The Venetian harbor and old town of Rethymno

(52 reviews)

Rethymno audio tour: The Venetian harbor and old town of Rethymno

This is a 2.6mi walking tour

It takes an average of 180 mins to complete.

Rethymno

Greece

$11.99

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About the Tour

This walk begins at the picturesque Venetian harbor with its impressive Egyptian lighthouse. In the old town, I will guide you through the small streets, letting you wander crisscross through the city.

Together, we will uncover the secret of traditional Cretan filo dough, made in a pastry shop where the passionate owner still uses the traditional method.

We pass the Archaeological Museum, where you can, if you wish, explore the early Minoan artifacts excavated near the city. We also visit the imposing Fortezza with its magical domed mosque, offering stunning views of the city.

Along the way, you will learn about:

How dolphins became the namesakes of this city and how this is reflected in its streetscape.
How the Ottoman Turks, during their occupation, influenced the transformation of churches into mosques and still affect Cretan family names today.
The grim story behind the Church of the Four New Martyrs, an impressive building beautifully located near the city park, which you can choose to visit.
The importance of the Venetian Loggia, a building where Venetian officials and nobles discussed economic matters.
How Alexandra Kaouki creates the most beautiful faces on wooden panels in her Byzantine icon studio.
Of course, about the Neratz Mosque and the Minaret of Rethymno, both of which you can photograph perfectly from different angles.

All of this while passing delightful terraces where you can pause for a short break, a tasty lunch, or simply a good glass of Cretan wine. During this full-day audio tour, I will also share insights into general Greek Orthodox rituals and religious traditions, as well as the reason behind the posters hanging on electricity poles.

In short, a city walk where you can enjoy all the beauty that Rethymno has to offer. Let’s encounter together this Venetian pearl of Crete!

Tour Producer

Mr. Routaki

32 tours

Bio of AJ alias Mr. Routaki:
Since 1995 I have been coming to Crete. An island that has stolen my heart. The Samaria Gorge was my very first working area and in the following seasons many more regions followed in a wide variety of professions.
And always surrounded by friendly guests who had all kinds of questions. That is why the Routaki routes also provide the information desired by you as a guest of the island.

After completing my tourism education (M.T.R.O.) I found the right activities in this wonderful profession.
Guide, tour leader, resort host, underwater-cameraman, restaurant owner, Jeep safari guide or sailing (flotilla) leader. All these experiences I use nowadays when compiling my information and stories which I incorporate into my car routes and city walks.

Daily life on Crete interwoven with the stories of the many acquaintances I have been able to listen to over the past thirty years.
The first routes were created in 2006 using CDs (and even cassette tapes!!). Parts of routes from back then have now, with the help of the VoiceMap app, grown into a beautiful portfolio of day trips in the three languages I master; Dutch, English and German.

The Infotheek on my Routaki.com website will continue to grow and many more routes and walks will follow.

Some of my goals are to apply augmented reality and to show you the traditions of the olive harvest or wedding ceremonies even outside the usual periods.
I continue to immerse myself in the Cretan culture traditions and customs. I read about recent developments and combine this for you into a wonderful holiday day experience.

Through the many ‘interest media’ I am happy to keep you informed.

Preview Location

Location 29

The Rimondi fountain

As the bend turns to the right, you walk onto Platanou square to the left, where you can admire the Rimondi fountain.

Stop and try to take a picture of the fountain if you like, without anyone else on it.

The Rimondi fountain was built in 1626 by the city's Venetian gove... Read More

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Major Landmarks

Egyptian Lighthouse
Venecijanska luka
Former Customs House
Museum shop of the Ministry of Culture and Sports
Archaeological Museum of Rethymnon
Church of the Great Panagia
Fontanna
Guora gate
Church of the Four Martyrs
Kostas Giamboudakis statue
Rethymnon Municipal Garden
Neratze Mosque
Rimondi Fountain
Kyria Maria
Central Gate of the Fortress of Rethymnon
Fortezza of Rethymnon
Erofili Theatre
Residence of the Counselors
Ibrahim Han Mosque
Church of Our Lady of the Angels
Catholic Church of Saint Anthony of Padua
Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Souliou 42, Rethymno 741 31, Greece
Total distance

4km
Final location
Leof. Emmanouil Kefalogianni 31-13, Rethymno 741 31, Greece
Distance back to start location

116.66m

Directions to Starting Point

The starting point of the city walk Rethymnon is the parking area next to the entrance of the new harbour. The street name is called Leofori Emmanouil Kefalogianni. If you come from the Heraklion area is the easiest to pass Rethymnon on the highway and drive around the city, so you avoid heavy traffic.

If you come by bus to Rethymnon you can ‘join’ the city walk on another position in the tour, for example the one near the Municipal Garden. Except from the introduction words the tour will be the same.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Old Venetian harbour, the Egyptian Lighthouse, Venetian Loggia, Archaeological Museum, Metropolitan church, Church of Four Martyrs, Municipal Gardens, Pastry work shop, Historical Museum, Minaret, Neratze Mosque, Rimondi Fountain, Fortezza, Icon work shop, Museum of Contemporary art

Best time of day

You can experience this citywalk Rethymnon all day long. Use shadow areas to wait and listen the audio items.
About the length of the tour: just by walking and listen to the information the tour takes about 2,5 hours without visiting the fortress. If you do the whole audio tour, with the fortress included, it will take around an hour extra. So around 3,5 hours. But this is without any stops for drinks, lunch or visiting one or more of the museums. This city walk is made with the idea of ‘a whole day out’ in the beautiful old town of Rethymnon.

Precautions

Due to the length of the audio information it’s wise to bring your smartphone battery charger or an extra power bank, to avoid that your battery runs out of power.

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“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”