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Crete· Ρέθυμνο

Rethymno

A Venetian old town with a Fortezza above it and a long sandy beach running east from the edge of the centre. The middle of the island, so nothing is far.

🛏 See hotel prices in Rethymno Balos Beach← All of Crete
  • Culture
  • Families
  • Beaches

Rethymno is the compromise that works: an old town as good as Chania's, a beach you can walk to, and a position in the middle of the island that puts both airports within ninety minutes. The Fortezza, the Venetian loggia and the Rimondi fountain are all inside ten minutes' walk of each other.

The long sandy strip east of town is where most of the big hotels sit — organised, shallow, easy with children, and busy in August. For quiet, the south coast is a forty-minute drive over the mountains: Plakias and Preveli face the Libyan Sea and feel like another island.

🏛️ Rethymno

Attractions · Rethymno

Attractions — all on Crete

🏖️ Rethymno

Beaches · Rethymno

Beaches — all on Crete

🍽️ Rethymno

Restaurants & tavernas · Rethymno

Restaurants & tavernas — all on Crete

🛏️ Rethymno

Where to stay · Rethymno

Where to stay — all on Crete

🍸 Rethymno

Beach clubs & nightlife · Rethymno

Beach clubs & nightlife — all on Crete

Hotels on the map · Rethymno

Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, studios and villas — so you can judge the distance to the beach, the port or the village from here rather than guess from an address.

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Tours and day trips from here

Boat trips, guided tours of the ancient sites and tickets bookable ahead — free cancellation on most.

See all options: Rethymno, Crete →

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Where to stay

The other parts of Crete

Before you go

Car hire from local firmsIsland rental companies rather than the international desks — usually cheaper, often with full insurance and no card deposit. On Crete, Kefalonia or Naxos a car is what gets you to the beaches the buses do not reach.Compare local cars →Scooter, ATV & bike hireThe classic island runabout for coves and hilltop villages. Wear the helmet, check what the insurance excludes, and be honest about gravel roads — they are where most rental accidents happen.Find a scooter →Car hire, budgetAn aggregator that tends to surface the lowest headline prices. Read the fuel, insurance and ferry clauses — many contracts do not allow the car on a boat.Compare prices →

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The My network

Where the journey goes next

Thassos first — then the neighbours of a Balkan road trip and the coasts across the water. Same format, the same honesty about the money, written place by place.

Turquoise water and a long sandy beach below green hills on ThassosThassos.onlineOur sister site · North AegeanThassos has a guide of its ownThe green, marble-edged island of the north Aegean, a short ferry crossing from Keramoti or Kavala and one of the Greek islands Romanian travellers know best. Beaches, mountain villages, tavernas and where to stay — covered in depth on thassos.online.Open the Thassos guide · thassos.online →
MyBulgaria.onlineBulgariaThe country most Romanian drivers cross on the way down — and worth a stop: the Black Sea coast, Sofia, Plovdiv's old town, the Rila and Pirin mountains.Open the guide →MyAlbania.onlineAlbaniaThe coast facing Corfu: the Albanian Riviera, Ksamil, Butrint and Gjirokastër — a boat trip from Corfu or a road trip of its own.Open the guide →