Heraklion horse riding takes riders from stables around Heraklion, the capital of Crete, along beaches, olive groves and hill trails. It is one of the tours in Greece on Greece VIP.
This post covers what Heraklion horse riding includes, where the stables are and which beaches and hills the rides reach. It also covers the history of horses on Crete, the nature and the landmarks on the way. Weather, the best season and common questions come last.
Each section ends with a Heraklion horse ride or a nearby ride that can be booked online.
What does Heraklion horse riding include?
Heraklion horse riding covers beach rides, hill rides with meals, sunset rides and lessons. Children over four join one beach ride. Children aged eight to eleven ride Welsh ponies at Avdou. One tour collects riders from Ammoudara to Elounda.
One Heraklion horse riding farm runs a sunrise ride on the city’s longest beach. Only morning trips run there. Bookings ask riders to state their level.
A day ride stops at a summit for juice and water. A full farm lunch brings tzatziki, meatballs and fruit. Homemade wine and raki come free.
An evening Heraklion horse riding tour views the capital and Cretan Sea at sunset. A traditional Cretan dinner follows. A private sunset ride serves a picnic dinner.
A riding center at Karteros offers lessons, dressage and jumping. It claims to be Crete’s only center for therapeutic riding. Five instructors run its riding programs.
- Groups: Avdou holidays take two to ten riders.
- Families: Karteros family rides start at age six.
- Languages: One tour runs in English, German and Russian.
One farm tour with lunch or dinner sets no minimum group size.
Where are the Heraklion horse riding stables?
Heraklion horse riding stables sit south and east of the city. One hill farm lies at Foinikia, 10 km south of the port. Others stand at Karteros, near Analipsi, at Stalida and at Avdou in the Langada valley.
Foinikia counted 859 residents at the 2021 census. The Heraklion industrial park lies to its north. One family farm there has run rides since 1987, part of horse riding across Crete.
Crete’s largest equestrian center stands at Karteros, 400 m from the sandy beach. It has run since 1979. Its horses are bred and trained on site.
Analipsi lies 21 km east of Heraklion, 10 m above sea level. A Heraklion horse riding stable sits on a hill toward Hersonissos village.
Stalida lies between Malia and Hersonissos, at 10 m, with 1,092 residents in 2021. Avdou sits 230 m high, 9 miles from Hersonissos and the sea.
- Gouves: Pickups reach this community of 3,487 residents.
- Arenas: The Analipsi stable has two arenas.
- Hersonissos: The municipality counted 27,220 residents in 2021.
Heraklion horse riding at Karteros has a café on site serving homemade food.
Which beaches and hills does Heraklion horse riding reach?
Heraklion horse riding reaches the sand at Karteros, east of the city. Gouves, Anissaras and Analipsi beaches line the coast beyond it. Inland, rides cross the Foinikia hills and the olive groves in the Langada valley.
Karteros beach has fine blond sand. The bay lies open to northerly winds. Heraklion horse riding there also uses the village and its gorge.
Analipsi beach holds a Blue Flag, says the Hersonissos municipality. The Aposelemis river meets the sea at its western end. The river delta holds a wetland.
Anissaras lies 21 km east of Heraklion, with small sandy coves over a rocky seabed. Gouves has fine sand, and harbors shelter swimmers from strong waves.
From the Foinikia hilltop, riders see Archanes, a town at 340 m with 3,901 residents in 2021.
- Selena: Avdou sits in the foothills of this mountain.
- Mochos: Rides from Avdou cross this plateau.
- Oaks: These routes pass Kermes oak forests.
Heraklion horse riding near Avdou reaches a cave church of Saint Fotini.
What history links horses and Heraklion horse riding?
Heraklion horse riding continues a bond that began about 4,000 years ago. Domestic horses reached Crete at the end of the third millennium BC. In 1895, Ottoman rulers named the Cretan horse a distinct breed and banned its export.
Donkeys were already on the island in the Final Neolithic. In the age of the palace that Knossos tickets open, donkeys or oxen pulled wooden plows.
Heraklion horse riding history shows in Heraklion Archaeological Museum item 18505, a horsewoman figurine from Archanes. A Hagia Triada coffin, found in 1903, shows a two-horse chariot.
Under Venice’s 1211 charter, 132 nobles received Cretan land for service as knights. A 1299 peace deal gave Alexios Kallergis the right to keep war horses.
In June 1669, 14 Venetian ships with horses joined the French fleet relieving Candia. Before the 25 June attack, the French general reported Ottoman cavalry dismounted.
- 1578: A provveditore generale commanded Crete’s cavalry.
- 1928: Crete held about 6,000 Messara horses.
- 1940: Hundreds went to the Pindus front, never returning.
The Heraklion horse riding region hosts Cretan horse contests on Stroumboulas each spring and autumn.
What nature does Heraklion horse riding pass?
Heraklion horse riding country holds karst springs, river gorges and Natura 2000 mountain land. The Almyros spring near Gazi pours 3 to 40 cubic metres of water a second. The Aposelemis river feeds the largest water project on Crete.
The spring sits on the Tylissos–Krousonas fault, which forces Psiloritis water to the surface. Rain on the Nida plateau can reach it in about nine hours.
Natura site GR4310009 spans 7,877.02 ha of Psiloritis, including Krousonas forest. Over 100 of its plant species grow only on Crete, and one grows only here.
The Heraklion horse riding area holds Mount Juktas, Natura site GR4310010 of 411.94 ha. Its listed birds include the scops owl, nightjar, woodlark and peregrine falcon.
The Aposelemis river draws underground Lasithi Plateau water from the Flegges springs near Kastamonitsa. Its gorge runs about 4 km between cliffs about 200 m high.
- Dam: Completed in 2012, it rises 61 m.
- Lake: Usable capacity reaches 27.3 million cubic metres.
- Sfendyli: This flooded hamlet resurfaces in dry years.
Heraklion horse riding country at Almyros includes a wetland where the Cretan palm grows.
Which landmarks does Heraklion horse riding pass?
Heraklion horse riding territory holds Roman, Byzantine and Venetian landmarks. Ancient Lyttos appears in Homer’s Iliad. Byzantine Temenos fortress crowns Rokka hill, 16 km south of Heraklion. Venice built Palaiokastro fort 9 km west of Heraklion.
Roman Hersonissos had covered shipsheds and a theatre whose ruins survive. Its bishop, Anderius, attended the Council of Ephesus in 431. Strabo named its Britomartis temple.
In the Heraklion horse riding area, a Roman aqueduct about 14 km long carried Krasi water to Hersonissos. Its bridge ruins stand at Xerokamares, meaning dry arches.
Knossians destroyed Lyttos in 220 BC while its men were on a distant campaign. A dig begun in 2021 found a headless marble statue of Hadrian.
In the 1821 revolution, Turks from Kako Chorio executed 18 monks of Epanosifis. Savvathiana, near Rodia, stands at 440 m with a gate inscription from 1635.
- Temenos: Its Ottoman name meant bloody castle.
- Palaiokastro: Reliefs show Saint Mark’s winged lion.
- Evans: He failed to get permits to dig Lyttos.
Heraklion horse riding country also hides a Venetian lime kiln below Palaiokastro.
How does the weather shape Heraklion horse riding?
Heraklion horse riding follows a dry, hot summer and a wet winter on the north coast. The Hersonissos station recorded no rain from June to August this year. July highs averaged 31.4 °C, while April highs averaged 20.1 °C.
The Hersonissos station sits at 229 m and works with the National Observatory of Athens. Its April lows averaged 10.8 °C, and April brought 100.6 mm of rain.
Heraklion horse riding faced a peak of 36.7 °C on 22 July this year. Eleven July days reached 32 °C or more. Last July peaked at 38.5 °C.
North-west winds dominated the station from June to September this year. Average speeds ran 6.2 to 7.9 km/h, and the top summer gust hit 41.8 km/h in July.
Heraklion horse riding gets 12 h 58 min of daylight on 1 September. By 31 October, daylight drops to 10 h 49 min, with sunset at 17:26.
- Spring rain: March brought 129.8 mm this year.
- Winter gusts: A south gust hit 96.6 km/h this February.
- Autumn warmth: September highs averaged 27.7 °C this year.
Heraklion horse riding near Hersonissos had 43.2 mm of September rain this year.
When is the best season for Heraklion horse riding?
Heraklion horse riding suits spring and autumn, when Hersonissos readings stayed below 35 °C. This year the station peaked at 25.3 °C in April and 34.6 °C in September. Crete’s hotel bed occupancy hit 91.6 percent in August 2023.
A July 2023 ministry circular covers working horses in heat. From 35 °C to 39 °C, they rest from 12:00 to 17:00.
The Hellenic Equestrian Federation maps 54 member clubs across Greece, six of them on Crete. Three list Heraklion addresses, one at Foinikia and one at Karteros.
Heraklion horse riding includes federation show jumping. A Heraklion club hosted four of Crete’s five interclub rounds in 2023. They ran from April to October, with 129 starts.
ELSTAT counted 12,963,592 hotel nights in Heraklion regional unit in 2023, at 69.3 percent occupancy. Hersonissos took 10,099,728, and the city seen on tours of Heraklion took 713,314.
- Shade and water: Working horses need both around the clock.
- Legal basis: Law 1197/1981, amended by Law 4745/2020, sets them.
- Peak nights: Crete logged 7,192,126 hotel nights in August 2023.
Heraklion horse riding off-season is quiet: Crete had 76,498 hotel nights in January 2023.
What do travelers ask about Heraklion horse riding?
Heraklion horse riding questions center on buses, hospitals and the Hellenic Equestrian Federation, based in Markopoulo, Attica. Its forms include an athlete health card and a horse registration card. It lists seven disciplines, from show jumping to para dressage.
Which KTEL buses reach Heraklion horse riding areas?
Heraklion horse riding areas link to KTEL buses from two city stations. The Central Station at 9 Ikarou Avenue serves Malia, Archanes, Fodele Beach and Agia Pelagia. The Chanioporta station at 3 Machis Kritis serves Anogia, Krousonas and Rogdia.
Which hospitals serve Heraklion horse riding visitors?
For Heraklion horse riding injuries, PAGNI, the University General Hospital of Heraklion, stands at Voutes. Its orthopaedics and traumatology clinic has a sports injuries unit. Venizeleio General Hospital sits at 44 Knossou Avenue. It runs orthopaedic, neurosurgery and emergency departments.
How are Heraklion horse riding clubs and horses registered?
Heraklion horse riding clubs in the federation hold a General Secretariat of Sport licence. Horses on its register need a passport under EU Regulation 2021/963. Their stable needs a veterinary facility code. Papers are due five working days before a competition.