After flying at 7am from Bristol to Crete last year and getting the 2am bus from exeter, this year I decided to splash out £70 on a B&B not to have to do that. It definitely made leaving Exeter for Bristol a lot less stressful - unfortunately the airport experience was my worst yet!! I didn't leave as much time as I would normally do, because of staying so close and I arrived at the airport 2h15 before my flight to queues out the door of the terminal. I...

My final day started at 2am (midnight U.K. time!!) when I woke up fully and completely ready to get up. I'm rubbish at staying in bed when I'm awake, find it so frustrating and stressful, I know I ought to try to do it as maybe I'd go back to sleep, but I didn't do that, instead I got up at 2am. Completed the U.K. passenger locator form - all sorted now to re-enter the U.K. The form was fine apart from it asks you to take a photo of or upload proof of vaccination...

I've had a lovely couple of days. On Wednesday, I took the bus (again!) to Agios Nikolaos - this time not to travel on further up the coast or out across the water but instead to spend the day in the town itself. Ag Nik (as it is known) has a unique location surrounded on 3 sides by water, with a lake in the centre of the town. This gives it miles of coastline, endless waterside restaurants and cafes and panoramic views out over the water to mountains beyond. Th...

On Tuesday I took the bus for an hour to Iraklio, the 5th largest city in Greece and capital of Crete. I had misread the timetable and was at the bus stop 45mins early, which was a pain! I was keen to get the first bus as my first stop for the day was the archaeological site of the palace of Knossos. My lonely planet (and every other guide I read online) said it's best to get there bang on 8am before the tour groups arrive. There isn't much more annoying when sig...

On my second full day in Crete, I took a bus to Agios Nikolaos then another to Elounda then a boat from there to the famous island of Spinalonga. It was built as a fortress by the Venetians in the 1500s, occupied by Turkish Muslims 1700-1900 then operated as a leper colony from 1903-1957, not spoken of for many years til it was made famous by Victoria Hislop's novel in 2003 leading to tourists wishing to visit. The bus ride from Ag Nik was fabulous - views out a...