Elafonissi Beach Day Trip: Explore Southwest Crete with Traditional Village Stops
4.8
53 Ratings
Rethimno

A complete day excursion to the island of Elafonissi, situated in Crete’s southwestern part. The journey will be on a climate-controlled bus, featuring halts in the traditional hamlets of Elos and Kaloudiana.

Duration: 12 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Elafonissi Beach - This is your chance to visit one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Elafonissi is a heaven on earth, with soft white
  • pink sand, exotic crystal waters and cedar trees reaching the coastline. It is located in the southwestern side of Crete. We pick you up from your Hotel area around 8:30am. Our trips are done in small groups for better comfort so we would like to remind you to be at your assigned location promptly to avoid delays.
    Our first stop, for a short break is Agia Sophia cave. Here you can visit the cave (free entrance) and have a coffee or refreshments if you feel like it (not included in the price). On our way to Elafonissi you will be able to see small traditional villages combined with typical Mediterranean scenery as well as the rugged landscape around the Topolia Gorge. Once we have reached Elafonissi, you will have 4 hours of free time to soak in the amazing sun and enjoy all the shades of blue this beach has to offer.
What's Included
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Professional tour guide
Location
Rethimno
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.8
(53 Ratings)
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Carlosmendosa
Jul 18, 2024
Mega day trip - Very nice day trip, super great people and very helpful. The recommended restaurant was great. Would do it again anytime.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Goplaces621437
Jul 12, 2024
An exceptional place, quality services. - We were picked up at the agreed time at 7.15am. A long road with spectacular sights. And at the end of the way paradise, Elafonisi a magnificent lagoon, warm and crystal clear waters, and the famous pink sand. Back to the Pension around 7:00. Timely stops to eat local. Special mention to Iannis our Guide who switches from Greek to English and French with ease, gives a lot of information and shares his passion for Crete and to Costas who is an exceptional driver with a lot of humor and gives good advice. We had a wonderful day and we will not hesitate to leave with Markidis.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ilariapc3
Jun 26, 2024
Spectacular beach - Beach with pink sand, beautiful. I recommend arriving very early in the morning because there are not many umbrellas and sunbeds. There is ample parking. After that you need to walk about ten minutes to get to the beach.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anastasia_k
Jun 12, 2024
Great - Amazing excursion to a picturesque beach with crystal clear water. Great guide and comfortable bus. Loved it a lot. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Humc2024
May 16, 2024
Top tour to terrific tides - Elafonissi is a beautiful beach, and Markidis ensured that our trip there from Rethymnon was comfortable and enjoyable. The price of the excursion was only €25pp, which includes the ~2.5 hour coach journey (each way), 4 hours at the beach, and brief stops for refreshments on both the outbound and return legs of the journey. During the coach ride out, Yanis kept us thoroughly informed with his expert local knowledge while the driver smoothly handled even the harshest of roads. There were spectacular views of some incredible gorges, worthy of an excursion in their own right. The beach itself was lovely. After crossing the waist-high water separating the initial beach and the island, we continued round and found a lovely isolated spot. The water was so clear it was like looking at tap water, and with so much marine life snorkels are a necessity. We could have stayed there all day, but 4 hours did feel sufficient to enjoy the beach. Of note, there were indeed pink notes to areas of sand, but the real selling point of this beach was the clarity of water.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Y2089dwmarinas
May 3, 2024
Wonderful beach day - Everything worked out great, punctual pick-up, enough time to enjoy the beautiful pink beach... A very nice day!!! Thanks to Kostas, Anastassia and Janis
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gangg2024
Feb 22, 2024
Elafonissi a dream - Very nice beach, water a bit cold for me but I still enjoyed it! The breaks were also very well planned for the toilet and on the way back for lunch.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alex_rib
Feb 6, 2024
A WONDER FOR THE EYES - An experience to have at least once in a lifetime. A beach, or rather two divided by a strip of sand at the end of which there is a small island, full of coves where you can go by sea where the water is even more beautiful, bathed by crystal clear waters and which leave the characteristic pink colour, which makes this lagoon famous, also for this reason. To get there, for us who were in Kissamos, it took us about 45 minutes by car, but it was worth it, there is a large paid car park and then a 10/15 minute walk. It is equipped with two bars with showers, and there are also umbrellas with sunbeds (€20), but they are few compared to the turnout, which is why I recommend arriving early in the morning, also to fully enjoy the beauty of the place and the water wonderful. A fantastic experience. I recommend it.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
601annabels
Sep 18, 2023
A great way to visit Elafonisi when it's not too busy! - Driver and tour guide were great and very informative throughout, despite some treacherous mountain roads! We went slightly off season so the beach was much quieter than during summer and probably nicer for it. We'd have preferred longer on the beach and gone without the final stop on the coach journey home, but it was a good opportunity to stop for food which is otherwise hard to find on Elafonisi. Overall, a great trip and well worth the money!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Katerina_c
Sep 8, 2023
The trip was well timed,... - The trip was well timed, with sufficient time for everything. The guide was very friendly, helpful and provided interesting information about the places we passed by.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 13 guests
1 Adult
July 2024
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