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.
Review by: Geoffrey T, October 2017
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!
Review by: Diane S., October 2017
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.
Review by: travelgal6979, October 2017
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.
Review by: John A, September 2017
Great. Super guide in both Russian and English. 2 plus hours on site and another 2 plus hours at the museum. Well worth it. Highly recommended.
Review by: Frances J, July 2017
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. _br/_ 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._br/_ I hope you enjoy this tour too. Don't forget to bring water!
Review by: Frances J, July 2017
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. _br/_ 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. _br/_ 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. _br/_ 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._br/_ 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.
Review by: Peter C, June 2017
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.
Review by: Robyndrake, June 2017
I studied the history of Knossos in college, and it was amazing to finally visit the site. Very knowledgeable and fun guide. I wanted more time at Knossos, and so went back a couple days later. I also felt a bit rushed at the Archeaological Museum, but honestly, you could spend an entire day there, so I think this tour gives you a great starting point for futher exploration.
Review by: Gorenberg.k, September 2016
Fascinating
Review by: Phil C, September 2016
A thoroughly dispiriting experience, offhand and disinterested tour guides and an interminable wait for the tickets at Knossos - or should I say Disneyland - itself.
Review by: Yasuyuki K, August 2016
mmmuuu
Review by: George K, August 2016
The trip included a tour of the palace of Knossos, a tour of a winery/olive oil store, and time in Heraklion to walk around, eat lunch or go to the museum. Overall the tour guides were very knowledgeable particularly about the palace and it was a very full and comprehensive day. Coming from Elounda, the bus ride was a bit long, but it was also nice to drive through the different towns and see the other cities in Crete.
Review by: Avery K, June 2016
The tour and our guide were great! We learned a lot about the history of the ancient palace and then had an hour to explore and take pictures on our own time. 1.5 hours guided tour and 1 hour on our own it was the perfect length of time to fully experience Knossos.
Review by: Rodger G, May 2016
our guide was excellent...she was able to highlight the best in a museum filled with artifacts and then bring it all the together as we explored the old ruins of the palace...well done
Review by: davidjciardi, November 2015
shocking tour _br/_ shame that the tour of the museum you have to do by yourself!!!
Review by: Nany, October 2015
We paid a high price for this tour of the Palace at Knossos and a tour of the city of Heraklion. This tour consisted of a bus trip to the site as short 6 km trip we could have taken by taxi or bus from next to our hotel and a TERRIBLE guided tour of the palace. The guide was absolutely awful. All she was worried about was her next cigarette. She forgot her photographs of the palace and simply went through the motions of the guided tour. We had studied the site quite a bit before the tour or we would have not gotten anything out of it. The tour of Heraklion was just to drop us off in the middle of town. A TAXI to Knossos is 8 Euros. We could have hired a private guide for so much less than we paid. We have traveled a lot in Europe and have taken this type of tour before, but this one was the worst ever.
Review by: Aparna J, October 2015
Knossos is not a very interesting artifact and our tour was horrible! Tour was in German and English. She seemed annoyed at questions and sounded like she was reciting from a memorize script. We left early to make better use of the day.
Review by: Kevin K, August 2015
We have been booking with Viator for many years but have never been so disappointed with one of their tours. This was not the tour as advertised by Viator. Specifically -_br/_
- the tour lasted some 8 hours even ignoring the pickup time etc of which only 1.5 hours was at Knossos - we didn't even get to see the full site._br/_
- we spent an hour and a half at a winery which isn't mentioned by Viator - we had no desire to pay money to see a film about wine making!_br/_
- there was no bus tour of Heraklion - we were escorted into the city centre and then left to our own devices. _br/_
In addition, the coach was very old with almost no air conditioning. It was genuinely unpleasantly hot. Also worth noting the tour was bilingual with half the tour being Russian. Many of the English speaking folks just wandered off at Knossos because they lost interest waiting for the guide to finish talking to the Russian guests. _br/_
Overall, it seems Viator just haven't done their due diligence here. Would not recommend this tour.
Review by: Barbara, August 2015
Book the morning tour and avoid some of the crowds and heat. A great start to our vacation. Tour included wine and olive oil tasting at a nearby town. Delicious and informative.
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