Heraklion, Crete | Knossos, a Lake, and the Best Meal on the Island

Part 2 of our summer in Crete. We check out of Chania, drive across the island to Lake Kournas, and land in Heraklion; a bigger, grittier, livelier city than we expected. Over three days we walk the Venetian walls, tour the Palace of Knossos, eat the best meal of the trip, and finish with coffee on the seafront before flying to Istanbul. We came to Crete without a list. This is what happened. Part 1 (Chania) is linked below. Istanbul is next. Chapters 0:00 A tribute to my mother 0:44 Day 3: goodbye, Chania 1:09 The road across Crete 1:42 Lake Kournas 2:10 Lunch at Taverna Oneiro 3:09 Arriving in Heraklion 3:47 Rocca Mare Hotel and the room tour 4:50 The Venetian walls 5:13 Dinner at Petousis 6:02 Morosini Fountain and the old town at night 7:09 Day 4: the taxi to Knossos 9:47 The Palace of Knossos 12:07 Heraklion city center 13:08 Phyllosophies and bougatsa 14:20 Heraklion Archaeological Museum 16:18 Golden hour walk to dinner 16:25 Parasties: everything over olive wood 18:34 The Venetian Loggia 19:01 Venetian harbor and Koules Fortress 19:30 Day 5: last morning in Heraklion 20:15 Black Honey 20:49 Mare Coffee Bar 21:23 Last look at Crete Where we stayed Rocca Mare Hotel — Minoos 3 and Sofokli Venizelou, Heraklion - Where we ate and drank Taverna Oneiro, Lake Kournas — chicken souvlaki, twice Petousis, Kidonias 20, Heraklion — dinner in the old town Phyllosophies, Heraklion — bougatsa Parasties, Heraklion — open since 1999, everything cooked over olive wood. Best meal of the trip. Black Honey, Leoforos Sofokli Venizelou 35 — coffee on the seafront Mare Coffee Bar & Food, Sofokli Venizelou What we saw The Palace of Knossos — Bronze Age Minoan, first palace around 1900 BC Heraklion Archaeological Museum — the original Bull-Leaping fresco, c. 1450 BC Morosini Fountain, 1628 — the Venetian Loggia, 1628, now City Hall Koules Fortress and the Venetian harbor Lake Kournas — Crete's only natural freshwater lake Filmed on DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and Sony ZV-E10, August 2025. Edited in Final Cut Pro. Music from http://artlist.io We plan, and we break the plan. Come along for the ride. #JetwayGays #Heraklion #Crete #Knossos #Greece #TravelVlog