A week in Crete is enough time to understand why so many visitors come back. The island is large enough that your base determines what you see — choose wrong and you spend the week driving across it rather than experiencing it. Choose well and you have a rhythm: a morning walk, a beach afternoon, an evening in a harbour taverna, day trips in between.
The guide below covers the four main base options for a week stay with weekly accommodation rates, serviced apartment options, and an honest assessment of what each base gives you access to.
Prices listed are approximate as of 2026. Weekly rates assume 7 nights. Peak season is July–August; shoulder season is May–June and September–October. Extended-stay discounts on Booking.com are typically applied automatically when you enter a 7+ night date range.
Chania Old Town — Best for Western Crete Explorers
The most atmospheric base on the island and the consistent first choice for visitors who want the full Crete experience. The Venetian harbour — pastel-fronted buildings, a lighthouse, small fishing boats — is photogenic at any time of day. The Old Town’s narrow lanes contain Venetian and Ottoman architectural layers, genuine neighbourhood restaurants, and enough material for several days of aimless wandering.
Chania is in the northwest, making it the right base for:
- Samaria Gorge (Europe’s longest gorge, 1 hour south by bus or car)
- Balos Lagoon and Gramvousa (2 hours west, boat trip available)
- Elafonisi Beach (1.5 hours southwest — one of the finest beaches in Greece)
- Akrotiri peninsula beaches (30 minutes north)
The practical reality for a week stay: Chania has the best boutique accommodation stock on the island, the most sophisticated restaurant and café scene, and is the most walkable base. The main limitation is distance from eastern Crete — Heraklion and Knossos are 2.5 hours by car (or 2.5 hours by KTEL bus), which is manageable as a long day trip but tiring.
Weekly rates (serviced studio/apartment): approximately €400–700 in shoulder season; €700–1,200 in peak (July–August).
Extended-stay accommodation in Chania:
- Porto del Colombo — boutique rooms in the Jewish Quarter from approximately €130/night; 7-night rates negotiated directly.
- Villa Andromeda Chania — studios set slightly back from the harbour from approximately €70/night in shoulder season.
- Search serviced apartments in Chania — Booking.com studio and apartment listings with kitchen facilities, filtered for extended stays.
Best for: First-time Crete visitors, couples and honeymooners, food and culture-focused travellers, those planning to hike Samaria Gorge and explore the west coast.
Heraklion — Best for Island-Wide Exploration
Crete’s capital is the most practical week base if you want to cover the island in breadth. It sits in the centre of the north coast, has the main airport (HER), car hire available immediately on arrival, and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion — one of the finest in Greece, with the largest collection of Minoan artefacts. Knossos Palace is 15 minutes by bus from the city centre.
Heraklion is a working Greek city rather than a tourist showcase. The streets around Plateia Eleftherias and the Venetian harbour are lively and genuinely local. It lacks the immediate charm of Chania Old Town, but the convenience trade-off is real: day trips from Heraklion cover the full island more efficiently than from any other base.
Day-trip range from Heraklion:
- Knossos Palace (15 min, bus from city centre, approximately €15 admission as of 2026)
- Rethymno (1 hour west by car)
- Chania (2.5 hours west by car; 90 min by fast boat in summer)
- Elounda and Spinalonga (1 hour east)
- Lassithi Plateau (1 hour south)
Weekly rates (serviced studio/apartment): approximately €350–600 in shoulder season; €600–950 in peak.
Extended-stay accommodation in Heraklion:
- Galaxy Hotel — business hotel with pool and city views from approximately €150/night; weekly packages available.
- Kronos Hotel — practical mid-range near the ferry port from approximately €110/night.
- Hotel Kastro — reliable budget choice near the Venetian harbour from approximately €70/night.
- Search serviced apartments in Heraklion — apartment and studio listings with kitchen facilities.
Best for: Visitors doing a comprehensive Crete itinerary, those arriving and departing from HER airport, history-focused travellers (Knossos + Archaeological Museum), and budget travellers who want the most accommodation choice.
Rethymno — Best All-Round Week Base
The most underrated base on the island for a week-long stay. Rethymno sits midway between Heraklion and Chania on the north coast, has a Venetian harbour of its own (smaller and less crowded than Chania’s), a beach that runs directly through the town, and a 16th-century Venetian fortress (Fortezza) overlooking it all. The Old Town has working neighbourhood restaurants and shops without the tourist density of Chania in peak season.
The practical advantage: from Rethymno, both Chania (1 hour west) and Heraklion (1 hour east) are comfortable day trips. You can spend half your week exploring the west and half the east without the cost or disruption of moving bases.
Weekly rates (serviced studio/apartment): approximately €380–650 in shoulder season; €650–1,100 in peak.
Extended-stay accommodation in Rethymno:
- Palazzo Vecchio — atmospheric 15th-century building in the Old Town, from approximately €160/night; 7-night bookings negotiated for better rates.
- Avli Lounge Apartments — suites and apartments with courtyard from approximately €200/night in shoulder season.
- Atelier Pension — well-known budget choice in the old town from approximately €65/night.
- Search serviced apartments in Rethymno — Booking.com apartment listings for Rethymno extended stays.
Best for: Visitors who want a relaxed week with genuine town character and beach access. The best choice for those who cannot decide between Chania and Heraklion — Rethymno covers both.
Elounda and East Crete — Best for Luxury Week Stays
Elounda on the Gulf of Mirabello is where Greece concentrates its finest resort accommodation. The sea here is calm and sheltered, the light is particularly clear, and the island of Spinalonga — the Venetian fortress turned leper colony made famous by Victoria Hislop’s The Island — is 10 minutes by boat from the pier.
For a week in Elounda, the concept is different: it is primarily a resort stay with excursions rather than a base for island-wide exploration. The east coast feels remote from Chania and Rethymno (2+ hours by car).
Weekly rates (luxury resort): approximately €1,400–5,000+ per week for one-bedroom suites with pool access, depending on property and season.
Extended-stay accommodation in Elounda:
- Elounda Beach Hotel and Villas — the classic grand dame of Greek luxury resorts, bungalows from approximately €700/night; 7-night stays offer access to private pools and beach bungalows.
- Blue Palace, A Luxury Collection Resort — villas with private infinity pools overlooking Spinalonga from approximately €800/night.
- Elounda Gulf Villas — sea-view rooms from approximately €200/night, more accessible entry point into the Elounda market.
Best for: Special occasions, honeymooners, and high-budget travellers for whom the resort experience is the primary purpose of the week. Not the right base if island-wide exploration is the priority.
Serviced Apartments vs Hotels for a Week
For 7-night stays in Crete, serviced apartments offer meaningful advantages over standard hotel rooms:
- Kitchen access reduces dining costs significantly — breakfast and simple lunches at home cut weekly food spend by approximately €70–120
- More space to unpack and settle in for a week-long stay
- Laundry facilities in many properties
Browse Crete serviced apartments and apart-hotels
Booking timing: The best serviced apartments in Chania Old Town and Rethymno fill 2–3 months before July and August. May, June, and September offer the same properties at significantly lower prices and with more availability. Elounda luxury inventory fills 4–6 months ahead for peak season.
Getting Around Crete During a Week Stay
A rental car transforms a week in Crete. Without one, you are limited to the KTEL buses between main towns (frequent and reliable along the north coast) and organised day tours. With a car, every beach, gorge, and mountain village is reachable. Car hire costs approximately €35–60/day in shoulder season; higher in peak. Book in advance for August.
KTEL bus journey times from Heraklion: Rethymno approximately 1 hour 30 minutes (€9 single), Chania approximately 2 hours 30 minutes (€14 single), Agios Nikolaos approximately 1 hour 30 minutes (€8 single).
Related Crete Guides
- Where to Stay in Crete: Full Guide — complete area breakdown with all hotel tiers
- Where to Stay in Chania — full Chania Old Town hotel picks
- Where to Stay in Heraklion — Heraklion hotels by budget
- Crete Island Guide — overview of the island
- Crete Things to Do — Samaria Gorge, Knossos, and beaches
- Crete Beaches Guide — Elafonisi, Balos, Falassarna, and the south coast
- Crete vs Santorini — which island suits your trip