Rethymno sits on the Greek island of Crete; it's a beautiful city with a
varied and interesting history which today is reflected in its
architecture. Originally inhabited by the Minoans 4,500 years ago it has
since been occupied by the Venetian and Ottoman empires. The Venetian
inluence in particular is evident in the old town and harbour areas. You
can find out more about the history of Rethymno
here.
Today Rethymno is an ideal holiday destination with a beautiful
beach, affordable hotels and lots of great restaurants.
How to get there
Rethymno is ideally placed on Crete as it sits equidistant between the main international airports of Heraklion and Chania - it's about an hour's journey from both. Taxis are freely available at the airport but expensive (expect to pay about 100 euros) there are public buses that run, but check the timetables as they aren't that frequent! Timetables are available on the K-Tel website here.
Where to stay
There are tonnes of accommodation options ranging from high-end hotels
to hostels in the centre of town. I'd recommend going for a hotel out to
the East of the old town but walking distance into the centre. This is
because it will put you near the gorgeous beach and because from the
East there's a promenade to provide an easy flat walk in - especially if
you have children in buggies or mobility problems.
One of my favourite hotels and where we're booked for our next trip is
the Ibiscos Garden; it's clean, reasonable and in a great location! You
can see more info on the hotel
here.
What to do
One of the best things about Rethymno is it is super compact and just
wandering around is a joy! The old town is formed of Venetian
architecture, meaning narrow cobbled streets that are draped with
Hibiscus. Definitely make some time to just drift around and soak up the
atmosphere.
As I mentioned before there's also a great beach just to the East of
town. Most of the bars on the beachfront allow you to use wheir loungers
for free if you buy a drink and its lovely to relax with the sea breeze
cooling you down.
Standing over the old town is the fortress of Rethymno, which was built
by the Venetians in the 16th Century. Its a 4 euro entrance fee for
adults and is really worth a visit, especially late in the day when it
has great sunset views!
Where to eat
So I've definitely saved the highlight until last; the food! I am
absolutely obsessed with food and of all the places I've
travelled Rethymno is the best place I've been for eating out (yes, for
me, it even beats out Rome!)
One of the great things about Rethymno is the options for all budgets;
whilst most of the cuisine is (understandably!) Greek you can go for a
high-end tasting menu or a takeaway Gyros within a few metres of
eachother.
Street food
Anyone who has been to Greece will know how brilliant the streetfood is, and my personal favourite is Gyros. There are loads of good place to get Gyros in Rethymno and all are very reasonable but my personal favourite is the Makan Grill House this modern street food restaurant is situated just one street back from the Venetian harbour and given its location the prices are ridiculously good.
Another good place to try near the harbour is Mojo burgers as you would imagine, they serve burgers, but also do good hot dogs and chicken nuggets for very reasonable prices.
Harbour dining
One of the main reasons people come to Rethymno is for the beautiful
harbour, and luckily its lined with good restaurants. We have had lots
of lovely lunches and evening meals overlooking the water here and its a
great place to people watch.
Me and my partner have different favourite harbour restaurants based on
the fact I'm a big meat eater and he loves fish! So my favourite is
Achinos
where they do amazing ribs. Andy's favourite place is
Zefyros
which is a really great fish restaurant with such friendly staff running
it - it only isn't my number 1 harbour restaurant as they only serve
fish!
Beach bars
As I mentioned before there's lots of good bars along the beach where you can use their sun loungers if you buy a drink or some food. Our favourite of these is Baywich - they serve really good hot and cold sandwiches and salads with delicious fries perfect for a beach lunch, and their ice coffee is also very good. Baywich is about a 20 minute walk out of town along the promenade and if you want somewhere closer in Noble cafe is also very good.
If you want more information on Rethymno we're off there soon so subcribe to my mailing list below - warning there will be a lot of food content!