Rethymno in 2 Days: Old Town Then Arkadi and Margarites

Why Rethymno Works as a Two-Day, Car-Free Base

Rethymno’s old town is compact enough to make a genuine base without a rental car: the Venetian harbour, the Fortezza and the covered market streets are all within a fifteen-minute walk of most hotels. That solves day one.

Day two is a different problem, because the three inland sites worth the detour from Rethymno — Arkadi monastery, the pottery village of Margarites and the Melidoni cave — sit up in the hills, off the coastal highway. This itinerary keeps day one on foot and treats day two honestly: it is a booked excursion or a private taxi day, not a bus day, and it stops well short of Anogia or Mount Psiloritis, which belong to a different trip.

Day 1: Rethymno’s Old Town, on Foot

Spend the whole first day inside Rethymno. There is no need to leave, and no need for wheels.

Start at the Venetian harbour, where the small lighthouse at the mole end still marks the old entrance — read the full walk in the Chania harbour and lighthouse guide for context on how the two Venetian ports compare, then follow the Rethymno old town walk proper: narrow lanes lined with Venetian doorways and Ottoman wooden balconies, the Rimondi fountain, and the Neratze mosque with its minaret, now a concert hall. Rethymno’s old town layers three periods on top of each other more visibly than Chania’s, because the street plan barely changed between them.

By late morning, climb to the Fortezza, the enormous sixteenth-century fortress that covers the headland above the harbour. Inside its walls are the shell of a cathedral, a mosque converted from a Venetian church, and long unbroken views over the old town roofs to the sea. The Fortezza guide covers opening hours and the best light for photographs, which is the first two hours after opening in summer, before the stone starts to radiate heat.

Lunch belongs in the old town rather than on the beachfront strip: look for a taverna serving antikristo, Sfakian-style lamb roasted upright around an open fire, or simply good dakos and a plate of mezze — the Cretan food guide and the dakos and mezze guide both explain what to look for on a menu that is trying to feed tourists rather than feed you well.

The afternoon is for the market streets and the small museums — the Archaeological Museum in the old Venetian bastion by the Fortezza gate is worth thirty minutes, mostly for Minoan and Greco-Roman finds from sites around the Rethymno regional unit. If you want a hands-on alternative to another museum, a tasting session built around Cretan raki, herbs and local produce is a pleasant way to spend a late afternoon without a car: a guided tasting of Cretan raki, herbs and local flavours in Rethymno runs from a base in town and needs no transport of your own.

In the evening, the harbour front fills up for dinner — pick a taverna one or two streets back from the water, where prices drop and the food generally improves. Rethymno’s old town rewards an unhurried single day; there is no need to rush it to leave time for anything else.

Day 2: Arkadi Monastery, Margarites and the Melidoni Cave

This is the day that needs planning, because none of its three stops sit on the KTEL coastal route. The KTEL bus network works well along the VOAK highway between Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Agios Nikolaos, but it thins out fast once you turn inland, and none of Arkadi, Margarites or Melidoni have a regular scheduled service that would let a car-free visitor string all three together in a single day. The honest options are an organised excursion or a private taxi for the day; see the comparison in rental car versus organised tours if you are weighing whether to hire a car for this one day instead.

Arkadi monastery is the reason most visitors head inland from Rethymno at all. Its Renaissance church façade is famous on its own, but the site’s weight comes from 1866: during the Ottoman siege of Crete, hundreds of Cretan defenders and refugees who had taken shelter inside the monastery chose to blow up their own gunpowder store rather than surrender, killing themselves along with the besieging troops.

It is remembered across Crete as a symbol of resistance rather than a tragedy, and Arkadi is treated as a national shrine accordingly — it is also a working monastery, so shoulders and knees need to be covered before you go in, exactly as at Preveli and Toplou. The Arkadi monastery guide has the full history and the dress-code detail in depth.

From Arkadi, the road continues to Margarites, a village that has made pottery for generations and still has working studios open to visitors along its main lanes — a good place to buy something made on the island rather than shipped to it, covered in the Margarites pottery and Cretan crafts guide. The last stop is the Melidoni cave, a large chamber with its own dark history: villagers sheltering here during the Ottoman era died when the cave mouth was sealed and smoked, a story now marked with a memorial inside. The Melidoni cave guide covers the walk in, the lighting, and what to expect underfoot.

The most efficient way to link the three in a single day without your own car is a small-group excursion built specifically around this route: a private day trip from Rethymno covering Arkadi monastery, Margarites and the Patsos gorge which handles the driving between three sites that have no bus link to each other.

If you would rather set your own pace, arrange a private taxi for the day through your accommodation — see private tours and drivers in Crete for what that typically costs and how to book it. Either way, be back in Rethymno by early evening; none of these three sites keep late hours, and the drive back down from the hills is not one to do after dark on unfamiliar roads.

What to Skip on This Trip: Anogia and Psiloritis

It is tempting to stretch day two further west to Anogia, the mountain town under Mount Psiloritis, or up onto the mountain itself. Resist it. Anogia sits a further 40 minutes or more beyond Melidoni on a different road, and Psiloritis is a proper hiking objective, not a stop on a monastery-and-pottery day — the Psiloritis summit hike makes clear it is a half-day undertaking on its own, with its own logistics, that has nothing in common with visiting a monastery courtyard.

Adding either to this itinerary without your own car means a driver spending the whole day behind the wheel and neither site getting the time it deserves. If Anogia and the mountain interest you, they belong on a separate day with a rental car, ideally built around one of the gorge hikes or a longer inland loop rather than bolted onto this route.

For anyone weighing whether to rent a car at all for the wider trip, the driving in Crete guide and the renting a car in Crete guide are the places to start; for this specific two-day plan, though, one excursion day covers the ground perfectly well.

Two Days in Rethymno at a Glance

Day	Focus	Transport	Typical pace
Day 1	Old town, Fortezza, harbour, market streets	On foot	Full day, unhurried
Day 2	Arkadi monastery, Margarites, Melidoni cave	Organised excursion or private taxi	Full day, one round trip

If you have a third day to add, the natural extensions are a gorge day — the Imbros gorge hike from Rethymno

reaches a different landscape entirely, walking down a narrow canyon to the south coast — or a gentler countryside outing such as a guided nature walk through the countryside around Rethymno which stays closer to town. Travellers who want more time with animals and rural life rather than ruins can also look at a hands-on morning on a working farm; several operators run a shepherd-for-a-day format from bases near Rethymno that pairs well with a slower second half of the trip.

Rethymno in Two Days: FAQ

Can you visit Rethymno’s old town without a car?

Yes, easily. The old town, the Fortezza and the harbour are all within walking distance of each other and of most hotels in and around the old town. A car is not only unnecessary for day one, it is a liability — parking inside the old streets is scarce and the lanes are narrow.

Why can’t a KTEL bus reach Arkadi, Margarites and Melidoni?

The KTEL network is reliable along the VOAK highway on the north coast, between Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion and Agios Nikolaos. Once a route turns inland toward the hills, service drops to a handful of seasonal or school-oriented runs that rarely fit a same-day loop between three separate villages. There is no scheduled bus that links Rethymno, Arkadi, Margarites and Melidoni on a single round trip.

Is a private taxi or an organised tour better for day two?

An organised excursion is usually cheaper per person and needs no arrangement beyond booking, which suits most two-day visitors. A private taxi or driver costs more but lets you set your own pace and stay longer at whichever stop you prefer — worth it for a small group splitting the cost. Either avoids the point of the KTEL network entirely, which is what makes the day work.

Do you need to cover up to visit Arkadi monastery?

Yes. Arkadi is a working monastery and enforces the same dress code as Preveli and Toplou: shoulders and knees covered for both men and women. Wraps are sometimes available at the gate for visitors caught out, but it is safer to bring your own.

Is it worth adding Anogia or Mount Psiloritis to this itinerary?

Not on this two-day plan. Anogia lies well beyond Melidoni on a separate road, and Psiloritis is a half-day hike in its own right, not a stop to fold into a monastery-and-pottery day. Both deserve a dedicated day with a rental car rather than a rushed detour.

How much walking does day two actually involve?

Very little. Arkadi’s courtyard and church, Margarites’ lanes and studios, and the walk into the Melidoni cave are all short, unhurried stops. The day is dominated by driving between inland villages, not by distance covered on foot.

What should you eat on the way back from Margarites?

Margarites and the villages around it are known for simple, produce-driven tavernas rather than tourist menus. A plate of dakos, local cheese and whatever vegetable dish is on that day is a safer choice than anything advertising a fixed “tourist menu.”

Can this two-day plan be done in the other order, Arkadi first?

Logistically yes, but it is easier to fix the old town for day one: it needs no booking, while the inland day depends on an excursion departure time or a taxi booking. Doing the flexible day first and the fixed day second removes a variable from your first day in Crete.