20 pictures of Crete in Greece – Why you should visit here (updated 2023)
Crete feels so remote compared to the other Greek islands swirling around the Mediterranean, but it is a relatively short plane ride from the capital city of Athens. And it is definitely on of the most arid and stunning landscapes filled with amazing history, culture, food and monuments – what more could you want? Just to tempt you, here are 20 pictures of Crete in Greece to give you some inspiration to hopefully visit the island soon.
Why visit Crete, Greece now?
Crete, Greece is filled with so much history, multicultural influences and unique cities and landscapes to explore in this beautiful island with gorgeous cities like Chania, historic Unesco sites like Knossos and beautiful little churches that pop out of nowhere inspire you to create these Crete pictures for the perfect photo ops. There are so many wonderful landscapes, beautiful towns and historic attractions to explore around the island and here are just a few to be inspired by.
Exploring Crete in 20 pictures now
You’ll be inspired with these Crete images to inspire you to hopefully visit the entire island soon.
Sunrise in the countryside of Crete in Greece
Morning and sunrise in the countryside of Crete
Pictures of Greece starts with a gorgeous sunrise in Crete. Sunrises are always a welcomed time to slowly start a day on the island and marvel at all the small details that start to come alive with the morning light. Views are varied around the island depending on where you are at and where the sun rises, but walking up early to catch the first views of the day are always fantastic and a great way to celebrate the sunrise in Crete.
Chania harbor in Crete, Greece
Chania harbor in black and white
The harbor scene in Chania is busy and quite panoramic viewing or walking along the stunning harbor area filled with cafes and galleries catering mostly to a tourist crowd. It is a very colorful area to explore and photograph. A different approach would be to capture the harbor in black and white to show the texture and contrast to this vibrant and visually stunning port. Creating images of Crete is so easy when you have inspiring port cities like Chania to explore and capture in images.
Chania’s waterfront area in Crete, Greece
Chania harbor in color
You’ll enjoy walking around the Chania harbor and capturing the best Greece pictures of this historic city and explore all the wonderful streets, markets and harbor area. You’ll be inspired with some gorgeous photos of Crete from just walking around the historic city and capturing daily life here.
Carriage rides at Chania harbor – Crete
Horse carriages for hire at Chania harbor
Slowing down to enjoy the town and harbor via horse drawn carriage is always welcome. You really get a different take on the many promenades and scenic spots your driver will take you to, many hidden from the typical tourist destinations around the old town.
The oldest historic lighthouse in Chania harbor
Chania harbor lighthouse – Crete, Greece
Chania’s church of the Trimartyri in the old town
Greek Orthodox basilica at Chania, Crete
Exploring the narrow cobbled streets of Chania’s old town
Go ahead and pick any street to get lost in and eventually you will find an interesting church, landmark or monument to visit along the way. The mixture of old, new and different cultures blend and make the alleyways so diverse and fun to explore.
Narrow alleyways of Chania, Crete
Chania’s Islamic temple converted to a Greek church
Once the main Islamic temple of Chania, the building was converted into a Greek orthodox church for daily services. It is fascinating to visit and see the combination of Islamic art mixed in with orthodox symbols and details combined.
An Islamic temple converted to a Catholic church in Chania, Greece
The agora or public market in Chania
The Agora just outside the old town of Chania is always busy with locals and tourists looking for daily provisions and what is freshly grown, caught or just made for a quick sale at the marketplace. It is a fun place to explore and take home something delicious or prepared for a meal or quick snack.
Inside the public market in Chania, Greece
Here’s a video tour of Chania and some places to eat there
Rugged northern coastlines of Crete
The coastlines are rugged with rocks peeking out through the rough ocean and surf making for dramatic vistas throughout the island. It’s fun to drive along the many roads that skirt around the island and just happen to stunning scenery like the image below.
Rocky coastline of Crete in Greece
Small harbor scenes of Crete
Little harbors can be found all around the island of Crete, many of them house the typical leisure craft and fishing vessels that ply the ocean to catch a multitude of local seafood ending up in the local markets around the island and the main seafood market at the Agora in Chania.
Fishing boats and harbor in Crete, Greece
Fishing boats and harbor in Crete, Greece
Exploring the Minoan palace at Knossos
Visiting the ancient ruins of the Minoan palace at Knossos is a must to understand the history and culture of this ancient civilization in Crete. The palace grounds are huge and worth spending half a day to explore the fascinating ruins and artwork around the grounds. You can check out a recent post with more images and details of Knossos palace here.
** get your tickets in advanced to visit the palace of Knossos here for more details and booking your tickets.
A visit to Knossos in Crete
Beautiful murals of ancient Knossos in Crete
A visit to Knossos in Crete and a dolphin mural
Here’s a video tour exploring Knossos below
Enjoy the Wildflowers and coastline views in Crete
There are so many scenic spots driving along the coastline that make it easy to stop and enjoy some of the natural beauty and fauna of the island including the wildflowers below. It’s easy to stop when you discover these breathtaking views, if only just for a quick stop to soak in those views and then photograph them as a reminder of this road trip.
Flora and views along the coastline in Crete
One of the many small harbors in Crete
A typical small harbor in Crete, Greece
The bustling port city of Heraklion
Heraklion city and port in Crete, Greece
Enjoying the views above Heraklion city and port in Crete, Greece
Here’s some city highlights visiting Heraklion city
More scenic cliff views to a secluded bay in Crete
Cliff views to a secluded bay in Crete, Greece
Where to stay in Crete
There are many coastal communities to stay around the island, but you’ll find the majority of inns and hotels around the two larger cities of Chania and Heraklion. You can also check into Air Bnb accommodations all around the island with both cities central to visiting all the different areas around the island. For reviews and current prices in Chania, Check out these Trip Advisor reviews here for an updated calendar and availability. For Heraklion, check out these reviews here for current availability and prices.
Check out these other activities and attractions to visit around Crete
There’s a variety of other activities you can do and explore around the island, here’s some suggestions of things to do.
Visit the Herakalion Archeological Museum
Visit the Lychnostatis Open-Air Museum’s collection
Watercity Park Crete Experience
Want to see more of Crete and Greece, check out these additional posts below
Best places to visit to Greece in October
Please pin this for later
Conclusion to visiting Crete, Greece
You’ll enjoy exploring the entire island and finding the unique vistas, marketplaces, good food and historic places around the island to explore.
Thanks for visiting this post on 20 pictures of Crete in Greece. If you enjoyed the post, please share it with any of the social media buttons listed around the post, thank you. Also, please check out my visit to Chania, Greece post here. Today is also Travel Photo Mondays, so please check out the links of other bloggers below and sharing photos from around the world .
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Wonderful places, amazing photos, desire to travel.
Lindas fotos!
Very beautiful
I loved these places.
Crete is pretty spectacular indeed
I loved this place
Crete is amazing and beautiful, thanks for visiting
How beautiful. just heavenly places
incredible!
I love is pictures, the best
Beautiful photos as usual. I love the atmosphere of the black and white ones.
Lugar magico sem duvidas
Amazing pictures, Greece is undoubtedly a beautiful place. I hope someday I can go there.
Simply fantastic, I loved it and I’ll share it with my friends, congratulations to the tips.
What beautiful pictures with incredible colors. I think Greece is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Congratulations on the beautiful work!
Lugares magnificos, que beleza….
Very good your site, super recommend
Great photos, I love Greece there are wonderful places like these, and the photos are very beautiful and professional
Beautiful pictures, I love Greece makes me happy to know that there are wonderful places like these, and the photos are very good and real
Congratulations, very beautiful pictures.
THanks so much and for commenting Vera
incredible pictures
Incredible lifts one more beautiful than the other and the photos are perfect
Greece always lovely
The pictures are all beautiful and the landscape has no explanation for something so wonderful and this really stunning ..
Excellent photo, Crete is really beautiful if you were to travel today would be my first choice
wonderful photos Sets
Thanks for visiting and sharing a comment, I really appreciate it Carolina
The Greece is very beautiful just the image already shows the beauty I’d love to meet her but I have not had this privilege.
Nice site.
Mui lida as fotos imagina o pais a beleza que é…
Amazing pictures, Greece is a very beautiful place!
I do not know Greece but only for pisagem should be widely read one day I can have this privilege of knowing ..
very cool this place
i did not know greece was so beautiful,i´ll travel there to comtemplate these beauty.
My dream is to know Greece is a very read parents is a very great privilege for those who live there and will be a privilege for me to meet
This site is wonderful, beautiful images . Greece is really a fabulous country. I loved the article.
Very beautiful these lugare and landscapes as I would like to have the privilege of knowing ..
Greece is a paradise to let anyone dreaming to know and who knows is a provilégiado.
Good Evening.
I love nature and enjoy the many beautiful places that God made in his infinite perfection!
Beautifull pictures .
The Greece is a very beautiful paradise scenery is breathtaking
beautiful parabens these places and the pictures are the maximum
The Greece is beautiful, sensational photos congratulations!
Beautiful photos! Dream to meet beautiful places like this!
A lot of beautiful photos is a scenario to let anyone of water in the mouth
I Love pictures!
The Greece is a very beautiful paradise scenery is breathtaking
Beautiful shots of the place.
Amazing pictures, Greece is a very beautiful place!
Chania looks beautiful – the lighthouse, the cobbled streets, the basilica – you’ve certainly made me want to visit, Noel
I love the pictures, I love the colours, I love the atmosphere… I love travelling through your blog posts.
Thanks, I am loving it 🙂
Beautiful shots of the place.
I spent time in Crete when I was in college and your photos brought back great memories, especially all the fishing boasts and the frescoes at Knossos.
These pictures are truly amazing. I’m in love with Crete’s blue and white color and I simply cannot wait to re-visit it soon!! 🙂
On my only visit to Crete, I came back to Toronto to discover that my camera hadn’t been picking up the film (yes, those were the days of film). Meaning every photo of Crete was gone, Knossos, Palaiochora, Chania, everything. It’s nice to revisit some of those places through your photos, so thank you!
What absolutely stunning photos. I’m adding Greece to my “life after 50” bucket list. It was always on the list but I’m going to raise it to the top!!
I’ve had Crete on my “to do” list for years but haven’t made it there yet. These pictures reinforce my desire to go there and see the same view that kitty saw!
Love your shots of Crete, especially that first little temple and the high-ceilinged market. I do hope you will submit your kitty shot to my photo gallery, http://berkeleyandbeyond.com/Way-Beyond/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-Cats/photos-of-cats.html
Hello Noel,
As always great photos.
You are lucky to go to the islands. I was in Greece for the long time ago now millennium but did not get to the islands. Crete does look like a great stop on any tour of Greece.
Well that’s sealed it…Crete here we come! It really does look like a fabulous island. History, architecture, food and fabulous landscapes…what more do you need!
Beautiful photos as usual. I love the atmosphere of the black and white ones.
20 Pictures of Crete in Greece offers a fabulous temptation of somewhere I’d love to visit. Having never been to Greece, your photos have made me want to get to Crete – the narrow cobbled streets of Chania’s old town and the carriage rides (love the black and white pic) would definitely capture my imagination.
I am love with and want to live in the house with the blue door! These photos look so much like Istria and the Dalmatian Islands. Same part of the world and one that we’ve grown to love very much. We really need to brush up on our history: the Minoans, the Phoenicians, and everybody else had such fascinating cultures and products. Your photos remind me we have lots to learn!
Gorgeous pics!