This trip is a good value for money. It's a cheap way to visit the two beautiful cities of the western Crete, and one spectacular lake. You'll have a plenty of the free time in those places. The guide is a wonderful guy - a poloyglote, who speaks 6 languages.

Fab day, picked up on time. Michael, the tour guide introduced himself and the driver when everyone was picked up. First stop was a 15 min break on the way to Rethymno with beautiful views of the coastline and a coffee shop. Then off to rethymno for 90 minutes. There was a half marathon on when we went so a lot of the streets were taped off. We stayed round the venetian harbour which is beautiful, however, on a normal day I don't think 90 mins is enough time. Michael was very informative in telling us loads of information about life on the island and Rethymno and Chania. We left to go to Chania and didn't expect a hike down a hill from the bus to the centre so I struggled a bit with the humidity and heat. Had a wander round the market area and the harbour but again 2 hours not really long enough. Maybe better dropping Lake Kournas as its nothing special, not as beautiful as the pictures show and spending longer on the two stops.

Michaelis was a good guide, letting us know what to expect. The coach was comfortable and the transition to minibus went well. Rethimno was just worth a visit - the Fortezza was huge, but perhaps could do with a museum inside. Chania was good to visit, with.a fairly scenic harbour area, plenty of alleys and a lot of tourist shops. For me the best part was the Museum of Ancient Shipbuilding on the eastern side of the harbour in an old Venetian ship shed, which contained an interesting replica minoan ship. Finally, the short swim stop at Kournas - not everyone liked this, and would have preferred more time in Chania, but I enjoyed having a fresh water dip, with hot chocolate at a waterside taverna afterwards. I had googles, but did not see any of the terrapins or goldfish that it is stocked with. Overall a pleasant day,