Heraklion is the island's capital and a pleasant surprise for first-time visitors. The Old Town is a maze of lovely pedestrian streets lined with shops and restaurants.
Huge trees provide ample shade in the squares, where you can linger over a coffee for hours at an outdoor café.
Heraklion is also an obvious base for visiting Knossos and exploring central Crete. Like many of Crete's finest coastal towns, it gained its present layout under the Venetians, who ruled from 1204 to 1669, a period which saw a considerable cultural flowering on the island, producing artists such as El Greco, from Fódele, near Heraklion.
