A town built over itself
Step out of the front door. You are already in it.
Rethymno sits halfway along the north coast of Crete, between Chania and Heraklion, with a mountain behind it and the Cretan Sea in front. Its old town is one of the best-preserved in Greece: nobody flattened it, so the Venetian doorways, the Ottoman fountains and the wooden balconies are still where they were put.
For a stay, that means you walk out of a door into the thing itself.
The old town
The quarter around Ink is a grid of lanes too narrow for cars, laid out by Venetians and lived in ever since. Doorways carry carved lintels four hundred years old. Bougainvillea comes over the walls in summer and drops into the street.
People live here — laundry, cats, scooters, an argument two floors up — and that is what makes walking it at eight in the evening better than any excursion.
- From the door
- You are already in it
Venetian stone
The Fortezza holds the hill above the town, and below it the Venetian harbour curls behind its Egyptian lighthouse. Both are a few minutes on foot from the door; their dates and their stories are in the list of places further down.
- Fortezza
- Built 1573 · 1,300 m of wall
- Harbour
- In use since the 10th century
The water
The nearest swimming is the town's own beach, a few minutes' walk from the door.
The better swimming is further out, in coves reachable only by boat, and on the south coast where the water changes colour entirely. The desk can arrange a boat of your own for the day.
- Town beach
- A few minutes on foot
- Koumbes beach
- 1.6 km from the Residence
What Crete eats
Cretan cooking is the oldest argument in favour of the Mediterranean diet, and here it is simply lunch. Wild greens, sheep's cheese, barley rusk, olive oil poured like it costs nothing, and lamb cooked slowly with whatever grew nearest.
The wineries in the hills behind Rethymno will show you how the wine of Crete is made. Closer to home, there are small luncheonettes in these lanes doing fresh salads and juices, and the quarter stays alive well after dark.
- Breakfast
- Local cooking, at House of Europe
- Arranged
- Wine tasting, a farm
Behind the town
Twenty minutes inland the coast stops mattering. Gorges open, villages sit at the end of single roads, and the mountains run up to snow that lasts into May.
Arkadi Monastery and the Museum of Ancient Eleftherna are out this way as well; each has its own entry further down the page.
South, the Kourtaliotiko gorge cuts down to Preveli, where a palm-lined river runs into the sea. That one takes the whole day, and we arrange it with Routes, the family's own excursions company.
- Arkadi
- 23 km east · 500 m altitude
- Eleftherna
- 3000 BC – 1300 AD
- Kourtaliotiko
- A day trip, arranged with Routes
The harbour, four minutes from the door
Seven places, from the door to the hills
- The Fortezza410 m
- The Venetian Harbour240 m
- Historical & Folklore Museum280 m
- Archaeological Museum343 m
- The Town Beach475 m
The Town Beach
A few minutes on foot
The nearest swimming is the town's own beach, which begins where the old town ends and runs east for kilometres: sand, shallow water, and enough of it that August never quite fills it. It is a few minutes' walk from the door, so you can go before breakfast and be back for it.
The Venetian Harbour
A few minutes on foot
The Venetian harbour lies beside the modern one, behind its Egyptian lighthouse, and is one of the most picturesque corners of the old town. It operated in the Byzantine period, after 961, and flourished under the Venetians, who began major works in the 14th century to hold back the silting that troubles it still. Seaside tavernas line the quay.
The Fortezza
A few minutes on foot
One of the largest fortresses of the Venetian era, the Fortezza dominates the hill of Palekastro beside the old town. It stands on the site of the citadel of ancient Rithimna and the temple of Artemis Rokkea. The great pentagonal fort was built in 1573; its perimeter runs 1,300 metres, and along the walls stand four bastions: St Luke, St Elijah, St Paul and St Nicholas.
Historical & Folklore Museum
In the old town
A Venetian mansion in the old town, a listed monument of the 17th century, houses the city's historical and folk museum. Five halls hold a permanent collection of traditional craft and folk art, and the museum also looks after the building itself.
Archaeological Museum
In the old town
The city's archaeological collection, in the former church of St Francis — a Venetian monastery church a few streets back from the harbour. The museum moved here in 2016 from its earlier home beside the Fortezza gate.
Arkadi Monastery
23 km east
Near the village of Amnatos, built at 500 metres on a fertile plateau of olive groves, vineyards, pine, cypress and oak. Picturesque chapels stand around it, and the Arkadi gorge begins from there.
The Museum of Ancient Eleftherna
Inland from Rethymno
The first museum in Crete built inside an archaeological site, standing beside the ancient city of Eleftherna. Its three halls carry the whole history of the place, from 3000 BC to 1300 AD, in everyday objects and works of art.
Where you collect your key
It depends on where you stay. House of Europe and the Gateway Suites check in at reception, Nikolaou Plastira 4. At Phos you let yourself in with the codes we send before you arrive.
Nikolaou Plastira 4 · Rethymno 74100
From the airport to the key
The whole arrival →Anyone can sell you a room
The difference is the hours you spend outside it. Twenty-two arrangements, among them a boat of your own and breakfast on the sand.
At the Table Τραπέζι
Crete eats better than almost anywhere in the Mediterranean. These are the ways in.
On the Water Θάλασσα
The coast is four minutes' walk away. Everything below begins from it.
Into the Island Νησί
Gorges, mountain villages, monasteries, and roads that only go one way. Arranged for you.
For Yourself Ησυχία
Quieter arrangements, made in your own time.
