28 degrees in Crete..hoping not to be wearing a coat for 2 weeks
We spend a fortnight in Crete (split between Chania and Agia Galini) every June, when daytime temperatures sometimes nudge at 40°C, I always take a fleece with me, firstly, so I have some big, soft pockets to take a couple of lenses to get under the meagre hand baggage allowance (they get put straight back in the bag after the weigh in!) and, more importantly, becaus e our return flight usually arrives back in the UK (Bristol) at around midnight and after a fortnight of Mediterranean sun, it's bleedin' cold and often wet!
Not sure where you're staying while over there, so can't advise on good eateries in that location. If in Chania though, in the old town, Ela, Amphora and Karnagio are our favourites. A few kilometres out of town is Merovigli in (IIRC, Stalos) which is our all time favourite.
Leave the grip behind! IMO, they're a PITA anyway and it will eat into your baggage allowance weight. Lenswise? Most of my shots there are taken with my 24-70 f/2.8 (rarely wide open - there's plenty of light over there) or my 12-24 Sigma. I'll sometimes use the 8mm fisheye but have almost exhausted its potential now and occasionally use the 70-300 VR to pick out detail at a distance. The 50mm f/1.8 gets used when appropriate (low light and when the framing is just right with it) and the Macro comes out when needed.
We always rent a car since we travel a fair bit to places we want to (re)visit but the local driving is... shall I say just a little erratic and leave it at that, so can be a bit intimmidating! Public transport is generally good, best to buy bus tickets from kiosks rather than on the bus - on the bus, you basically pay a fine for not having a ticket! Still not as extortionate as Stagecoach's normal fares but more expensive than prepaid tickets.
Now, places to visit! Starting from the west coast and working east.
Elafonisi beach - an island to which you can generally walk along a sand spit. Once all the tourists have gone (when the busses and coaches leave), it's lovely and quiet. Worth the walk along the sandy south side until you find a relatively deserted part to set up camp.
Further up the west coast is Falasarna, another beach, this time just a long, sandy one, with a hill strewn with potsherds at the northern end, where there's a Roman harbour about a metre above sea level. Worth setting up camp near one of the cafés/cantinas on the beach - they have loos!
We've never done it but there are boat trips to the tips of the 2 long penninsulas near the NW corner - friends have done the trip and say it's worth it.
Cruising back along the coastal road (the main road is faster but boring and soulless!), you'll pass loads of beaches, any of which will provide swimming and snorkelling opps.
Chania town! Firstly, you shouln't miss the market (covered) in the city centre. About 100 years old and crucifix shaped. One of the cheapest places we've found on the island to buy olive oil soap - look around to find the cheapest prices - the product is all good quality. IIRC, the arm that points north is where the cheapest is. The old town is well worth a wander around, mainly Venetian with some German modifications made using bombs in around 1941... Don't miss Skridloff or Leather street as it's also known. A bit touristy but some good leather flipflop type shoes and even traditional Cretan boots, as well as tacky tourist tat!
Next area along the north coast is the Akrotiri penninsula, particularly nice are Stavros (where Zorba the Greek's exterior shots were shot), an excellent sandy beach, ideal for kids and adults alike - the caravan Kantina on the beach serves good food and will bring it to you on the sunbeds nearest to it, which they take the money for, Ayia Triada (a monastery where they make delicious EV Olive oil) and Marathi, another harbour/beach, often overrun by American service personell but hasn't been the past couple of years we've visited the place.
Back on the mainland and heading east again. Kalives is probably worth a stop if you need a drink or unload one! Next stop would be Georgiopolis, probably the only place we'vce felt ripped off in 12 or more years of visiting the island - we were charged for a Greek coffee which was made using normal coffee grounds rather than proper fine ground Greek coffee. Not the end of the world but not what we had ordered and paid for. Pretty little church on the end of a causeway among other attractions. Just inland from Georiopolis is Lake Kournas, a freswater lake where you can hire pedalloes and see wild terrapins (if you creep up on them quietly - possibly difficult with a 6yo!). The taverna a little way away (north) from the main conurbation(!) is the best of them, we've found.
Next major stop is Rethymnon, a fair sized town with all the usual ammenities and a ruined castle to explore. Harbour's quite pretty and full of decent eateries.
Along the coast a way is Bali. a very pretty place, now a bit spoiled by over development but not too bad in early or late season. Eat upstairs in the fishier restaurant and watch the world go by!
Now, you're getting close to Heraklion, possibly where you flew into. Well, the Knossos museum is quite interesting, as is the site itself, a few miles inland from Heraklion.
Not as familiar with points east, so will only speak of what we know. Anissaras and Annalipsi are both quite pretty and relatively unspoiled, as is OLD Hersonissos (New Hersonissos is horrible - full of Brits on the XXXX). The same cannot be said for Malia which should be nuked on a regular basis to destroy the type of person that choses it for their holidays! If you want to spend a fortnight getting hot and plastered, turn your central heating on and go to the offie!
Still heading east, you'll find Elounda, a lovely, quiet place, with the island of Spinalonga just offshore. It used to be a leper colony (the last in Europe) but is now a point of interest.
Agia Nicolaos is next - full of ex-pats so we've never bothered looking too closely at it. Probably unfair, if I'm honest (which I always try to be), it looks quite pretty from other people's photos but I don't go to Crete to hear a Brummie accent moaning about the price of a sliced white loaf! Having said that, the Minoan palace just east of the centre is well worth a look - just avoid the town centre during drunkards' waking hours.
Right on the East coast is Vai beach, with its coconut trees and sandy beach. Get there early though or you'll not find anywhere to sit and it gets horrid when crowded!
Inland a bit from the North coast, heading back westwards. The Lasithi Plateau, including the Diktean Cave is interesting. The plateau itself is full of fields and could be described as the market garden of Crete, although in recent years, more and more greenhouses have sprung up, full of tomatoes, cucumbers and even bananas.
Carry on west and you'll see plenty of signs to ancient sites, many of which are worth a visit but many are just barren hillsides with a few piles of rocks. Many are (or were) free but more and more are charging for visits.
We stay in a small town/large village on the south coast called Ayia Galini. Very pretty, loads of available accomodation and eateries. Our favourite is at the campsite, just back from the beach on the eastern outskirts of the village, turn left up the path just after the bridge and turn right where he track seems to end. after a while, turn left into the camp site and ask where the shop and taverna are! Don't think we've had a bad meal at any of the restaurants in the town (or, indeed, anywhere on the island). Our favourite bar is the So Far So Good on the beach. Excellent Mojitos and piratical looking owners! Plenty to do locally - palaces, market towns, Roman cliff tombs (Matala). Ask George or Babis at the bar!
We've also stayed in Chora Sfakion, the little port where the boats drop the happy hikers who have completed the Samaria Gorge walk off. If you stay there, take a room that overlooks the ferry slipway and watch the poor beggars stagger off!
Aghia Roumelli is at the bottom of the Samaria gorge and can only be reached by the ferry or by walking down the gorge. A good but hard walk - there's a vertical drop of almost a mile in the first couple of miles of walking! Around 12 miles in total, all of it on what feels like railway ballast. Never stayed there but I can imagine it's beautiful at night and almost deserted.
Sougia is less pretty - nicknamed the bay of pigs due to the high numbers of German naturists who visit it. Can be used as a base to descend a couple of lesser known gorges.
Paleochora is next - pretty town with a sandy beach and a stony one. Plenty of good eateries, many serving excellent (but not cheap) fish, straight off the boats.
Too many other places all over the island to remember and I'm sure to have missed out some peoples' favourites - sorry!
Hope you have a wonderful time, we always do.
Nod.
can you think empty your pockets for the security check, 3hrs later, and six trays 
