground and slopes. As always, the pace is gentle and stops are frequent. Feel free to ask us for more details.

Flights and Extended Stays

Flights are added on a personal basis rather than included in the tour price. This gives you complete freedom to choose your preferred departure airport, flight times, length of stay, airline etc. We will be pleased to quote and book flights for you, and any extended stays, or you can book your own if you prefer. Flights booked with us are fully ATOL protected and can be available from as little as £100 return.

How To Book

Tours have minimum and maximum numbers of participants, so you will benefit from booking early; it secures your place and enables us to confirm your tour earlier. We keep our group sizes small, so tours can quickly fill but it is always worth checking for late availability.

Reservations & Enquiries: To reserve your place or enquire further simply click the “Book This Tour Now” button on the relevant tour page, and submit your details. You can also call us on (UK) 0121 444 1854, or email enquiries@hiddenhistory.co.uk.

There is no commitment and no payment at this stage; reservations are purely provisional until we have confirmed availability and proceeded with booking and payment.

Booking & Payment: Once we have checked availability, a deposit is required to secure your booking (£100 for UK tours, £250 for non-UK tours). We will email you a payment link which enables payment by credit card, debit card or bank transfer. Card payment can also be made by telephone (UK) 0121 444 1854.

Places and prices are guaranteed only with a deposit. Full payment is usually required 2 or 3 months ahead of the tour.

Financial Protection: Hidden History Travel is a member of the Travel Trust Association with membership number Q2398. This means that we provide you with the strongest consumer protection available in the travel industry. Any payments you make are 100% protected by the association to pay for your holiday or to reimburse you if we fail to provide it. Hidden History Travel also holds ATOL licence number 12463. This means that if you book your flights with us you will be protected if we or your airline cease trading.

See our booking conditions for further details.

BOOK THIS TOUR NOW

Image Attributes

[1] Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, Source

[2] Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source

[3] Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source

[Hero image] Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0, Source

Day 1: UK/Crete

You are met on arrival at Heraklion airport and transferred to your hotel for eight night’s half-board accommodation. Your tour director will be on hand to answer any questions.

Day 2: Heraklion and the Archaeology Museum

An introductory lecture from your tour director will help you get acquainted with Cretan archaeology before we visit Heraklion, the present capital of Crete. Our guided tour of the city focuses especially on the Archaeology Museum, home to the world’s finest collection of Minoan art and artefacts.

Day 3: Knossos & Mount Juktas

Knossos is the most famous, puzzling and controversial of the Minoan palaces. It was here that Englishman Sir Arthur Evans discovered the civilisation that he called Minoan, associating it with King Minos and the myth of the Minotaur. In addition to the main site we also explore the peak sanctuary of Mount Juktas, with special-access to the temple of Anemospilia, where human sacrifice is evidenced, and to the cemetery of Phourni, with its impressive Minoan tombs. These lesser known sites are not normally open to the public but are, in fact, crucial to our understanding of Knossos. Lunch is included in the traditional village of Archanes.

Day 4: Gournia and Spinalonga

Gournia is an unassuming, under-visited site but is, in fact, a whole Minoan townscape that gives a rare insight into the basic fabric of Minoan society. After exploring here, relax over lunch in the small port of Elounda, and then enjoy a boat ride and tour of Spinalonga island. This evocative place was a Venetian fortress and then the leper colony described in Victoria Hislop’s novel ‘The Island’.

Day 5: Santorini & Akrotiri

A 2-hour sailing brings us to the volcanic island of Santorini, one of the most beautiful and spectacular islands of the Mediterranean with one of the best preserved archaeological sites – the recently re-opened Akrotiri. The massive eruption of Santorini around 1600 BC was one of the largest eruptions known and must have had catastrophic effects on the Minoan world. It is a plausible candidate for the myth of Atlantis and it certainly buried in ash the island’s main town of Akrotiri, resulting in a Bronze Age ‘Pompeii’ of the Aegean. It preserved buildings to several stories, millions of artefacts and, most famously, room after room of astonishing wall paintings – some of which we see in the Thira Prehistoric Museum. There will be free time in Thira to enjoy lunch and the fabulous views of the caldera.

Day 6: Malia

A half-day excursion to Malia allows a midday return to the hotel and an afternoon free to relax. Malia is very close to our hotel and was the third largest of the Minoan palaces. Particularly interesting are the recent excavations of early Minoan buildings adjacent to the main palace. A lecture from your tour director this evening will set the scene for tomorrow’s visit to Santorini.

Day 7: Phaistos, Matala & Gortyn

A day exploring southern Crete, filling out our picture of the Minoan landscape and visiting the beautifully sited Phaistos, second largest of the Minoan palaces. After time for lunch in the attractive seaside town of Matala, we visit the ruins at Gortyn, Crete’s Roman and early Christian capital.

Day 8: The Ideon Cave & Tylissos

Our final highlight is a special access visit to the Ideon Cave, high on the slopes of Mount Ida and the most revered of all Crete’s ancient sites. Considered the birthplace of Zeus, it is set in majestic mountain scenery and contained a wealth of offerings. We also include lunch today in a traditional mountain village and a rare chance to visit Tylissos, an ancient small town that nicely completes our picture of the Minoan landscape.

Day 9: Departure

You will be transferred from your hotel to Heraklion airport for your flight home, or why not stay longer and make the most of your time in Crete – feel free to ask us for information and ideas.

Please note that the itinerary may be subject to change or re-ordering according to the weather or other circumstances beyond our control.

Please note that we sometimes have to change hotels for reasons beyond our control. We always choose hotels of a similar standard, designed to give you a little luxury and leisure alongside your cultural enrichment.

The 4-star Hersonissos Maris Hotel is set in quiet surroundings on the edge of Hersonissos town with an excellent sea view, sandy bays, two swimming pools and a beautiful spacious garden.

The architecture is Cretan in style with 196 rooms on two floors and a set of 8 maisonettes in the grounds. All rooms are air-conditioned and have a balcony or terrace, a refrigerator, telephone, satellite television, safe and hair dryer.

The Hersonissos Maris Hotel

PO Box 38, GR-70014, Limi Hersonissos 712 01, Crete.

Phone:+30 28970-22400

Email: maris@hersotels.gr

www.hersotels.gr/hotels/hersonissos-maris

Flexibility: Rather than reserving group seats for a particular flight, we keep your flight options open to give you greater choice of departure airport, airline, flight times, cabin class etc.

Airports & Airlines: There are two airports in Crete: Heraklion and Chania. The former is 30 minutes from the tour hotel while the latter is over 2 hours and therefore not recommended. Direct flights to Heraklion are available from a wide choice of UK airports.

Book with us or book your own: Once we have confirmed availability of the tour, you can choose either to book your flights with us, or to make your own travel arrangements. Before booking any flights of your own please ensure we have confirmed the availability of the tour as our tours are subject to minimum and maximum numbers of participants.

Airfares: Ask us for a quote. Use the reservation/enquiries form or call 0121 444 1854.

ATOL Protection: If you book your flights with us you will be ATOL protected, which means that you will not lose your money or be stranded abroad if things go wrong. If you book your own flights they may not be ATOL protected, even if you book direct with the airline or with an online search facility.

Hidden History Travel holds ATOL licence number 12463.

: Archaeological site of Gournia [1]

: The palace at Knossos [2]

: Bull's Head Rhyton from Minoan Knossos. Carved in steatite with gilded wood horns [3]

: The fabulous views on Santorini [4]

: The Minoan palace at Phaistos [5]

: Discussing the evidence for human sacrifice on Mount Juktas [6]

Image Attributes

[1] Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, Source

[2] Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, Source

[3] Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, Source

[4] Adobe Stock (Free), Source

[5] Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0, Source

[6] © Hidden History

Mrs Sanders, September 23, 2018

All top-notch. Costas was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable – a real inspiration. Good to have pre-excursion talks; much greater understanding of the sites etc. All the drivers were very competent. The tour fulfilled expectations and gave us the second look at Crete we wanted after so many years.

Mrs Nelson, May 23, 2018

I enjoyed myself so much that I plan to work through your brochure on an annual basis so I hope you’ll be in business for a good few years to come!!

Mr & Mrs Cousins, May 23, 2018

Our expectations were exceeded. We enjoyed every aspect of the holiday. The group size was perfect and it was a pleasure to be with everyone. We came away with a greater understanding than we had hoped, with many good memories of a lovely holiday

Mr & Mrs Brodie, May 1, 2018

Small group size and unhurried pace, along with professional archaeologist as leader. Expectations well met!

Mr Halliday, May 23, 2017

Just back from Crete and what a great holiday, excellent itinerary which lead us through the development of the Minoans and all aspects of their culture. Simon paced the tour just right with a good mix of sites, lunches and time to ourselves so that this felt like an informative holiday and not a field trip. And local guide Kostas brought a lot of colour and a wider view of local life and history. Certainly one of the best specialist small group tours I have been on and I have no problem recommending to anyone who wants to get an insight to Crete. Am now looking at going to Malta next year for another great trip.

Mr Archibald, May 23, 2017

The opportunity to visit Santorini at the same as taking in the many well-known as well as unusual archaeological sites, not as an extra, but with a well-informed guide made the tour very worthwhile. I don’t see how it could change for the better.

Mrs Amoo-Gottfried, April 23, 2017

Very interesting & varied. Hard to pick highlights – so many

Mr & Mrs Jordan, October 23, 2016

We recently went on the Hidden History tour of Crete and Santorini and would recommend it to everyone. The archaeology was very interesting and it was good to see some places less well known than the tourist spots like Knossos. Some of them were opened especially for Hidden Histories, so that was a bonus in itself. The hotel was in an excellent location – the Hersonnisis Maris is very close to the beach and the snorkelling was good – plenty of small fish to see. The day trip to Santorini was well worth the effort of getting up a bit earlier – the scenery is spectacular. The arrangements for the trip were first class – information on available flights, flight booking, being met at the airport and taken to our hotel all worked faultlessly. We are looking forward to the 2017 brochure and will definitely be travelling with Hidden Histories again

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September 30 - October 8, 2026
May 3 - May 11, 2027
September 19 - September 27, 2027

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