Knossos and Heraklion Archaeological Museum see fewer visitors as Phaistos posts gains, ELSTAT data show
New figures from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) show a mixed picture for Crete’s major archaeological sites in the first four months of 2026, with visits to Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum declining while Phaistos recorded an increase.
The data cover April 2026 and the cumulative January-to-April period, and show a pattern for Crete that differs from the national trend reported by ELSTAT for the same months.
Knossos remains the top draw despite a decline
Knossos continues to be by far the most visited archaeological site on the island. In April 2026 it recorded 85,242 visitors, down from 87,990 in April 2025, a decrease of 3.1%. For the full January-April period, the site drew 107,671 visitors compared with 117,806 in the same months of 2025, a drop of 8.6%. Despite the decline, Knossos still attracted more visitors than any other archaeological site in Crete.
The site closed for five hours amid high temperatures earlier this summer, one of several heat-related measures affecting visitor access to Cretan archaeological sites this year.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum also records fewer visitors
The Heraklion Archaeological Museum showed a similar trend. April 2026 visits totaled 33,941, down from 35,669 in April 2025, a fall of 4.8%. Over the four-month period, the museum received 48,774 visitors compared with 53,053 in the same span of 2025, a decrease of 8.1%.
Phaistos moves in the opposite direction
Phaistos was the exception among the three sites, posting gains in both periods. April 2026 visits reached 6,861, up from 6,296 in April 2025, an increase of 9%. For the January-April period, Phaistos recorded 8,979 visitors against 8,407 in 2025, a rise of 6.8%.
Combined visits top 165,000 for the four-month period
Taken together, the three sites covered in ELSTAT’s Crete data — Knossos, the Heraklion Archaeological Museum and Phaistos — recorded 165,424 visits in the first four months of 2026, down from 179,266 in the same period of 2025, a decline of about 7.7%. In April alone, the three sites drew 126,044 visitors combined, compared with 129,955 in April 2025, a decrease of roughly 3%.
National figures show a different trend
According to ELSTAT, museum visits nationwide rose 1.5% in April compared with the same month last year, while visits to archaeological sites fell 5.7%. Over the four-month period, museum visits nationally edged up 0.4%, while archaeological site visits dropped 9.4%.
Full picture awaits the summer season
The figures cover only the first four months of the year and do not yet reflect the peak summer tourist season, when visitor traffic in Crete is typically highest. ELSTAT’s international arrival data for the first seven months of 2026 will offer a fuller picture of whether the early-year decline at Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum persists through the high season or proves temporary, in line with patterns already tracked at other Cretan sites such as the Samaria Gorge, which recorded over 64,000 visitors in the first 100 days of its 2026 season.
