Three Days in Crete, Greece with Our Adult Children

After a year of planning a family trip to Israel, we unexpectedly found ourselves on a family trip to Crete, Greece instead. (Crete was followed by Athens and Egypt, but those adventures are coming later.) What started as a backup plan turned into a rainy, windy adventure filled with breathtaking beaches, tiny mountain roads, incredible Greek food, and some of my favorite family memories.

And the best part? We got to do it with all nine of the adults in our family.

Oh wait, Lucy wasn’t with us on that hike up there…here she is:

…and look at that smile. Man that girl was incredible on this trip.

I’ll get to more on that soon, but for today, let’s dive into how this part of the trip happened.

Why We Ended Up in Crete, Greece

Last year Dave and I, along with some of our best college friends, decided that we were going to take our families to Israel in April 2026. Our friends had a connection from their mission for an awesome tour guide, and we felt like it was the perfect window of time to take our kids to that land where Jesus walked. Having done study abroad there years ago I have always yearned to take my family back to that special land, filled with goodness. So we forged ahead making preparations. Not only travel preparations, but we worked on preparing our hearts for such a special trip. We watched The Chosen, dug with intention into the New Testament, and made our travel plans. We tacked a few days in Egypt onto the end of our trip plans since our tour guide was an actual Egyptologist. And because Egypt is incredible.

What does that have to do with getting all our adult children to Crete, Greece?

Well, with all our plans in place, Israel closed down due to the war. Dave and I had some quick (and a bit emotional) pivoting work to do for our trip. Oh man did I have my heart set on Jerusalem! But we got busy finding some silver linings since our kids had already arranged to be gone with work and babies. And oh boy, did we ever still want this family time. Egypt was staying the same (all arrangements had already been made). So we just needed to figure out a different spot for some pre-Egypt family time. Our friends pivoted to Turkey and we pivoted to Crete. It seemed to be the warmest and most Lucy-friendly place we could go near Egypt to have some relaxation together before meeting up with our friends.

Traveling to Crete with Adult Children

Dave and I had been in Utah to move Lucy out of her dorm and to attend our nephew’s wedding. So we traveled with the Utah contingent of our kids and had such a happy reunion with Elle and Carson (who were coming from Palo Alto) in Philadelphia.

We traveled ALL DAY through three connections and although long, it was the BEST to follow those tall kids of ours around, all of us with stars in our eyes about the adventures that awaited.

It just so happened that the three days we were in Crete were the only three days in the weather forecast we had been watching where it would be cold and rainy.

Drat. And let me tell you, that weather forecast held up to its promises.

But that was nothing a few layered sweatshirts and some buckling up couldn’t fix.

Driving in Crete

There was a LOT of driving in Crete. Everything was spread out far and wide on that island, and attached with teensy, tiny hairpin turn roads. Dave and I both had rental cars, the size you get when you’re in Europe (tiny). We squished all our luggage in (thank heaven’s we’re all light packers), and all nine of us tall people, and drove all over creation.

My car was a stick shift and boy oh boy, I hadn’t driven one of those for a whole lotta years. So I was sure paying attention because there were some dangerous (and beautiful) roads I tell you!

I liked having two cars because we switched up who we were with in all kinds of different configurations which makes for lots of good talking and bonding.

I did miss being with Dave though.

Our Airbnb

We stayed in an Airbnb in a little town called Galatas close to the main city on Crete: Chanai.

I should also note that Crete is the big island at the bottom of Greece. Can you see it in red below on the left? Chanai is in the upper left of the island you can see on the right.

Dave and I had been to Greece before (on a Greek cruise for our anniversary a few years ago). But we had never been to Crete, and we had heard great things about that place. It was fun to explore it with our adult kids.

Falasarna Beach

The first afternoon and evening before the cold was glorious weather. We headed straight from the airport to the incredibly beautiful Falasarna Beach. We took a dip in the crystal clear water, and laid our bodies right on the sand to warm up.

Everyone fell dead asleep with jet lag, cheeks smooshed into the sand.

Our Favorite Restaurant in Crete

Then we drove through the tiny winding streets to a little town called Kaliviani where the kids found the most perfect patio restaurant with the ocean stretched out below.

It was called Gramboussa and it made us fall in love with Greek food.

We sat under the most magnificently sculpted tree on that patio through golden hour, and ate straight-from-the-nearby-garden incredible Greek food.

It was breathtaking. We walked around the grounds as the sun sank lower and we waited for our food, basking in all that glory.

Can you tell how Lucy felt about this spot?

It was a new thin place I think most of us will carry around in our hearts after this.

Then the next day the wind and gray clouds moved on in.

It stunk that it was cold, but hey, we all had sweatshirts! And and we were together in that gorgeous spot. Can’t ask for more than that!

Exploring Chania and the Venetian Harbor

We explored the Venetian Harbor in Chania, filled with uneven ancient rocky pathways out to the lighthouse.

There was a drop-off into the water on one side. We were all pretty nervous about that for Lucy. But that girl maneuvered magnificently with her cane out to the lighthouse. One of us walked on the drop-off side the whole time.

SO BEAUTIFUL but also so cold and windy as all get-out.

We walked around the cool old city encircling the harbor.

We had a fiasco with Lucy’s cane breaking and all of us huddled around in the cold and wind. That poor thing has been through a lot. It used to be a round ball on the end. By now all those rough roads she has navigated herself through have whittled it down.

Oh she tried to hold herself together. But she was in the midst of her jetlag and the wind lashing around us so it was tricky. Thankfully Carson fixed the cane and everyone hugged up Lucy in a giant family hug.

This is not a highlight, but Elle tripped on a stair leaving a little corner market while videoing Claire for some silly thing. Her poor ankle swelled right up with a giant bruise, and she hobbled around the hikes/walks we took for a few days. Thank heavens we had a foot doctor (Carson) along to verify it wasn’t broken and to make her rest when she could.

A Windy Visit to Balos Lagoon

I love that my girls (with Elle at helm) have inherited this insatiable need to explore. So despite the not-so-great weather we headed out to this beach that looked cool in the pictures.

And you know those pictures that make things look better than they really are? This beach was the opposite.

It was stunning.

But NOT easy to get to.

We drove up a pretty scary dirt road for quite a few miles (and pictures cannot do it justice…that road was tiny and most of it didn’t have a railing to guard us from the cliffs on the sides):

And we passed cars along the way!

Then we got to a rocky path…

That led to stairs that took us to the beach. Can you see it stretching all the way down the mountain below?

Thank heavens Lucy decided to stay at the Airbnb for this one (we went early and she loved sleeping in) because it was a good hike up and down some very uneven stairs and she would have felt really unsafe.

Our jaws dropped in wonder at the scene stretched out below us as we got closer and closer.

Some of us went all the way down and around the white volcanic rocks to get to the white sand in the middle of that vortex.

Instead of that cove being sheltered from the wind it was an absolute cyclone of wind down there.

We were getting pelted with sand.

Carson, Grace and I made it the furthest wanting to explore. We had to cross over the water on some little 2x4s placed in a couple places. This was extra tricky with the wind blowing like nobody’s business.

You can’t tell in these pictures, but it was like the wind was using all it’s might plunge us in the water as we tried to cross these things.

That and a few other things made for a pretty memorable adventure.

Vathi Beach

Vathi beach was supposedly a “must-see” pink sand beach so at lunch after Balos we decided to make a detor to get there before heading back to the airbnb.

We drove through the curviest road through the most magnificent canyon to get there, and the beach was a dud.

I mean, if you squinted right you might be able to see a tinge of pink in that sand.

So the kids made a pretty funny TikTok with a pink filter.

We drove back through that narrow and windy canyon to Lucy who had by then had some glorious alone time, and celebrated with her playing games and eating Greek treats.

Family Church

The next day was Sunday and since the closest church was two hours away, we opted for family church. And I personally love family church. Dave and I asked the kids to each share something gospel-related that they’ve been thinking about lately and I loved hearing their thoughts as we sat in that room surrounded by the howling wind outside.

Our Airbnb claimed to have a washer and dryer but it was actually a washer that turns into a dryer which, in my opinion, never really works. Since it was so cold we all wore the same clothes over and over, so everyone wanted to do wash the night before and we had clothes hanging all over creation, including on the patio where the cold wind whipped everything off in clumps on the floor. I just want to remember that little detail of the adventure.

Seitan Limania Beach

That last morning we made breakfast and packed up all our wet stuff and headed for Seitan Lamania Beach before we had to get to the airport. It was a serious zig-zag road to get to the parking lot where we were greeted with goats.

And an incredible view.

It was another beauty we had to hike down to: a steep cliff that looked like it was a drop-off. But if you looked closer there was a path leading down to the ice blue water. It was camouflaged snaking into that beach from the ocean.

And please, note that sign up there and don’t wear your high heels down the mountain! Ha!

Lucy and Dave were both absolutely uninterested in the hike down (you had a pretty beautiful view from the top).

So they stayed with the goats roaming everywhere and the rest of us made the descent, Elle still hobbling along on her swollen ankle (she was a trooper doing all this hiking on that thing!).

Looking back up:

We were delighted at the beauty of that spot.

Getting Lost

There were two different ways to get down and up from the beach, one on each side. So I told the kids I’d meet them back at the top and check out the other way up.

Because how can you leave a path unexplored in a place like that? And I saw an older couple come down so I knew it couldn’t be that difficult.

The only trouble was that I missed the hidden turn back up to the parking lot and found myself bouldering up the mountain with another couple who was also lost. Luckily I had cell reception long enough to realize I was on a very wrong path, clear above the parking lot where everyone was waiting for me.

Carson and Max came to find and rescue me and although I wasn’t scared, it still felt so good to hear them yelling for me, my name called in those familiar voices bouncing around the canyon walls.

So good to be reunited with everyone when we made it back.

We turned in those trusty rental cars that had carried us through so many miles of beauty:

Got to the airport to head to Athens:

Claire had no idea she was carrying that security bin on her backpack for a bit, ha!

What We Loved About Crete

Looking back, I think what I loved most about Crete wasn’t any particular beach or restaurant, although there was plenty of gorgeousness there.

But my favorite part was having those adult kids together in one place. There is something magical about long car rides and shared meals together, especially after everyone has left home. I loved watching all my kids help Lucy navigate unfamiliar paths. Watching siblings look out for each other. Even the cold weather and wrong turns became part of the adventure.

Crete may have started as a backup plan, but it became one of those places that will always be tied to family togetherness in my heart.

But that family trip to Crete was just the beginning. Because we headed to Athens next. And then Egypt after that. And I can’t wait to share it all!