Home > Heraklion > Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch
USD $70.00
Full Day Tour to Spinalonga Island with BBQ Lunch
Heraklion, Greece
Take a boat ride to the island of Spinalonga. This former leper colony includes preserved houses and churches, and a strong Venetian influence in the form of a fortress surrounding the village. Swim in the crystal blue water before enjoying a BBQ lunch. As a bonus, a trip to the vibrant Crete town of Aghios Nikolaos is also included.
After a hotel pickup, travel to the pretty village of Elounda, and board your boat to the island of Spinalonga: a former leper colony.
With its well-preserved houses and churches, Spinalonga is rich in history. Learn about the Venetian occupation as your guide points out the old fortress that surrounds the abandoned village.
After a walking tour, make the most of some free time to swim in the crystal blue water of the Gulf of Mirabello, and then follow it up with a barbeque lunch.
On the way back, stop at the small and charming town of Aghios Nikolaos, with its quaint harbour and supposedly 'bottomless lake' for a coffee break. Your tour then finishes with a drop-off at your hotel.
Please note: If you are staying in an Elounda hotel, the visit to Aghios Nikolaos is not included. If you wish to visit the town on your own, please coordinate this with the local supplier before you travel.
5 hours on a hot crowded bus in one day is not how I imagined this tour. The food was not all that great. The guides weren't all that friendly and the beach we were taken to was used by 3 other huge boats and extremely overcrowded.
Review by: Kenneth R, September 2017
BBQ lunch rough and ready and served on the boat, very crowded. Not a relaxing tour.
Review by: gabriela h, August 2017
it was amazing tower, but only one thing, the way back i did not have plase to sit down which is strange.it was me and my 2 dauhets 17 and 11 ad they sit one the top floor the other down, we don have number to seat
Review by: Cristina C, August 2017
Spinalonga, what an amazing story. You get the chills when you enter the tunnel but when you learn of the stories of the islands inhabitants you get transported. Our guide which unfortunately I don't remember her name..sorry. Was wonderful she really transported us back in time. She was passionate about telling the tales of each individual. When you see the scenery, the water you will be frozen in there._br/_ Afterwards we went to another island to swim and enjoy a wonderful BBQ. This experience is one of my coup de Coeur as we say in French.
Review by: Gorenberg.k, September 2016
Lots of fun and interesting, including stops in Agios Nicholaos and Elounda.
Review by: Thorsten M, August 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Shri, August 2016
This was a very enjoyable tour, starting off with a visit to the lovely town of Agios Nikolaos. After sometime to walk around we were taken to Elounda to catch the boat to Spinalonga. Once there you have the choice to walk around or go with a guide for part of the time. We went with the guide which was informative. Once back to the boat, we were taken to a secluded spot for our BBQ and swim, before heading back. Found this much better value than the Knossos Place tour.
Review by: Avery K, June 2016
This was a fabulous tour! Our tour guide knew all about the island of Crete, Aghios Nikolaos, and Spinalonga. She was constantly giving us information about where we were at the time of the tour. It was great to spend the morning in Aghios Nikolaos to explore the main roads, the cathedral and the lake which our guide told us all about Next we were on our way to Spinalonga. You can get beautiful pictures of the outside of the island while the ferry goes around before dropping you off. We then had a guided tour around the inhabited part of the island and had a little time to ourselves to explore the island. We then went to a protected beach where you can swim while the ferry crew prepares lunch my suggestion would be to swim off the boat and not bother with going to the beach. The beach is very small, you have to climb over some large rocks to get there and the sand stops where the water is so its all small slippery stones The lunch was delicious and I love how it was included in the price of the tour. Overall a fantastic day out in the sun, beautiful views for pictures and you get to learn some history of the island of Crete.
Review by: Katherine E, May 2016
really interesting tour, beautiful island with a very sad past, the tour guide was really good and the bbq and swim afterwards was lovely.
Review by: Sheila G, May 2016
Really enjoyable day. The tour was well organized and efficiently run. The cruise was lovely and our barbecue meal was delicious. The area is stunningly beautiful.
Review by: Robyn S, October 2015
The boat trip itself and tour of spinalonga were lovely, as was the lunch. The two and a half hour coach journey to get there and two more hours to get back made me question whether this was really worth the money, probably could have booked something better through my hotel to be honest.
Review by: ozcat, October 2015
It was along day for me as I got picked up from Heraklion, other than that it was quite enjoyable. The island was interesting and I enjoyed lunch. It was too cold for swimming but some people did go in. The only drawback for me was that the entire tour bus had only German tourists on it and I was the only english speaker so I couldn't chat to my fellow travellers. Other than that I enjoyed it.
Review by: mindasemail, July 2015
This is a great one day excursion. I was skeptical about the leper colony island, but it was a lot of fun. You can hike wherever to the very top to see the ruins, or stick at the bottom with the tour guide. Then for lunch they stop at a private island where people swim while the crew grills up lunch.
Review by: edsyfalcon2, July 2015
satisfactory. barbecue lunch, the amount is too small. both tour guide is nice and helpful
Review by: Kristofer A, June 2015
Excellent tour and very fun and informative. I highly recommend it.
Review by: Kara B, June 2015
What an excellent trip. The guide was friendly and informative and the visit to Spinalonga was interesting and enjoyable although the time on the island is quite short and by the time you have had the tour you do not have much time to explore on your own - if you already know the history of Spinalonga you should probably just leave the tour and spend the time exploring on your own. The bay swim and bbq was absolutely wonderful. We would definitely recommend this tour and will definitely do it again next time we are in Crete.
Review by: Jamie S, October 2014
Our tour suppose to include Ag.Nikholas, but were picked up and drop at Elounda port without visiting the city. What a scam!
Review by: Margaret M, October 2014
Pick ups pro-longed length of time. Would have preferred option to have lunch in Elounda instead of boat/barbecue. Would be good to have option. Spinalonga guide was very informative.
Review by: susan M, August 2014
I signed up very last minute and the local operator did a good job being in touch and helping me get on the tour. The Spinalonga guide also did a nice job with the tour, on a very hot day. Overall, the experience was a good one. I found Spinalonga very interesting. I also enjoyed the swimming area and the town of Agios Nicolaus. The BBQ lunch was good, though it was challenging eating it on a crowded boat. One negative was that I felt unprepared for the late hour of the lunch (3:30) and therefore needed to find an ATM and get food in Agios Nicolaus. Since I joined the tour late, it's possible that information would have come to me if I'd had more time.
Review by: George M, August 2014
Travel by coach was too long - inevitable when so many people to be picked up but it could be made clearer in the advertising that this would happen. The bay where we stopped for swimming was really unsuitable - stony and not particularly clean. There must surely be better places to stop?
Review by: Arlene M, July 2014
The visit to Spinalonga was good, I would have liked to spend more time on the island than was given. Other than that it was a nice tour.
Review by: STEPHEN T, June 2014
This was a great tour, you need 2 euro pp to pay for entry on spinalonga. The barbecue and swim at lunch were great , luckily we had good weather highly recommend
Review by: Nina, July 2013
A fantastic tour. Not only is the scenery stunning, the history of Spinalonga likewise. Do not go to Heraklion and miss this tour. Well worth the day. Well organised and everything ran smoothly.
Review by: SHONA S, June 2013
I really enjoyed the day and pleased I did the tour. A good way to see more of Crete after a week walking in Western Crete. The local taxi pick up from my hotel to connect with the bus was on time as was the taxi waiting to meet the bus to return to my hotel at the end of the day. Excellent driving by the bus driver ( he managed so well in the narrow streets with the way the Greeks park) and the tour guide was excellent. Overall an excellent tour. However I did expect/ would have liked to have quite a bit longer on Spinalonga Island which was my reason for booking the tour._br/_
Tour Wednesday 15 May 2013. No photos as my camera jammed and I am waiting for some from some one I met up with on the bus.
Review by: Antony W, June 2013
We were collected on time and the rep was (Anraka )very friendly .we enjoyed spectacular scenery on the drive . _br/_
The boat trip to the small island was enjoyable however I wouldn't recommend it for any one with mobility problems ! The BBQ lunch was very tasty, washed own with wine or juice . _br/_
Spinalonga was fabulous , I was disappointed that we only had one hour on the island , no where near enough time ! _br/_
On the return coach journey the Russian rep NEVER stopped talking over the intercom in Russian , the English people aboard and a lot of the Russians got feb up of her non stop jabbering , we all were saying sushhhhhh ! _br/_
I would recommend that longer was spent on spinalona, and less time on a very rocky beach !
Review by: Caitlin H, July 2012
Great service being picked up directly from my hotel. Slight confusion as you book with viator but the trip is run by another company. Lovely day out with really well informed tour guides. Shame that you only have 30mins to explore Spinalonga on your own, also be prepared for the masses of other tourists doing the same thing.
Review by: Julia G, August 2011
We had a great day out and enjoyed the BBQ and swimming from the boat. The day was well planned.
Review by: Kathleen Z, November 2010
Amazing day of relaxed sailing, swimming and seeing a wonderful island with an unusual history.
Review by: Kathleen Z, September 2010
Amazing day of relaxed sailing, swimming and seeing a wonderful island with an unusual history.
Review by: , July 2010
Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies
Review by: Jenny S, July 2010
Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies
Review by: Anonymous, July 2010
Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies
Review by: Anonymous, October 2009
Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies
Review by: Jenny S, October 2009
Okay so I've read The Island By Victoria Hislop and thats the reason I wanted to visit. I actually think having read the book it made the trip more real. I would have loved to have seen the inside of the hospital but this was having work done. We went out of main season so got chance to explore without the crowds. Would recommend reading the book before you go, Horrifying to think how lepers were treated in the past. Perhaps the cretan government would consider donating some of this tourist monies
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