The Rough Guide to Crete (Crete (Rough Guides))

Rating:
Summary: This guide is simply the best!!!
Review: I travelled to Crete on a package holiday and stayed in the popular (read overdeveloped) resort of Hersonnosis. I found that the Rough Guide had no interest in covering this particular area and is particularly scathing towards package holidays. It is written as a guide to backpackers, and is probably useful for finding cheap restaurants and rough hostel accomodation. It is not as useful as a travel guide. I had travelled to Crete previously on an archeological tour and I know a good deal about the Minoan sites, the Venetian harbours and the Natural amenities such as the Samarian gorge. I found that the rough guide had litte to say about what was important and much to say about what is not important to the package holidaymaker. It was a lesson to me, in future I will be careful to choose the right kind of guide for my holiday!

Rating:
Summary: A book for backpackers.
Review: I travelled to Crete on a package holiday and stayed in the popular (read overdeveloped) resort of Hersonnosis. I found that the Rough Guide had no interest in covering this particular area and is particularly scathing towards package holidays. It is written as a guide to backpackers, and is probably useful for finding cheap restaurants and rough hostel accomodation. It is not as useful as a travel guide. I had travelled to Crete previously on an archeological tour and I know a good deal about the Minoan sites, the Venetian harbours and the Natural amenities such as the Samarian gorge. I found that the rough guide had litte to say about what was important and much to say about what is not important to the package holidaymaker. It was a lesson to me, in future I will be careful to choose the right kind of guide for my holiday!

Rating:
Summary: By far the best Crete guide
Review: It's unbelievable how much detailed information is in this book. The organization of the book is very convenient and there are page references throughout the book to the topics being discussed. This makes it extremely easy to either read the book from front to back or to pick out a narrow topic and read about it. My only complaints are that I wish it had more color photos and a better map, but the information is more important than photos anyway. This book will definitely make planning your trip to Crete a lot easier. And it's much, much better than the Lonely Planet Crete guide. Lonely Planet publishes some great books, but its Crete guide is not one of them.

Rating:
Summary: The best guide to Crete, but flawed
Review: The largest Greek island is well described in this entertaining book, which is very thorough in its coverage of all the major and minor sites. An essential aid for any visitor, it is marred only by some out of date information which should have been checked before this latest edition was published

Rating:
Summary: The best guide to Crete, but flawed
Review: The largest Greek island is well described in this entertaining book, which is very thorough in its coverage of all the major and minor sites. An essential aid for any visitor, it is marred only by some out of date information which should have been checked before this latest edition was published

Rating:
Summary: This guide is simply the best!!!
Review: The person who wrote the last review was stupid enough to choose a package holiday based in Hersonissos. I say this because Hersonissos is INSANELY OVERDEVELOPED (at least by Greek standards) and one would HAVE to be stupid to stay there when there are other, much more beautiful, much less crowded, much less expensive, much cleaner, and much less developed areas not too far away. Don't get me wrong - both Hersonissos and nearby Mallia are worth spending a night or two in just to experience the nightlife, but then one should move on to someplace prettier and quieter.

As someone who is of Cretian descent (my mother was born and raised there) and who has a ton of relatives there, I can honestly say that this guide is EXTREMELY accurate and on the mark about almost everything. It even contains facts and information which many natives don't know about. Although I usually stay with relatives in or near Hania, this book has helped me plan and successfully undertake some very awesome daytrips. It has also helped me with sightseeing, eating, and accomodation when visiting other parts of the island away from Hania (where I don't have any relatives so I have to stay in a hotel and eat in a restaurant).

This guide is NOT aimed at package tourists but it can be used even by someone on a package tour for the historic and cultural insights it offers. The reason it comes down so hard on Hersonissos is because the place IS overcrowded and spoiled (many other guides agree). Also, Hersonissos can be visited from Iraklion (the capital) or from Mallia by bus or taxi. (If you wanted to visit Monte Carlo, for example, without selling your house, you would stay in Nice or in Menton or some other nearby town and GO INTO Monte Carlo by the frequent trains - you can always take a taxi back to your hotel. This is MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than staying in a hotel WITHIN Monte Carlo itself). This is analogous to the Hersonissos situation. You can VISIT Hersonissos without actually staying in any of its expensive, crowded hotels. Does one have to stay at the Plaza in New York in order to visit the shops on Fifth Avenue or go to a Broadway play? - NO!!!