Photos: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright protection. It may only be used according to the rules mentioned here. This specifically excludes use in social media, if applicable terms of the licenses listed here not appropriate. Please do not upload an updated image here without consultation with the Author. The author would like to make corrections only at his own source. This ensures that the changes are preserved.Please if you think that any changes should be required, please inform the author.Otherwise you can upload a new image with a new name. Please use one of the templates derivative or extract., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Sailko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo credits
Photos: Cayambe, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 This Photo was taken by Wolfgang Moroder. Feel free to use my photos, but please mention me as the author and send me a message. This image is not in the public domain. Please respect the copyright protection. It may only be used according to the rules mentioned here. This specifically excludes use in social media, if applicable terms of the licenses listed here not appropriate. Please do not upload an updated image here without consultation with the Author. The author would like to make corrections only at his own source. This ensures that the changes are preserved.Please if you think that any changes should be required, please inform the author.Otherwise you can upload a new image with a new name. Please use one of the templates derivative or extract., Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 Sailko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Knossos, traced from the fence line
Your local guide
Nikos Vardakis
View profile
Highlights
- A grandfather's stories from the early digs
- The palace outline from the fence
- Bronze Age stone versus later concrete
- What lay buried before excavation
- A family history tied to the site
About this tour
This session walks the public approach to Knossos with someone whose family history is tied to the earliest digs here. You see the palace from the fence line and hear which parts date to the Bronze Age and which were rebuilt in the twentieth century. It stays outside the site throughout.
I trace the outline slowly from each vantage point, explaining what excavators found and what my grandfather told me about the early years of digging. Questions about the dig itself are always welcome.
This suits anyone who wants Knossos explained by someone with a family connection to it. It also works as preparation ahead of a later visit to the site.
Included
- Live video walk with a local guide
- Questions to your guide all the way
- A short list of places to visit later
Not included
- Internet connection
- Travel to the city
Itinerary
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Welcome and sound check 6 min
The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Heraklion before heading out.
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Knossos approach path 17 min
You see the open path toward the site, and I explain how my grandfather worked as a labourer on the early digs here before any of it was excavated.
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Perimeter view of the north side 17 min
From the fence line the camera takes in the palace's north side, and I describe what lay buried under centuries of later building before the dig began.
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Storage rooms from a distance 17 min
The last stop looks toward the storage rooms, and I separate the genuinely Bronze Age sections from the concrete additions many visitors assume are original.
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Your questions 11 min
Time to ask anything about Heraklion: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.
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A short list to keep 5 min
Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Snails boubouristi and Lakkos, worth a slower look.
Good to know
- A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
- Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
- Times are shown in Athens time, so check the time where you are before you book.
- The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
- Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
- Sessions run in small groups, up to 10 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.
Questions about this tour
What will the session cover?
The guide walks through Heraklion, showing you Knossos approach path and Perimeter view of the north side live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.
What happens if my connection drops?
Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.
Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?
Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.
Do I need to know the history already?
No background needed. The guide explains everything as it comes up.
How it works
- You get one join link after booking.
- Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
- We meet on Google Meet and the link comes with your booking. I stand at the perimeter fence and the open approach path with the phone steady.
Times shown in Athens time (EET)
Cancellation
Flexible
- Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
- Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
- If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
- Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.
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Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.
Next: Thu 29 Oct · 10 seats left From 28,00 €
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