A visit to the Knossos palace and the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

Knossos is the site of the most important and better known palace of Minoan civilization. According to tradition, it was the seat of the legendary king Minos. The Palace is also connected with thrilling legends, such as the myth of the Labyrinth with the Minotaur, and the story of Daidalos and Icaros.
 Knossos was discovered in 1878 by Minos Kalokairinos.

Arthur Evans conducted systematic excavations at the site between 1900 and 1931, bringing to light the palace, a large section of the Minoan city, and the cemeteries. Since then, the site and the surrounding area have been excavated by the British School of Archaeology at Athens and the 23rd E.P.C.A.
No wonder then why is Knossos the most visited site in Crete for incoming visitors of the island.

From the other hand , the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion is one of the largest and most important museums in Greece, and among the most important museums in Europe. It houses representative artifacts from all the periods of Cretan prehistory and history, covering a chronological span of over 5,500 years from the Neolithic period to Roman times. The singularly important Minoan collection contains unique examples of Minoan art, many of them true masterpieces. The Heraklion Museum is rightly considered as the museum of Minoan culture par excellence worldwide.

Both places are easy accessible and they also provide the visitor with a common entrance fee.In my video which is in Greek narration but has English subtitles, you can see all the route when starting from Heraklion main port and driving first to Knossos palace and then to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion .

My suggestion is to visit first the Knossos palace and then the Archaeological museum,since afterwards you can easily visit also the city's center.

Information for the visitor

Knossos visitors information
Archeological Museum of Heraklion visitors information 

e-Ticket system for both sites

Driving route from Heraklion port to the Knossos palace




Driving route from Knossos palace to the Archeological museum of Heraklion



Video of both routes