KCrete is indeed a very good destination for history and nature fans. The only problem is that you will have to rent a car and drive around. You have not indicated when you want to visit, which is important and also where you will be coming from so we can be more specific.
knosos and Festos are two main towns of the Minoan civilization which was the beginning of the European too. As for nature there are many places that include the Samaria gorge, the White mountains - Lefka Ori, Spinalonga where the story of the book "The Island" took place, the towns of Heraklion, Rethimnon, Chania and all other bigger or smaller ones.
If you land in Athens you can always take the ferry to Santorini, which is worth the visit for a couple of days and of course Athens itself.
Crete is a great choice, I agree with Airpole(I don't understand why the thumpsdown?)
It has amazing beaches and many more.
You can go to the Knossos Palace and Festos in the Heraklion region, where the Minoan civilization existed.
You can go to the Samaria gorge- I have been there, it is amazing but also very tiring, you'll walk for hours ! But lovely scenery .
You can rent a car and go to the White Mountains to see the little villages in the Chania region- very beautiful, and the nature you like- the view from the White Mountains is breathtaking.
If you are interested in WW2 history you can go in Chania villages(there were mass excecutions by germans and there are museums here and there), and especially Kandanos, the village they burned to the ground- but the people build it again. There is a museum there too.
You can go the the city of Chania - the second largest city in Crete. It has the Venetian Port, but also mosques of the 17 century, from the Ottoman times, lovely narrow roads and generally beautiful sights.
For the most part, there is no reason to rent a car-unless you want to visit isolated villages. There is a very good system of buses, they go to all the cities and important places of Crete every half an hour at summer. They actually exist there mainly for tourists, and you will have no trouble finding and using them.
see those: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iOOVeq9...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RHbt7bi...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3jdQRbb...
have fun wherever you go! :D
You can visit a beautiful Greek island called Corfu also known Kerkyra it has an airport so you won't have to worry about ferries if you don't like them. I have been going to the island since I was a baby and i'm planning on living there in a few years.
Corfu has many museums and places of interest here is a short list of these:
-the Achillion palace
-the kaisers chair (which has an amazing view you can drive up so far and walk its a bit steep)
-the beautiful Palaiokastritsa (there is a monestry with a museum that is really good, you can go on boat rides to see the caves and you can also go on the glass bottom boat which is amazing sometimes you can see dolphins but i'm still to see one, you can also go up to bella vista and see the lovely view from the taverna called the golden fox which does nice cheese cake and other deserts)
-there are some waterfalls somewhere but i cant remember what the place is called
-there are many meuseums in corfu town there is also a really good one in acharavi opposite the roman baths
-there is also the beautiful forest of eremites which has 3 rivers it is so beautiful and it's currently under threat of being built on
- mouse island is lovely
Although I have told you a few places you really need to google it because there are that many places its too much for me to tell you about but trust me you will love it.
When I go to Corfu I stay in the beautiful village of Kassiopi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corfu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassiopi
There are also many festivals that go on during the year there is singing and dancing it's really nice.
If you would like any more information or you have any questions please message me.
If it's history you want, then Crete is for you. It is in fact the oldest in terms of Greek Classical History, way before Athens and around the time of Egypt.
The Cretans actually invented printing about 4,000 years ago but for some reason (never explained) the idea was simply abandoned and lost in time.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ancient-greece-...
I'll be honest, when I saw the disc I assumed it must be some kind of 'tax disc' it's got bundles of wheat and other stuff on it which seems to imply that it's some kind of tally - a method of publishing large numbers of tax demands from the citizen-farmers of Crete - this then to be shipped to Egypt.
But I'm not a scholar and know from long experience that they spend far too much time fussing over things and never grasping the obvious - so it seems to me.
Evidence of the historic connection between Crete and Egypt
http://www.academia.edu/2142110/The_evid...
But, there's something else about Crete which may interest you - a more recent episode in the history of Crete and the Cretans - because during WW2 a group of Cretan Partisans and some Greek and British officers, pulled off the most daring raid ever - they actually captured a German general and smuggled him out to Cairo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN1qrghg...
In 1957 a British war movie was made about the capture of the German general on Crete. Most people back then just thought it was a fiction but I knew better because at the time I was working for a British Army intelligence unit on the island of Cyprus and we knew that both Dirk Bogarde and Christopher Lee - who appear in the clip below, had both served with British Intelligence during WW2. But then it was not public knowledge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hs-HvKPTZo
You will love Crete - promise.
Cretan dance Pentozalis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6e7xmnWlEg
It's for five male dancers but sometimes more.
Crete via Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=crete
If you want some Cretan culture - this link gets you all the festivals.
http://www.world-guides.com/europe/greece/aegean-islands/crete/crete_events.html
Cretan music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWz3gTQo5LA
London UK
Crete is magic. Hire a car and plan a route based on what you find on the internet. Finis at Mochlos - north east Crete and go to Dimitris Taverna ..the best on Crete. he also rents rooms.
Okay so this year I also went for a trip to Greece and I visited Athens, thessaloniki & corfu but some people and the guide recommended me to also visit Albania which just next to greece .I was impressed by its beauty and it has excatly what you;re looking for, a great history.I visited the historical part of it butrint a small historical city very veryy near to greece so if you're going to greece and have some free time i would totally recommend you to visit it ,the prices were very economic though.Anyways its your choice .Have a great holiday
Try to stay a good amount of time also in Athens and Thessaloniki,they are very attractive cities,worth exploring.Also a smaller city like Kavala and the island of Thassos is good for a short stay.
Other nice islands are Santorini,Mykonos,Kos,Corfu.
If you are interested in history .. you have to visit Athens . That`s a must , because it was the centre of the European world in politics and culture for some hundred years from - 400 to + 200 ... approximately ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/ja...
