Matala Beach - Ancient Phaistos-faistos & Gortyn - South Crete

Well worth a visit if only for the trip across the water and the magnificent views back to the mountains and coast. You see things from a different angle. Ayios Nikolaos is a must see town to. The Lake is top priority and a meal or drink in one of the restaurants bordering it is also recommended. On Spinalonga save your money and don't bother with a tour guide. Everything is written down on boards near each notable place on the island and all the tour guides do really is speak to you in a language you can understand. Rip off. Same with the cafe. Don't bother. Either take your own snack or wait the half hour or so until you return. Take plenty of cover as you will be exposed to the sun for the whole of the trip out to the island which could be well over an hour.

We loved this trip. It was amazing seeing the island and hearing the stories after reading the book. The guide was knowledgeable and interesting to listen to.

Nice boat trip, beautiful scenery, delicious lunch, enjoyable swim and hiking opportunity. Our guide Zula was friendly and knowledgable!

We took this took the last week of October of 2019. The tour bus was full and the boat was a large boat with held multiple tour buses. You could book the boat independently by going to the dock in Agios Nikolaus and buying the ticket (without lunch) for 16 Euros. Our tour was conducted in the following order: • Bus pick-up took us to Agios Nikolaus. We put our things on a large boat and then had about an hour of free to walk around this cute harbor town. • We boarded the boat at 11:45 then cued up for lunch on the boat. They served us roasted chicken, a Greek salad with a pear and juice or wine. My husband asked for the pork but was told he didn’t have the right colored card for pork. We assumed different tour operators gave out different colored cards or something. • We rode in the boat for about 30 minutes and stopped in the bay of Kolkofita where the boat anchored and we have 30 minutes to swim in the water. There were a few children’s life vest available so I definitely recommend bringing your own vest or floaties for young children as the water is very deep and it was cold in October. It’s crystal clear water and beautiful! • From there we rode in the boat another 20 minutes or so to Spinalongo. We paid to enter the island (* Euros for adults, kids are free). There were guides for different languages so you followed your guide and she told you some of the history of the island. We had about 45 minutes to walk around after that, but we could have definitely spent more time there. We left Spinalonga at 4pm. • From Spinalongo we went back to Agios Nikolaus by boat and then boarded the bus back to the meeting point.

Stops: 1. Spinalonga 2. A little Island for lunch 3. Agios Nikolaos Review: 1. Very very interessting to see yourself, but when we heard the "real" story it just blew our minds. Paul is an excellent storyteller and it was a pleasure to listen to him. Sadly we were in a hurry and he had to finish earlier. 2. Nice island but no option to hide from the sun, except on the boat. The food was really good. 3. Agios Nikolaos is a lovely city, sadly very touristic, still worth visiting.

Picked up and dropped back at our hotel. Taken by coach, however you do pick up others on the way. Nice short boat trip to the Island. Were we lucky or is it the norm, our guide spent ages with us and gave the full history of Spinalonga, not just about the lepers. Had about 40 minutes of free time wen the guide left us. We missed the opportunity to visit the church and the mass graveyard. Our fault, If only we had walked a little further. But this did not distract from a very enjoyable visit. Boat trip back to the coach and a short drive to Nikolaos. A very nice trip visiting the markets and walk around the water passing all the cafes and bars. We went in late October and is was just nice and steady with tourist although I could imagine it being crazy busy during the summer months. If on the Island of Crete it is well worth a visit.

Great day out. We booked with Jet2 and cannot recommend this trip enough. The coach picked us up at the hotel and took us to the port where we boarded the boat to the island of Spinalonga. The guide (Gregory) was very informative, giving us information via a little Vox headset. Then after walking around Spinalonga we boarded the boat again and we were taken to a small beach area, where we had free time to swim in the lovely clear waters or sunbathe. The barbecue lunch on the boat was very good, a lot better than we thought it was going to be. Then back to the coach and a stop off in Agios Nikolaos where we had some free time to browse. I haven’t read the book ‘The Island’ but it’s a must now I have visited the place.

We stayed at Akti olous hotel and took the 4 hour trip to Spinalogka where you go on a guided tour with headphones to listen to the guide who was very informative a brilliant trip we then went back on the boat for a bar b q lunch that was served by the crew you can also swim off the boat if you like

Enjoyed our trip. Spinalonga is very interesting and a nice place to walk around. Had a lovely swim in the ocean at our lunch stop. Agios Nikolaos was also a nice town and waterfront to walk around. One should remember it ia a fairly long drive to and from Heraklion, about 2 hours. But overall well organised and enjoyable.

Agios Nikolaos is beautiful and very busy. Went with a tour company and felt you weren’t there long enough. Then a few days later we went on the bus by ourselves from Gouves it was 11.90 euros for two. Be warned take the bus into the terminal you have go up hill then down the hill to see the lake plenty of points to take photos. If you have trouble walking I wouldn’t take the bus as you have to walk all the way back up not for the faint hearted. As I have breathing problems I had to stop several times. The shops there are more expensive than Heraklion.

A good days trip, which started with a coach pick up, a guide joining us when we got to Heraklion, a monastry, the town of Elounda, then a boat ride out to Spinalong, and later back on the boat and into a cove when they cooked lunch on a BBQ, whilst you could swim, and after lunch, a return to the coach, and a trip to Agios Nikolaos before heading back home. We used Klados Panagiotis for the booking, and the lady in charged got us an excellent tour.

We caught the 'TOURLINE' coach at Agia Pelagia, and went over to Elounda where we got the boat to Kolokitha and then Spinalonga, BBQ included. It was a good day out, a little bit muddled as we expected BBQ last, but it was not a problem. A word of warning! when disembarking the boat for the swim at Kolokitha Island, its pretty rocky and you have to climb up a few feet of rocks before it levels out onto a path, again when climbing down onto small beach. Other than that, BBQ was very tasty onboard the boat, then onto Spinalonga and a guided tour. We did it in Sept. and it was so hot! Make sure you have some water with you. Spinalonga is magical, its history and timeless beauty are a must to see. Do a little research first, as quite large groups and not always easy to hear interpreter. Or better still, make your own way around, take time to enjoy it all.

BEAUTIFUL BEACH, CROWDED IN THE MONTH OF AUGUST. CHARACTERISTICS THE CAVES IN THE ROCK OF WHICH THERE IS MUCH TALK. BEAUTIFUL SEA. IN CRETE I FOUND BETTER. STILL TO VISIT

After I gave up on my trip to Matala because everyone told me it wasn't possible on Tuesdays, I wanted to try again... And not only did it work, Ricardo is the best and I asked myself why I didn't book all the other excursions here...Thanks also to the great team Datria and Jeanette. Ricardo is the best, I had no more questions and in the future I will only book all excursions here... Muchas gracias

Very good agency, we booked three excursions, good advice taken care of perfectly with Francophone guide. Agency to recommend

L’île de Spinalonga est très belle ...incontournable ! Mikaela une guide agréable, la pause déjeuner sympathique et pour finir Agios Nikolaos à voir !

Très belle journée une gentille guide et un bon dîner cuisine sur le BBQ...site intéressant et belle visite dans le village d'Agios Nicholas...

We hebben het erg fijn gehad ondanks dat de bus te laat was en we daar een uitleg over zouden krijgen helaas niet gehad hebben we toch genoten mooi eiland en heerlijke barbeque helaas waaide het erg hard maar niet te min dikke 10

Die Tour war sehr gut organisiert. Spinalonga ist definitiv einen Besuch wert! Im Anschluss an die Besichtigung der Insel Spinalonga gab es ein Barbecue und die Möglichkeit an einer schönen einsamen Bucht zu schwimmen. Danach ging es noch nach Agios Nikolaos wo man auf eigenen Faust die Stadt erkunden kann, jedoch nur eine Stunde, was aber ausreicht um sich einen kleinen Überblick zu verschaffen. Schöner Ausflug und interessante Erklärungen zu der bewegenden Vergangenheit der Insel der Lebrakranken. Absolut sehenswert! (Zur Info: Eintritt für die Insel i.H.v. 8€ muss vor Ort entrichtet werden)

We were very disappointed with this excursion on Tuesday 17/09! Already impossible to get tickets through TripAdvisor! We had to ask the agency! Because every time I clicked on “download your tickets” nothing .... then we are told picked up at 8am, with advice to arrive 10min before! The bus arrived at 8:30! While we were the 1st pick up!!!! We go around to pick up the other travelers, the guide goes up, a 2de a little further!!! Not a hello or an explanation of the program! They were pounding between them!!! And suddenly we stop in the middle of nowhere, and finally one of her speaks to tell us to get on this or that other bus according to our nationality! We leave again in the new bus, arrive at the port, there were 4 of us who did not have a card supposed to be given by the agency! We still show that we're finally getting some. In spinalonga, the guided tour (soporific what’s more) lasted 10min to break everything, no pep to tell us the history of this place, very interesting though (thanks Google for filling our gaps). The rest of the way we did it alone. We take the boat to enjoy the beach and the meal.... the boat (which moreover reeked of oil, a horror, nausea etc) we dock, and there to access the beach we had to go through a very rocky and dangerous path. A grandmother in front of us had to turn back because she was afraid (and I understand her). Arrivals at the beach....pebbles (not pebbles) and red earth!!! I was dressed in white! So well... and besides it was really dirty! Strewn with garbage! We're going back to the boat! There the meal is served to us, we queue to take our trays and as there were no tables we ate piled up, tray on our knees ... everyone was scrambling! And as it was impossible to eat out because of the difficult access to the beach! Really not practical! And tasteless meal that lacked seasoning! The boat left when some were not finished! And with the smell of fuel oil and smoke, I don’t even know how unpleasant it must have been! We docked to take the bus towards Ágios Nikólaos, more than succinct explanation about this city, and we were let go without knowing what to see. Yet a pretty seaside town whose history we would have liked to know a little better! (Thanks Google once again) ... back to Heraklion in an overheated bus because the air conditioning didn’t work everywhere... really disappointed, incomplete visit, lack of historical info, bad organization! We made another visit ordered on TripAdvisor which was very well organized, with an interesting guide that did not lack anecdotes to tell us to make the visit live, unlike this one which was exhausting and lacking in interest when we could see real potential, but not at all exploited! I hope for a commercial gesture from the agency!

a place to discover absolutely, a beautiful walk on this island, we had the precious help of a guide (Yannis) passionate about history and who took the time to explain well the life of old on this island , it is beautiful , we went around the interior and then around the island by boat

I really enjoyed it. Great impression of the excursion to Spinalonga-Fortress Island, both in terms of transportation and preparation of the excursion. Also a strong impression was left of visiting the Knosa Palace, the Cave of Zeus, the monasteries. We especially want to note the interesting narrative about the island, the inhabitants and their way of life from our tour guide Konstantin. A lot of impressions and positive emotions. Recommended

Great!! Beautiful day, well organized with French guide. Beautiful view with boat not overcrowded.

I took the tour alone and I liked it a lot. Organized tour for a large group, guides explained everything in several languages, clean bus. I found the visit to Spinalonga amazing! There was still time to meet Agios Nicolaos and for a sea bath! The barbecue served on the boat was also good.

Great outing that combines relaxation and culture I recommend it. Very nice execution with a French guide.

the very nice manager speaks French well it helped us. Price excursion much cheaper than the hotel and perfect organization. The bus and translator very nice a perfect day. Thanks again, RICARDO.