Heraklion With Kids: Aquarium, Fort and Museums

Travelling with children in Heraklion works best when you mix one indoor attraction with one outdoor one. For animals, the aquarium is the one place to go. This page lists what is real, what it costs in euros and which parts suit different ages.

The aquarium at Gournes

Cretaquarium is roughly 15 km east of town and is open 365 days a year. Summer opening is 09:30 to 19:00 from 1 April to 31 October. Winter opening is 09:30 to 16:00 from 1 November to 31 March. The standard adult ticket is EUR 15, while children between 5 and 17, students and seniors over 65 pay EUR 8. Under-5s are not charged. Roughly 250 species live in about 60 tanks, and an audio guide is EUR 3.

A museum with an earthquake simulator

The Natural History Museum of Crete is on Sofokli Venizelou Avenue, on the waterfront. Its Enceladus simulator lets children feel what a quake is like. Children aged 4 to 18 get the reduced rate, and ticket prices run from about EUR 8 to EUR 12. Weekday hours are 09:00 to 17:00, with an earlier 15:00 close from November to April. On weekends it opens 10:00 to 18:00.

A fortress to climb

At Koules Fortress, a family can walk through rooms that were once storerooms and prisons, look at the cannons and finish on the roof terrace. Adults pay EUR 10, and the reduced fare is EUR 5. Remember that Tuesday is the closing day. Hold young hands on the stairs and near the roof edge.

Palace day

At Knossos the ground is uneven and steep in places, with little cover from the sun. Bring water and hats, and visit early in summer. Tickets cost EUR 20 and EUR 10 reduced. Older children usually enjoy the Throne Room and the reconstructed columns.

Dinosaurs and water

Dinosauria Park, at Gournes, is a dinosaur theme park with models and no live animals. Phone ahead or look online before driving there. Watercity, at Anopolis, is a seasonal waterpark that runs from roughly late May to late September and shuts in winter. For ordinary beach time, Ammoudara is about 5 km west of the centre and has facilities. The harbour is a working port, so do not swim there.

Bad-weather backup

The Archaeological Museum, at Xanthoudidou 2, charges EUR 20 in summer and EUR 12 in winter. Children tend to remember the Snake Goddess figurines and the Bull-Leaping fresco. Keep visits to about an hour.

The risk of wildfire in Crete is high from April to October, so take notice of local closures when you travel out of the city.

Read more: Heraklion activities covers the museums for adults.

See the Cretaquarium page for hours and the Koules fortress page for the closing day. Family tours can be found on Viator .