Day Trip to Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga Island

Badge of Excellence

Heraklion, Greece

High interest

Booked 3 times today.

8 to 9 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.4

· sally_w ·

Jul 2026

It was a great day out despite the hot weather. We had two stops of 90 mins before the boat ride to Spinalonga. Elounda and Agios Nickolas were lovely places to stop and look around. I loved the boat ride over to Spinalonga. The island was so interesting. Fantastic value for money and would highly recommend the excursion if you are in Crete.

· Louise_G ·

Jun 2026

Excellent value for money, driver and guide with you all the way. Well explained and great places to visit

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Overview

Spinalonga, an island once used to isolate people suffering from leprosy, has become more popular since Victoria Hislop's novel The Island reimagined it. Visit this historic island, plus the Agios Nikolaos resort town with Lake Voulismeni, and Elounda, known for luxury hotels and beaches, on this guided day trip. Admission to Spinalonga is not included.

Visit the uninhabited fortress island of Spinalonga, once a leprosy colony
Soak up views of Mirabello Bay and Elounda as you cruise to the island
Enjoy free time in bustling Agios Nikolaos with its many cafés
Benefit from hotel pickup and drop-off for easy transport

What's Included

Pickup and Drop off
Transport by air-conditioned coach or minivan.
Guide

Food & Drinks
Admission Fee - Spinalonga island

€20.00 per person

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

Pickup and Drop off provided from the areas of Sissi, Malia, Stalida Hersonissos, Anissaras, Analipsi, Gouves, Gournes, Kokkini Hani, Karteros, Heraklion, Amoudara. Pickup time depends on the location of the accommodation hotel. The exact pickup time and location will be sent via email.

Itinerary

Agios Nikolaos

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Elounda

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Spinalonga (Kalydon)

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Infant seats available
Most travelers can participate

May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
Bring with you swimsuit and towel
Food and drinks are not allowed on board the vehicle
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.4

based on 446 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

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Sort by: Most insightful

Interesting tour , but wished for a bit more time at stops.

Martha_F, Jul 2026

A good tour but have some recommendations. Guide gave tour in English and French but was hard to understand her English, needed to slow rate of speech and articulate more clearly. Directions were not always clear and some had directions confused. Had 1.5 hours at first 2 stops, not enough time to fully benefit from either stop. Spinalonga Island was outstanding, Enjoyed the day but could improve your with some changes.

Fabulous day

sally_w, Jul 2026

Great day out

Sharron_W, Jun 2026

There are opportunities for swimming do bring your swimwear and a towel. The trip is well paced and the staff are incredibly friendly.

Good tour - take swimwear!!

Matthew_W, Jun 2026

TAKE SWIMWEAR! Great tour, plenty of time at each stop to see everything. There was also a swim stop on the boat which was not detailed in the description so unfortunately we were not able to go swimming as we did not take any swimming items.

Great tour

Vance_M, Jun 2026

Great guide and enjoyed both exploring the town and the island. Really enjoyed the history of the Lepor island

Disappointing

James_W, Jun 2026

Tour guide didn’t appear , first got message running late , then asking where I was . I was at agreed meeting place 15 minutes early . Someone did turn up looking for someone else , I showed my booking , name before he left . When choosing trip I picked tour guide who can speak English . I also attempted messaging , calling , and got no response .

Well organised trip

Louise_G, Jun 2026

Excellent value for money, driver and guide with you all the way. Well explained and great places to visit

The trip was very disappointing.

Doreen_K, May 2026

I was expecting an experienced guide we were given little to no information. Spinalonga was the favourite but for us and when we got o to the boat the guide did a 5 minute talk which we could. It hear at all. Even the young people sitting opposite said they could o lay hear bits. Why could this information not have been given to us while we were on the bus? The wind would not have taken their voices away. We thought we paid a lot of money for not much in return. I would definitely not recommend the trip to anyone,

Bring a swimsuit

Renee_M, May 2026

It was a very early start as we were picked up at 730am & didn't get to our first stop until about 930 (picked up a lot of others along the way). The description did not specify we could swim, only saying one stop was a great place for a swim. We were not prepared, so on our first stop, after getting breakfast, we went looking for bathing suits. In all, it was a good day. I think the list of activities should indicate to bring a swimsuit & towel if planning to swim. Spinalonga was a great stop. However, this is not a tour of the island & fortress. You are dropped off & have 1.5 hours to walk around. Tours were there, so if you're looking for something that explains more of what you're seeing, this is not it. Overall, it was a good tour.

Had a good visit in spite...

Rose_S, Apr 2026

Had a good visit in spite of pouring rain during our boat trip to Spingolini island. The guide was always upbeat to keep our spirits up.

great tour to get to know some of the island

robert_c, Apr 2026

this tour had a little of everything which was perfect, city visit with swim time and island visit to see history

Beautiful day with family.

Anasthasia_G, Apr 2026

Impeccable time keeping, informative and enjoyable trip. Michael the tour guide was friendly and his English was excellent.

Nice Day Trip

Lynne_P, Mar 2026

Great day trip with plenty of time at each stop. Very friendly knowledgeable guide who’s happy to answer questions. Lots of opportunities for some beautiful scenic pictures.

It was good. The tour...

Megumi_K, Nov 2025

It was good. The tour size could have been a little smaller but over all it provided what we needed so it was good.

Bad

kumar_T, Nov 2025

We have booked our trip and pick up location and charged me then few hours after they told me change my pick up location far away.

Well constructed tour

Paul_C, Nov 2025

An interesting and well organised tour taking in three locations. Good variety of experiences and helpful guides.

Great day well worth doing

Sarah_E, Oct 2025

Was a full day with 3 main stops. There is plenty time at each place to enjoy the areas and have quick drink if you want. The towns are very pretty and Spinalonga very interesting. It is €20 extra to get into Spinolonga but you can just sit and enjoy view of port or paddle if you don't want to walk round. If you want to jump of boat into water for swim on way back ensure you already have swim wear on. Transfers were great and local. All staff were friendly and helpful. Thoroughly enjoyed our day. Totally recommended

Amazing tour

Andreea_C, Oct 2025

This tour was amazing! Special thanks to our guide Manos and to our driver who ensured a lovely and safe experience for everyone. Agios Nikolaos is an amazing place that we instantly fell in love with, and Spinalonga is just breathtaking. The operating company was fantastic, a team of professionals who quickly found a solution to reduce our return time in difficult traffic. I highly recommend this tour!

Booked an English tour...

Phil_G, Oct 2025

Booked an English tour and was surrounded by French and the tour in English and mainly French. Also in the description there is no mention of a swim stop in Elounda bay which meant I feel we wasted 20 minutes so that 4 people out of the 50-60 could get off the boat and swim, stranding the rest with nothing to do. I feel that time would have been better spent on spinalonga as there wasn’t enough time there. If I had know about the swim stop then I would’ve booked a different tour. The amount of time in Agios Nikolaos and Elounda town was just right to see what was there and relax a bit.

Agios Nikalaos and Spinalonga Day Trip - Book Your Trip Now!

Beth_M, Sep 2025

Day trip to Agios Nikalaos and Spinalonga is a must for visitors to Heraklion and the surrounding areas. Manos was a terrific and smart tour guide. He was very knowledgeable about the places that we visited. He also took special care that we knew when to be back to the bus for the next part of the trip. You get to see a lot of Lasithi on this trip. This part of Crete is extremely beautiful. The boat ride to Spinalonga Island was enjoyable with gorgeous scenery. Just about the right amount of time for each activity. Altino Travel Co. did a great job with all the travel arrangements. I highly recommend this tour.

This was a great way to...

Karen_S, Sep 2025

This was a great way to see several places around the island. The tour bus was nice and clean. Our guide was informative. Excellent way to spend the day.

Not worth the money

Ian_A, Sep 2025

You only have a guide on the bus, although very good and knowledgeable the guide leaves ou at Agious Nikolaos and at Spinalonga, so your left in your own to wonder around both stops. Which i found a bit of a let down!!! You have to pay an additional €20 to get in to Spinalonga and you dont have a guide with you. Very disappointing

Excellent day out

Denise_W, Aug 2025

Amazing day, on time for all pick ups, drop offs and everything was well organised- our guide was fabulous, knowledgeable, friendly and made the day run smoothly - totally recommend this travel agent - Altino Travel and this tour

great experience. the...

Manuel_E, Jul 2025

great experience. the tour had 2 guides that spoke 3-4 languages each. the pick up process was a breeze, fascinating history, the island of spinalonga is totally worth visiting.

Spinalonga Island

candace_j, Jul 2025

The drive is very long and the double decker busses do not have great a/c so it is quite warm riding in them. Agios and Nicholaos were not that impressive unless you are a shopper. The Island of Spinalonga was amazing to see. It has beautiful views and the history is very interesting. The guides were good but having to hear everything in 4 languages thoughout the day got pretty annoying. I would recommend ear pieces that everyone can wear that translates into their personal language so the guides do not have to repeat everything 4 times.

Not what was advertised

David_A, Jun 2025

The trip to Spinalonga was supposed to be a larger trip including a trip to Agios Nikolaos. There was no trip to Agios Nikolaos for me just the trip to Spinalonga Island at a cost of €39. I could have easily booked a ferry from Elounda or Plaka much cheaper, so I feel I was ripped off. I received a message telling me there was no pick up from my hotel and I had to proceed directly to Elounda bus park to collect the boat.

Cracking day trip!

Lee_R, Jun 2025

Great day out! Special shout out to our guide, Manos, who was extremely personable & knowledgeable. Our coach was lovely, no tired ‘fun bus’ that’s on its last legs.. Overall, a very well organised day trip which we thoroughly enjoyed. Highly recommended.

Absolutely spot on.

Steven_S, Jun 2025

Absolutely spot on from pick up to drop off in Stalis. A great guide in Manuel, and the perfect amount of time in each location. Just short of 8.5hrs in total.

On your information about...

paul_y, Jun 2025

On your information about the trip it stated that entrance to spinalonga was 8 euros. When we arrived it was 20 euros, a big difference. Otherwise the trip was excellent. Pick up and drop off very good.

Amazing Day

Stephen_B, Jun 2025

So glad we took this trip, it was a fantastic day with just the right amount of time in both Agios Nikolas and Elounda before heading to Spinalonga. Our guide was very friendly, helpful and informative. A highlight of our time in Crete, would definitely recommend.