Every Rethymno and Fortezza tour, compared
The six tours
These are the six activities that run in Rethymno or stop in it. I have kept the operator names off the page on purpose; what matters is the length, the price and what you are allowed through the gate with.
Inside the wallsFortezza ticket includedFortezza: Explore the Fortress of Rethymno with a Certified Guide
Old town classicRethymno: Guided Walking Tour in the Old Town Area
Best valueRethymno: e-Bike Tour on the Old City
Highest ratedRethymno: Old Town Segway Tour
Most bookedCrete: Chania, Lake Kournas and Rethymno Tour
Beach & townDay Trip to Preveli & Damnoni Beach & Rethymno City Tour
Which of these do you actually need
Start with the ticket, because it is the number everything else is measured against. Adult entry to the Fortezza is about €5, paid at the gate. Reduced entry is around €3. There is no online booking for the site itself, so no tour can sell you a queue-free shortcut that you could not arrange yourself by turning up at 08:00. A fast loop inside — in, mosque, out — takes about 45 minutes. Doing it properly takes 1.5 to 2 hours. If that is all you want, you need none of the six. Read what the gate charges and walk up.
A guide earns the money when you want the reasons rather than the view. The walls run 1,307 metres around four demi-bastions. The fort exists because an Ottoman fleet sacked the town in 1571 and Cyprus fell the same year. In autumn 1646 the population shut itself inside and surrendered six weeks later, not to an assault but to disease and empty magazines. The domed building everyone photographs was built as the Cathedral of St Nicolas and became the Mosque of Sultan Ibrahim. None of that is on a board at the gate. One tour of the six is built around it, costs €55, lasts one to one and a half hours and includes your admission: see the guided Fortezza tours page.
The three old town tours are a different purchase. The walking tour is €50 for two hours and goes slowest. The e-bike tour is €45 for two hours and adds the waterfront. The Segway tour is €65 for three hours and has weight and age limits that catch people out. All three go up to the Fortezza hill; none of them includes the ticket. I have put the restrictions and the routes side by side on the old town tours page.
The two day trips start on the Heraklion side and are bought for the coach, not for the fortress. The Chania and Lake Kournas day covers 340 km in 10 to 13 hours and reaches Rethymno at 16:15, leaving at 16:45. That is 1 hour 15 minutes in town, which is enough for the harbour and a coffee and nothing like enough to go inside the Fortezza. Nathalie, who rated it well, still wrote that it was “a bit too fast”. The Preveli day is 11 hours, includes the boat to the palm beach, and gives Rethymno a 45-minute guided walk plus an hour and a half free, which is the better of the two if the town is the point.
Three types of day, side by side
Old town on foot, the fortress with a guide, or a coach day from the other end of the island. The numbers below are the ones that decide it.
| Rethymno: Guided Walking Tour in the Old Town Area | Ticket includedFortezza: Explore the Fortress of Rethymno with a Certified Guide | Crete: Chania, Lake Kournas and Rethymno Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €50 | €55 | €40 |
| Length | 2 hrs | 1–1.5 hrs | 10–13 hrs |
| Fortezza ticket | Not included | Included | Not included |
| Time in Rethymno | 2 hrs | 1–1.5 hrs | 1 hr 15 min |
| Starts from | Four Martyrs Square | The fortress gate | Heraklion resorts |
| Rating | 4.7 · 8 reviews | 5.0 · 1 review | 4.4 · 429 reviews |
| Best for | The town, slowly | The walls, explained | Covering the island |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Whatever you book, put the Fortezza in the first hour after opening or the last two hours before closing. There is almost no shade on that hill, and the western bastions face the sunset over the Cretan Sea. In July and August the middle of the day up there is punishment.
Book the one you need
The Segway tour has the longest track record of the six, so the calendar below is set to it. If you want a different one, the cards above go straight to it.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available Fortezza Rethymno tour and find one that fits your schedule — all with instant confirmation and free cancellation.
Still weighing it up? I have broken the numbers down on what a Rethymno tour costs, and written each of the six up honestly in the tour reviews, including the one with a single review and the one with 429.
Frequently asked questions
How many of these tours go inside the Fortezza?
One has the inside of the fortress as its subject and includes the €5-ish admission in the price. The walking, e-bike and Segway tours all reach the hill and give you time there, but you buy your own ticket at the gate. The two coach day trips do not go in at all. The detail is on the guided Fortezza tours page.
Do I need a tour to visit the Fortezza of Rethymno?
No. Entry is about €5 at the gate, the site is open from 08:00 in summer with last admission around 19:15, and you can walk the whole thing alone in 1.5 to 2 hours. Pay a guide when you want the 1573 construction, the 1646 siege and the cathedral that became a mosque explained on the spot.
Which tour should I book if I am staying in Hersonissos or Malia?
One of the two day trips, because they collect you from the Heraklion-area resorts between 07:00 and 09:30. The Chania and Lake Kournas day is €40 and stops in Rethymno for 1 hour 15 minutes; the Preveli day is €50 and gives the town a guided walk plus free time. My honest read on the cheaper one is in the day trip review.
Which of the six has the most reviews?
The Chania, Lake Kournas and Rethymno day trip, with 429 reviews at 4.4. Of the tours that actually start in Rethymno, the Segway tour leads with 42 reviews at 4.9. The guided fortress tour is new and has one review, which I would rather tell you than dress up.