Heraklion – the capital of Crete and the island’s biggest city – is also a region/prefecture.

In all honesty, you’ll want to not spend too much time in the city itself as it’s not a quaint Greek town, more a sprawling metropolis with office blocks, etc.

There are, however, several Byzantine churches and Venetian style mansions that make the landscape more pleasing.

Daedalou ("Daydaloo") Street is where you’ll find all the designer shopping and several side street off this–including 1866 Street–has many curio shops selling local goods.

The fishing harbour has a mixed bag of history–used as protection against invaders, as were the city walls. In fact, the city walls are among the longest in Europe, with dark alleyways and the fortress has cells that imprisoned Cretan rebels who bravely broke the rules imposed by past invaders.