Crete Fly Drive from North to South: Malia and Aghia Galini

Crete rewards those who explore, and this fly-drive puts the whole island within reach. Fly from the UK to Heraklion, collect your compact hire car with tax, insurance and unlimited mileage, and head east along the coast to Malia. Five nights bed and breakfast at the 3-star Malia Holidays Hotel give you a pool, gardens and an easy walk to the sand, with the Minoan palace of Knossos, the Lasithi Plateau and the tavernas of Malia old town all a short drive or stroll away. Pricing unsaved.

Then drive south across the mountainous heart of the island, through olive groves and hill villages, to Aghia Galini on the Libyan Sea. Here the 4-star Palazzo Greco Hotel is your base for five more nights bed and breakfast, with a sea-view pool, Cretan breakfast and the harbour a short walk away. Spend your days at the ancient site of Phaistos, the caves and cliffs of Matala or the quiet coves of the south coast, stopping wherever and whenever you please.