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Greece
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Crete Region
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Heraklion
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Tours & Activities
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Ancient Palace of Knossos Tour
6 h
About this activity
Leave your Crete hotel by air-conditioned coach and travel to the Minoan Palace of Knossos, one of the island’s showstopping historical attractions. The original site is believed to have been built around 1900 BC, but – following an earthquake – it was rebuilt on a grand scale, and lavish royal quarters, shrines, treasuries and storerooms were added around the Central Court.
After paying your entrance fee, head inside to explore the reconstructed site that was brought to life from a series of 20th-century excavations by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. As you walk, listen to tales and trivia about the palace’s glory days during the Minoan era – a Bronze Age civilization that made Knossos its capital.
Greek mythology was ingrained in Minoan culture, and the Palace of Knossos featured in many popular tales such as the famous myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Hear of legends and Greek folklore while exploring areas of the palace like the Throne Room, home to frescoes of the Minoan’s sacred mythical beasts.
Wander through the Central Court and gaze up at sights like the Grand Staircase. See an impressive fresco of rampaging bulls, and explore the corridors and labyrinth-like alleyways that lead to intriguing rooms such as the Theatral Area – a place that may have once existed as a theater.
Then return to your coach for the short journey to Heraklion town where you can complete your knowledge with a visit to the Archaeological Museum and admire the greatest collection of Minoan treasures and priceless exhibits in the world. Follows, a short drive to a Minoan Theater in Karteros where you will be taken back in history with a Minoan dance & theatre performance
Your day trip finishes with a hotel drop-off.
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After paying your entrance fee, head inside to explore the reconstructed site that was brought to life from a series of 20th-century excavations by British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. As you walk, listen to tales and trivia about the palace’s glory days during the Minoan era – a Bronze Age civilization that made Knossos its capital.
Greek mythology was ingrained in Minoan culture, and the Palace of Knossos featured in many popular tales such as the famous myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Hear of legends and Greek folklore while exploring areas of the palace like the Throne Room, home to frescoes of the Minoan’s sacred mythical beasts.
Wander through the Central Court and gaze up at sights like the Grand Staircase. See an impressive fresco of rampaging bulls, and explore the corridors and labyrinth-like alleyways that lead to intriguing rooms such as the Theatral Area – a place that may have once existed as a theater.
Then return to your coach for the short journey to Heraklion town where you can complete your knowledge with a visit to the Archaeological Museum and admire the greatest collection of Minoan treasures and priceless exhibits in the world. Follows, a short drive to a Minoan Theater in Karteros where you will be taken back in history with a Minoan dance & theatre performance
Your day trip finishes with a hotel drop-off.
Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Transport by air conditioned coach
- Local guide
Not included
- Gratuities
- Food and drink
- Entrance fees to Ancient Palace of Knossos (15 euros per adult, 8 euros per child), Archaeological Museum of Heraklion (10 euros per adult, 5 euros per child). Combined tickets for both archaeological sites is 16 euros per adult, 8 euros per child
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 2 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability
- The visiting to museum for clients from Chania and Rethymnon area is optional and there is no guide
- The visiting to the Minoan Theater is only for participants for the Areas 2, 3, 4, 5.
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
90%
Original
30%
Reviews
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Very nice, intersting place to visit, for sure if you like Greece history. The archeological museum interesting as wel. You have also about 2 free hours to visit Heraklion. The centre and the old port are beautiful. It was a hot day but worth it. Profesional quide.
This was a great tour. A long journey from Elounda but well worth it. The palace is really interesting and fills you with awe at what the Minoans achieved. Our guide, Katerina was superb, she had a great depth of knowledge and love for her subject combined with good humour. The visit to the museum was also spectacular and again quite humbling to see the skill of the Minoans and the beauty of their work. We had a couple of hours to see Heraklion which was a fascinating contrast to the area in which we were staying. Also recommend the cafe at back of the museum. All in all a fabulous day!
If you're heading to Greece and specifically Crete, this is a must-see. I did a similar tour 40 years ago yikes! and wanted to see Knossos again on a recent trip with my husband. The history of the Minoan civilization and their culture is fascinating and the art and artifacts are breath-taking. It is very important to have a tour guide while seeing the Palace of Knossos and the Museum in order to understand the history. The guide was so knowledgeable and gave us such insight into the lives and culture of this incredible civilization.
It was a hot day when we went on July 1, 2017, but it was worth the heat and humidity. The tour guide was quite knowledgeable and explained everything in English and for the six others in Russian. To be there and see the ruins was incredible. You can bring water inside with you and I highly recommend that you do! There's little shade. If you or anyone with you who has difficulty getting around, this is NOT for them! No wheelchair access whatsoever and the terrain is uneven with rocks. The second part wasn't so much a tour of Heraklion as the bus parked and the guide just let everyone roam around on their own. I was expecting SOME information about the city's history but didn't get any. We took the option at Knossos to pay for the Palace and the museum for one euro more for 16 total per person. We found that to be a deal. Our same tour guide met us at the entrance and showed us the highlights. Unfortunately, he gravitated to the Russian tourists and spent the majority of the time with four of them and less with the approximately 20 English speaking tourists. This didn't go unnoticed by just about everyone. This would be my biggest complaint. My husband was more upset by his obvious bias against Americans with snide remarks every now and then, trying to joke it off. In the end, I do recommend this tour but hopefully you get a different tour guide. We dropped ours off at his home since he lives in Heraklion.
We had a nice time on July 1st. I'm 80 years old and in pretty good health, but my 82 year old husband wouldn't have been able to get around at all. People with bad knees or a walker aren't able to get around very well at all. The tour guide was a little bit more friendly with the Russian tourists than the English speaking people, and seemed to especially not care for Americans. We took a tour of the city by ourselves and then went to the museum. I found it very interesting and glad I went. I hope you enjoy this tour too. Don't forget to bring water!
I felt we were short changed a little - the Russian's had a dedicated tour guide, we as English Speakers and the German speakers had to share a guide - difficult for the guide and less time with each group to talk about the Palace and the items at the Museum compared to the Russians. There was very little time for us to look at other parts of the site. In future I think I would prefer to have a more personalised tour than go in a big group.