Rethymno

The Fortezza at opening time and Arkadi the next morning

Walk the ramparts of Rethymno's Fortezza when the gate opens, while the stone is cool, then drop into the old town past the Neratze minaret to the Rimondi Fountain before the crowds. Spend the hot afternoon on the town beach and the evening on the Venetian harbour breakwater; next morning, drive to Arkadi Monastery.

The domed mosque inside the walls and the view east along the beach are the reasons to come. Allow an hour and a half, then drop down into the old town past the Neratze minaret and stop at the Rimondi Fountain before the crowds build.

Eat lunch in one of the lanes towards the Fortezza, away from the seafront, and keep the hot middle of the afternoon for the town beach. As the light fades, walk out along the breakwater of the Venetian harbour to the lighthouse and watch the fishing boats come in, then have dinner back in the lanes behind the harbour.

On the second morning, drive or join a tour 23 km inland to the Arkadi Monastery, where the museum tells the story of the 1866 siege. Ancient Eleftherna and its museum are close enough to add before lunch. Back in town, a late-afternoon boat from the old port to the pirate caves near Panormos rounds off the day in summer.

Dakos and family tavernas behind the Rimondi Fountain

Rethymno's better meals are in the small family tavernas in the lanes behind the Rimondi Fountain, away from the seafront strip. Start with dakos, a barley rusk under grated tomato, cheese and olive oil, try snails fried with rosemary and vinegar and antikristo lamb roasted upright by the fire, and ask your hotel which kitchens are on form.

The seafront strip east of the harbour feeds the passing crowd, and its quality changes with each season's cooks. The better meals are in the lanes behind the Rimondi Fountain and towards the Fortezza, in small family tavernas where the menu is short and mostly Cretan. Hotel receptionists usually know which ones are on form this year, so ask.

Snails are taken seriously here, fried in oil with rosemary and vinegar. Antikristo is lamb set upright beside an open fire and roasted slowly for hours, and wedding pilaf, rice cooked in rich meat stock, appears at feasts and on some taverna menus.

Cheeses are worth tasting on their own: creamy anthotyro, salty mizithra and the firmer local gruyere, all with the region's olive oil. Finish the way Cretans do, with a small glass of raki brought to the table unasked.

Rethymno weather, carnival and turtle summers

Rethymno is mild at both ends of the year: January highs average 13C, May 23C and July and August around 30C, with the sea swimmable into October. Its carnival is one of Greece's largest, ending with a parade on the last Sunday before Clean Monday, and loggerhead turtles nest on the town beach in summer.

Winter is mild if often grey. By May highs reach 23C, and June hits 28C. July and August sit at around 30C by day with warm nights near 21C. October is still 22C, and the sea stays swimmable well into the month.

Carnival is the town's big winter event, one of the largest in Greece, with weeks of parties and a grand parade on the final Sunday before Clean Monday, the first day of Orthodox Lent. Because it follows the Easter calendar, it falls anywhere from early February to mid-March.

In summer, loggerhead turtles come ashore at night to nest along the long beach east of town. Volunteers with the conservation group Archelon mark the nests with cages and give short talks. Every 8 November, Arkadi marks the anniversary of the 1866 explosion with services and a large gathering at the monastery.