Rethymno old town walking tour.

A Rethymno old town walk stays inside the city. You start at the Venetian harbour, where the lighthouse and the breakwater close the small port, and you move up through lanes of Venetian and Ottoman houses to the Fortezza, the big fortress on the headland. A guided walk of two to three hours is enough to make the plan of the town legible: which gate you came through, why the harbour is so small, and how the fortress sits above the roofs. It is not a hike and it does not include a beach transfer. That is the reason to book it on a rest day, a first evening, or a hot afternoon when a gorge would be a mistake.

What you see depends on the guide more than on the distance. The interesting part is the overlap of Venetian stone, Ottoman wood balconies and the everyday shops that still use the ground floors. The Fortezza is large, exposed and worth the walk up if the group can manage a hill. The views run along the town beach to the east and the open sea to the north. Inside the walls the buildings are partly ruined and partly in use. You do not need a full afternoon unless you want to wander back down without a guide. A good walk ends with you able to find your own dinner without a map.

The tour suits first-time visitors who want the old town explained once, and anyone who would rather not invent a route in the heat. It is less useful if you already like wandering and you only need the Fortezza ticket. Wear shoes you can walk cobbles in. Heels and brand-new sandals are the usual regret. Evenings are kinder than midday, both for the light and for the temperature on the fortress. In winter the town is quiet and the walk still works, because almost nothing about it depends on a boat or a seasonal gate.