What to do and see in Heraklion Prefecture, Crete: The Best Budget-friendly Things to do

Aquaworld - Crete's first Aquarium - opened in Hersonissos in 1995 - near Bus Stop 20. It features local sea life and reptiles from Crete and from all around the world. Most of the animals are rescued or are unwanted pets which have found a new home at Aquaworld. Our philosophy is simple - bring people and animals closer together and, inevitably, people will begin to respect and care more about the animals! YOU MUST WEAR MASKS TO VISIT!

The Lyrarakis Estate is a family winery which has been producing high quality wines since 1966 with a strong focus on rare local varieties and producing single variety wines. Surrounded by the idyllic setting of the vineyards and the Lassithi mountains we offer you the opportunity to enjoy nature and discover local varieties abd wines distinguished by the uniqueness of their origin and heritage.

A museum delineating the history of the island Crete, complete with artifacts belonging to the ancient civilizations that once populated the island.

The Historical Museum of Crete presents a comprehensive view of Cretan history from early Christian times to the present day. It was founded in 1953 by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, which had been established two years earlier. The museum is housed in a two-storey neoclassical building, which was constructed in 1903 on the site of an earlier mansion belonging to the Kalokerinos family. The second building, designed by K. Tsandirakis, was clearly influenced by morphological features of the earlier one, and was later listed as a historical monument. The new museum extension to the west constituted an attempt to combine traditional and modern architecture. The original goal of those founding the Historical Museum of Crete was to collect and preserve valuable archaeological, ethnographic and historical material deriving from the medieval and modern periods in Cretan history. The process of enriching the collections, extending exhibition space and redefining the museum's aims has never ceased. Prolific research and publishing activity, the organisation of temporary exhibitions, educational programmes and the use of audiovisual media all form part of the modern educational role adopted by the Historical Museum of Crete over time. The same approach also includes the gradual re-organisation of the collections on display so as to appeal to a wider range of visitors, thus offering them the opportunity to understand the many facets of historical development on Crete from early Byzantine times to the present day.

The Natural History Museum of Crete (NHMC) demonstrates with an impressive manner the natural environment of eastern Mediterranean area with special emphasis on Greece and Crete.

The Cretan open- air Museum "LYCHNOSTATIS" is located at Hersonissos, by the sea- side. It consists of four main collections: Nature & Flora Collection, with gardens of fruit- trees, aromatic herbs, cactus, shrubs and plants, stones and minerals of Crete. Ethnographic Collection, with a presentation of Cretan traditional life .Art collection with works of folk artists exhibited in the Folk Artist's Gallery, the Open- Air Theatre and the Exhibitions' Room.Collection of pre-Industrial Technology with equipment used in the past. The Museum organizes a range of educational programs and its Audiovisual Department produces films, CD- ROM's, DVD' s presented daily in the Multimedia & Conference room. It has also a Museum-shop and a cafe. The Museum was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award in 2010 and honoured by the University of Crete in 1997 for its ecological activities. "LYCHNOSTATIS" is open for a daily visit with a guided- tour, from (Saturday closed).

Crete’s aquarium, Cretaquarium, opened in December 2005. Belonging to a large European family of aquariums, the Cretaquarium offers its visitors the unique chance to plunge into the great marine world of the Mediterranean. From the big hunter sharks to the tiny seahorses, the sensational jellyfish, the diversity of marine life is set off against underwater Cretan seascapes such as the rock formations at Matala( South Crete)and the sea bed at Vai(North East Crete).