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Elounda & Spinalonga: Seaside History & Relaxation
3.5
31 Ratings
Elounda
Embark on a thrilling tour of Spinalonga Island and Agios Nikolaos, where you’ll explore historical sites, swim in crystal-clear waters, and indulge in a delicious BBQ feast. Don’t miss this unforgettable adventure from Heraklion!
Embark on a thrilling tour of Spinalonga Island and Agios Nikolaos, where you’ll explore historical sites, swim in crystal-clear waters, and indulge in a delicious BBQ feast. Don’t miss this unforgettable adventure from Heraklion!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Spinalonga (Kalydon) - Discover the seaside village of Elounda and walk amongst history on the island of Spinalonga.
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Elounda - 10:30 Departure from Elounda with the boat
10:50 Arrival Spinalonga
12:30 Departure from Spinalonga and time for swimming
13:00 Arrival Elounda
15:00 Departure from Elounda to Agios Nikolaos
15:15 Arrival Agios…
- Spinalonga (Kalydon) - Discover the seaside village of Elounda and walk amongst history on the island of Spinalonga.
-
Elounda - 10:30 Departure from Elounda with the boat
10:50 Arrival Spinalonga
12:30 Departure from Spinalonga and time for swimming
13:00 Arrival Elounda
15:00 Departure from Elounda to Agios Nikolaos
15:15 Arrival Agios Nikolaos
16:45 Departure Agios Nikolaos
18:30 Arrival Heraklion. - Agios Nikolaos - Last stop the capital town of Lasithi, Agios Nikolaos. Relax in a café next to the bottomless Lake of Voulismeni and enjoy your walk to the local shops.
What's Included
- BBQ and Boat (if selected)
- Hotel pick-up in Malia, Stalis, Hersonisos, Anisaras, Gouves, Heraklion, Ammoudara, Ag Pelagia, Fodele
- Professional guide MON: EN-DE-FR-PL, TUE: EN-PL-RUS-RM, FRI: EN-PL-RUS, SAT: EN-DE
- Professional guide English, German and French (mon-wed-thu)
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- BBQ and Boat (if selected)
- Hotel pick-up in Malia, Stalis, Hersonisos, Anisaras, Gouves, Heraklion, Ammoudara, Ag Pelagia, Fodele
- Professional guide MON: EN-DE-FR-PL, TUE: EN-PL-RUS-RM, FRI: EN-PL-RUS, SAT: EN-DE
- Professional guide English, German and French (mon-wed-thu)
- In-vehicle air conditioning
What's Not Included
- Entrance fees
- Personal expenses
- Boat ticket and BBQ (adults)
- Entrance fees
- Boat ticket and BBQ(children aged 5-11 years)
- Boat ticket Without BBQ (ONLY ON SUNDAYS)
- Entrance fees
- Personal expenses
- Boat ticket and BBQ (adults)
- Entrance fees
- Boat ticket and BBQ(children aged 5-11 years)
- Boat ticket Without BBQ (ONLY ON SUNDAYS)
Additional Information
Experience the charming coastal town of Elounda and immerse yourself in the past on Spinalonga Island.
After exploring this historically rich place, our journey leads us to the hidden bay of Kolokitha. Among the most captivating shores in Crete, its isolated setting boasts white sandy beaches and tranquil, deep-blue waters, quietly neighboring ancient…
Experience the charming coastal town of Elounda and immerse yourself in the past on Spinalonga Island.
After exploring this historically rich place, our journey leads us to the hidden bay of Kolokitha. Among the most captivating shores in Crete, its isolated setting boasts white sandy beaches and tranquil, deep-blue waters, quietly neighboring ancient olive orchards. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to dive off the boat for a swim.
Leisure time is plentiful for you to swim in the transparent seas, with a BBQ served on the ship for your enjoyment. The menu comprises of pork chop BBQ, Greek salad, feta cheese, bread, wine or Fanta, and succulent seasonal fruit. (Note that EVERY SUNDAY, dinner is held at a local tavern, as there is no BBQ served on board)
After a brief time of tranquility, our journey leads us back to Elounda.
Our next stop is the scenic town of Agios Nikolaos. We make our final pause here, where you can savor a delightful coffee while overlooking the stunning lake, browse the traditional local stores for souvenir shopping, and unwind a little before we resume our journey home.
- Take swimming suits
- At the time of booking please mention your hotel name and location. You will be notified by email about the pickup point and time
- Infants will be seated with their parents on the bus and will not have their own seat
- Seats are assigned by the theater box office and will not be known in advance of the performance date
- Pickup begins up to 90 minutes before tour starts and is done from central meeting points near the hotels, only in the areas of Panormo, Scaleta, Adele, Platanias, Missiria, Rethymno town, Atsipopoulo, Kavros and Georgioupoli
Location
Spinalonga (Kalydon)
Elounda Bay
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.5
(31 Ratings)
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Emilio_i
Sep 2, 2025
Highly recommended!!! - A full and intense day. We loved the whole tour, the boat, the barbecue, the beach and Spinalonga. Very professional and organized
Review provided by Viator
Gemma_m
Oct 28, 2024
Great Trip - Highly Recommend - I read a lot of bad reviews for this excursion but I booked anyway as I really wanted to see Spinalonga.
Contrary to previous reviews we had an excellent trip. We were collected efficiently, clear instructions were sent the day before.
The tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable and was able to speak both English and German/Dutch?
The trip to the Olive Factory was a lovely start to the day, as well as the stop to Agios Nikolaos, there was plenty of time to grab a bite to eat and enjoy the wonderful views and do some shopping.
The trip to Spinalonga was well organised we had our own private boat for our group. The Island itself is just as amazing as expected. We had plenty of time to have a wander and explore.
The last part of the trip was to relax for a further couple of hours on the beach in Plaka, this was great if you're hungry or would like a swim, however there wasn't much else to do, so we were twiddling our thumbs for quite a while and were ready to head back to our hotel.
Cons of the trip - we would have preferred for the boat trip and entrance fee to Spinalonga to be included in the cost, with tickets pre-purchased. Although we were fortunate there was not a big queue I can see this being an issue in high season which then takes away the time to explore Spinalonga Island. They will also only accept cash for the additional charges.
Review provided by Viator
Sheryl_a
Aug 22, 2024
Highly recommended - It was a memorable experience! We had a great time and the price is really good for the whole day excursion.
Review provided by Viator
Anamarques
Jul 16, 2024
Weekend escape - Thank you for the enjoyable day that we had. First time in crete and didn't disappointed. Will do again.
Review provided by Viator
Timean24
Sep 15, 2025
Read the comments - In one side it was 10/10 and in the other hand it was not a boat trip... so it was a 12 hour long excursion with a bus and a bit of boat... we stayed 5 hours on the bus, 1 on the boat, 1 hour swimming, 1 hour grill, 2 hours on the Spinalonga island 1 hour in an olive oil factory and 1 hours in Agios Nicolaus city. It was very beautiful and the tour guides were very nice so it's worth is to see this much beauty. The bus part was awful, we stayed a bit at like 10 hotels to collect the people (we started from Heraklion) . The swimming part was okay, a nice hidden ⛱️ ;) the bbq was not a big deal , I will insert a pic, and we had to pay 15 euro extra in cash for the food (1 slide of pork and a greek salad + 1 🍊)... the island is amazing, that was the best part (you have to have 20 euro extra in cash for the entrance) . So after the beach and the Spinalonga the boat trip was over, back to the bus and to an 🫒 factory. We got some tasting:) back to the bus again, and we had 1 hour to see Agios Nicolaus city. And back to the bus for another 2.5 hour busride back to Heraklion. It's a full day activity but maybe worth to book a normal boat trip only to Spinalonga and if you have a car it's easier to visit the other places (it was 90 euro per total, not 55 like when we did the booking). It would be nice to know the full program in advance...but it was well organised
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Monica_p
Oct 6, 2024
A pleasant trip - Visiting Spingalonga Island, swimming at the bay. The lunch was very nice and the boat quite comfortable. We would have liked more time in Agios Nikolaos to look at the shops and have a drink. The
Review provided by Viator
Rbn2
Sep 28, 2024
Spinalonga and swim. - It was a full tour bus but all went very smoothly thanks to the tour guide Manuella who was obviously very experienced at dealing with large groups.
Review provided by Viator
Davidcoysh
Oct 16, 2024
Spindlonga trip with insufficient time to see the island. - This was a full day tour but we only spent one hour on Spinalonga which was insufficient. On Spinalonga we had a guide who was very informative. The guided tour took about 30 minutes and the remaining 30 minutes was insufficient to look around the island as we could not explore the town and also see the castle
. The stops at Agios Nikolaos and the olive oil factory did not add value. The ship provided a quite acceptable BBQ, the swim/walk was OK but overall the experience was disappointing.
Review provided by Viator
A
Aug 22, 2025
Left waiting around and then stranded. Incorrect itinerary was provided. However, actual boat trip was good. - We had a good time when on the boat, but we were misled by the operator… We were given the wrong itinerary. We were told to get to the boat 90 minutes before it actually departed (and left sat on deck bored). We were nearly left stranded in Elounda at the end - thankfully there was a bus route and we knew how to sort bus tickets… Despite being very prompt with messages, it was clear they didn’t really understand the excursion and its timings.
For instance, we were told if we wanted a pick up it would be 8:10… for an hour-long ride for a 11:50 start! When we questioned this as it seemed very early they didn’t tell us that on route there would be two excursion stops, so we made our way there privately.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Madysonr91
Jun 20, 2025
Deplorable - The meeting times and location have been changed without us expressly informing. So we missed the start. the claimant refuses to offer us another option or refund us
Review provided by Tripadvisor
