Things to do in Rethymno

Rethymno is easy to skip between Chania and Heraklion, but it is the working centre of its own regional unit, not a smaller Chania. Its old town layers a Venetian core, the Rimondi fountain and Fortezza, under an Ottoman skin of minarets and wooden balconies, a mix Chania does not have in the same measure.

The town sits on the north coast VOAK/E75 highway, with regular KTEL coaches to Chania (about an hour) and Heraklion (about 90 minutes), so it works as a stop rather than a detour. Local time is Eastern European, one hour ahead of Paris and Rome.

Arkadi monastery is a 25-minute drive; Margarites' pottery workshops and the Psiloritis foothills toward Anogia, under a peak that holds snow into May or June, are both under an hour away.