Where is the market today?
The calendar by day, not by town — that's how the question actually gets asked. Hours: 6:30am–2:30pm in summer, 7am–2:30pm in winter, and until 3:30pm on Saturday in Heraklion.
- Monday
- Heraklion — Kaminia
- Chania — Markopouleio (Malinou st.)
- Tuesday
- Heraklion — Nea Alikarnassos and Ag. Ioannis–Mesambelies
- Chania — Kolokotroni st. (moves 1 Oct 2026)
- Sitia
- Wednesday
- Heraklion — Mastamba and Deilina
- Chania — Odos Therisou (former BIOCHYM)
- Rethymno — organic market, Koumoundourou st., from 11am
- Agios Nikolaos — new “Lagos” site
- Thursday
- Heraklion — Pateles (Lydaki plot)
- Chania — former ABEA factory, in Nea Chora
- Rethymno — Tessaron Martyron car park (the biggest)
- Friday
- Heraklion — Therissos (Karamanli, Katsoni, Galenianou)
- Kolymbari and Timbaki
- — No market in Chania on Friday
- Saturday
- Heraklion — Pateles again, the biggest, until 3:30pm
- Chania — Minoos street and Kounoupidiana (Akrotiri)
- Rethymno — KTEL bus station
- Ierapetra · Moires (the biggest in Crete) · Arkalochori
- Sunday
- — No market anywhere in Greece — law 4849/2021 restricts λαϊκές to Monday-Saturday
Heraklion
official calendar- MondayKaminia — Smyrniliou, Frendy Germanou, Patroklou, Kyvelis streets
- TuesdayNea Alikarnassos (Anagenniseos & Anapafseos) and Ag. Ioannis–Mesambelies (Iolis & Aridaias)
- WednesdayMastamba (Paraskevopoulou street) and Deilina (Christomichali Xylouri)
- ThursdayPateles / Kipoupoli — Lydaki plot, parallel to Itanou street
- FridayTherissos — K. Karamanli, L. Katsoni, M. Galenianou
- SaturdayPateles / Kipoupoli again — the biggest of the week, until 3:30pm
Pateles runs twice a week, Thursday AND Saturday — almost no guide says so. And 1866 street is not a λαϊκή: it's a permanent shopping street, a common mix-up.
Chania
reorganised 2025-2027- MondayMarkopouleio (Malinou street)
- TuesdayKolokotroni street — moves on 1 October 2026 to the Plastira / Agia Marina / Mournies road plot
- WednesdayOdos Therisou (former BIOCHYM)
- ThursdayFormer ABEA factory, Nea Chora district — this is “the Nea Chora market”
- SaturdayMinoos street — the finest, along the walls — and Kounoupidiana (Akrotiri)
No market on Friday or Sunday. The covered market (Agora) reopens on Friday 4 December 2026 after works — see below.
Rethymno
municipal source- WednesdayOrganic market, Koumoundourou street (behind the Municipal Garden) — from 11am only
- ThursdayTessaron Martyron car park, beside the Municipal Garden — the biggest
- SaturdayNext to the KTEL bus station
Two errors circulate widely: Thursday is not held “at the new marina”, and the Saturday market is nearly always omitted. Wednesday is the organic market, not the λαϊκή.
Agios Nikolaos
- WednesdayNew “Lagos” site, since July 2025 (the market left the bus-station area)
Ierapetra
- Saturday—
Moires (Messara)
the biggest in Crete- SaturdayThe “Moirianó pazári”
Arkalochori
- Saturday—
Sitia
- Tuesday—
Elounda
- Friday—
Kolymbari
- Friday—
Timbaki
- Friday—
The resorts with no market at all
We're often asked about these five places. The answer is the same: there is no weekly market. They are beach resorts, and a λαϊκή αγορά is aimed at residents, not holidaymakers. Here, for each, is the nearest market and the drive.
- Hersonissos ✕Nearest: Heraklion (one market every weekday, ~25 min) or Arkalochori on Saturday.
- Malia ✕Nearest: Heraklion, ~35 min west.
- Georgioupoli ✕Nearest: Rethymno on Thursday or Saturday, ~25 min east.
- Platanias ✕Nearest: Chania, ~20 min east — Saturday on Minoos street is the finest.
- Agia Pelagia ✕Nearest: Heraklion, ~25 min east.
Kissamos has no weekly market either, contrary to what several blogs announce. What they describe on Skalidi street is an annual spring παζάρι — around twenty stalls, Easter produce — not a weekly fixture. Skalidi is also due to become an “open mall” by 2027. Nearest: Chania, 40 minutes east.
📅 A public holiday doesn't cancel the market: it pulls it forward
Law 4849/2021 (article 29) bans λαϊκές on national or local public holidays, and provides no automatic rescheduling: each shift is a one-off municipal council decision, announced a few days ahead. In practice in Crete, the market is always moved earlier, never to the following day. For 15 August 2026, four markets moved from Saturday to Friday the 14th: Arkalochori, Ierapetra, Moires and Tympaki. Rethymno did the same in 2024 (Thursday pulled to Wednesday 14 August), then again at the end of 2024 for Christmas and New Year (Thursdays 26 December and 2 January pulled to Tuesdays 24 and 31). It's the one thing on this page you can't plan: check locally the day before if your trip falls on a holiday.
🏛 Chania's covered market reopens on 4 December 2026
The εγκαίνια date was announced on 13 August 2026: Friday 4 December 2026, exactly 113 years after the hall first opened, with artistic direction entrusted to the Greek National Opera. It reopens with 63 units — 5 municipal services, 19 allocated by tender, 39 returning to the former traders, with grants of up to €30,000 per trader from a €1.5m envelope. Until then the hall stays shut: guides still printing “Mon-Sat 7:30am-1:30pm” are publishing pre-works hours. And keep the distinction in mind: the Agora is a covered hall open daily — it is not the weekly Saturday λαϊκή αγορά on Minoos street.
Laiki agora or tourist market? The distinction nobody makes
The Greek term is λαϊκή αγορά, “laiki agora”: literally the people's market. It's a weekly growers' and greengrocers' market that takes over a street or a car park and vanishes at 2pm. You go for tomatoes, honey, olives, mountain herbs, practical odds and ends — not for souvenirs. Cretans do their weekly shopping there. That's what this table lists. The “market” brochures sometimes mean in Chania is something else: the covered municipal hall (Agora), open daily, more touristy and more expensive. Both are worth it, but they aren't the same prices, the same time of day, or the same atmosphere.
The golden rules
- The real hours, and they aren't the ones everyone publishes. Heraklion's operating regulation for the λαϊκές αγορές (article 3) sets: winter (1 Nov – 30 Apr) 7:00am – 2:30pm · summer (1 May – 31 Oct) 6:30am – 2:30pm · Saturday 6:30am – 3:30pm. The “7am – 2pm” most guides print is therefore wrong in both directions: in summer it opens half an hour earlier, and on Saturday it closes an hour and a half later.
- The best pickings are in the first two hours. After 1pm it's mostly leftovers, and growers start packing up.
- No market on Sunday: law 4849/2021 restricts λαϊκές to Monday–Saturday.
- A public holiday doesn't push the market to the next day: it pulls it forward to the eve. See the dedicated block below.
- In Rethymno, the municipality's tourism department states “early morning until 2pm”. The Wednesday organic market only starts at 11am.
Markets open at 6:30am in summer and pack up at 2:30pm — and the towns aren't next door. Without a car, the KTEL buses serve the three main cities in the morning; otherwise this is the one case where renting genuinely earns its keep for a market.
Frequently asked questions
What day is the market in Chania, Heraklion and Rethymno?
In Chania, the big market is on Saturday, on Minoos street along the walls. In Heraklion, the biggest is on Saturday (Pateles/Kipoupoli). In Rethymno, the biggest is on Thursday. The full day-by-day detail is in the table above.
Have Chania's markets changed recently?
Yes. Between December 2025 and April 2026, all of Chania's markets were relocated. Pre-2026 guides therefore give outdated locations. Our table reflects the new arrangement, valid to 2027.
Is there a market on Sunday in Crete?
No. The markets (laiki agora) run Monday to Saturday depending on the town, generally 7am to 2pm. None is held on Sunday.
What happens if a public holiday falls on a market day?
The market is moved to the eve. For example, with 15 August 2026 a holiday, the Moires, Tympaki and Ierapetra markets were held on the 14th. A handy reflex to know around the big feasts.
What is the biggest market in Crete?
The one at Moires, in the Messara plain, on Saturday — the famous “Moirianó pazári”. It's the largest on the island, far more than a simple fresh-produce market.
Checked 16 August 2026, from municipal sources. Chania's reorganisation runs to 2027: page reviewed each season.