Hi All...will be traveling to Crete in mid-April for a combination work meeting/pleasure outing. I am responsible for organizing this event.

All told, there will be 12 people from work (a mix of Indians from Bangalore, and Italians from the Genoa area, and a couple of Americans) plus spouses/sig. others. Work will be 1-2 days and then 2-3 days of pleasure. Spouses/SO's will need activities or outings on work days. My plan would be to base/stay in one area, and then arrange for day trips to other areas and sites. My primary question is...where in Crete should we hold our meeting/base from?

I have been looking at Chania (Hania), which is described as being "charming" with its Venetian port and architecture. Chania also has an airport (an important consideration). Others in the group mentioned Iraklion (Heraklion), because it's the easiest to fly into, and closest to significant archaeological sites (e.g. Knossos). Still others suggest beach resort areas (sorry, can't remember the names..although I'm assuming that mid-April is probably too early for swimming/beach enjoyment. Please tell me if that's wrong). At this point, I'm having difficulty sorting through all the input I've gotten, and all the info available on the web.

So, is there anybody out there with direct experience, or who can recommend a good travel agent with lots of Crete experience? Are there any "must sees" that we should not miss? Any and all thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I attended a conference at the Knossos Royal Village a few years ago. It's a resort hotel located near the small town of Hersonnisos, some 20 kilometres from Heraklion. The hotel had the best of both worlds, good meeting facilities and plenty of things to do in our spare time

Hmmm - depends. The eastern part of Crete is much more tourist developed - i.e. hideous Med 'resorts'.. Big apartment complexes and hotels. Great if you want to go clubbing, go out get drunk of an evening, and eat food developed for the tourists. I am sure there are "greek themed nights" available too. And i would imagine the hotels there are more used to catering for tourists than for meetings etc, but in fairness, I could be wrong.

My distaste is probably showing. There are more flights into Heraklion than Hania - when we went there, we flew into Heraklion, and then drove west to where we were staying, west of Hania. Its a drive that takes 2-3 hours - the roads are not dual carriageway/interstate, but they aren't too bad. Western Crete is a lot less developed - small apartment blocks and villas are the norm, rather than big tourist hotels. Hania itself is a nice old town, although believe the guidebooks and don't eat on the harbour front itself... find somewhere away from there.

Having said that - Knossos is a bit of a must see I'm afraid. Its a pretty amazing site. Usual tourist tat outside it. And yes, its close to Heraklion - we took a day trip to go and see it.

My other must see is the Samaria Gorge, and the plateau that sits on it.. it's basically an alpine plateau, set in beautiful mountains. The spring flowers will be in full bloom - wild growing anenomones and things like that. You can walk down the Samaria Gorge, but it may or may not be open that early... The drive up through the mountains is extremely scenic as well. This one is much easier to get to from Hania than from Heraklion.

One word - Easter is mid-April this year as well. Easter is a BIG THING in Greece.. we found a lot of the restaurants were closed around then - and virtually everything on easter day itself. Fortunately our holiday company had laid on a fabulous dinner up in a Cretan vineyard, which turned out to be well worth attending.

It should be warm in mid April, but probably not quite warm enough to go swimming -we made it into our villa pool, but it was damn cold! The mountains of western Crete will probably still have snow on them too (they are that high!).

I loved Crete - the people were fantastic, the food was great, and the island was very beautiful. I hope you enjoy your trip!

OUR Easter is mid-April - Greek Orthodox Easter does not always coincide (in fact I believe they don't coincide more often than they do). I'm sure someone will be able to come up with this year's dates.

Greek Easter falls on April 23 in 2006. Great time to be there if you have a local host, not so great for tourists.

Jenbel and Aviatrix' advice is excellent. Avoid staying in Heraklion proper, as it is a dusty, noisy city.

If the spouses/SO don't fancy driving, the town of Hania is pleasant enough to keep them happy for 1-2 days, after which the entire group could head east to tour the major sights. Hania is probably too far west to make day trips to the major sights relaxing, though.