Diagram by Greece Trips. Free to reuse with credit - CC BY 4.0.
They are about three kilometres apart, and knowing that is most of what a visitor needs.
The palace
The palace of Malia was built in the same era as Knossos and Phaistos, destroyed and rebuilt like them, and it is the easiest of the three to read as a plan. Because Arthur Evans never worked here, there is no reconstruction: what stands is foundations, thresholds, storage jars and paving, laid out at ankle height so the shape of the building is visible from anywhere in it.
Two things people come for specifically:
- The kernos, a round stone disc with hollows cut around its rim, set in the paving of the west court. What it was for is genuinely unsettled, which is refreshingly honest as museum labels go.
- The central court and the storerooms, with rows of large jars in place, giving a clearer sense of a palace as a warehouse than the painted version at Knossos does.
The site is open ground with very little shade. Morning is the sensible visit.
The town, and the strip
The resort sits west of the palace along the coast. It has a long sandy beach, a dense strip of bars and clubs, and a season that runs hot and loud through July and August. It is not a secret and it does not pretend to be.
Malia old town, inland and uphill from the strip, is a separate thing again: lanes, a square, tavernas, and an ordinary Cretan pace. Many people who dislike the strip like the old town.
Our Crete nightlife page covers where Malia sits among the island’s evenings, and where to stay in Crete covers whether to base here at all.
Where it fits
Malia is on the north coast road roughly 35 kilometres east of Heraklion, which makes the palace a straightforward stop between Heraklion’s archaeological museum and the east of the island. Hersonissos is the next resort west.
If you are doing the Minoan sites properly, the order that makes sense is the museum first, then Knossos, then Malia or Phaistos, because the finds explain the foundations.
Last checked August 2026. Site opening hours change - see our editorial policy.
Common questions
What is the palace of Malia?
The third of the great Minoan palaces, on the coast east of the resort, largely unreconstructed and laid out at low level so the plan of the building is easy to read.
Is Malia palace worth visiting?
Yes if you want a Minoan site without reconstruction or crowds. It is flat, open and quick to walk, and it makes more sense after the Heraklion museum.
What is the kernos at Malia?
A circular stone with hollows cut around its edge, set into the paving of the west court. Its purpose is still debated.
Is Malia only about nightlife?
No. The resort strip is what the name is known for, but the palace is three kilometres away and the old town inland is a quiet separate place.
How far is Malia from Heraklion?
Roughly 35 kilometres east along the north coast road.
Next
Read things to do in Crete, Knossos, or Hersonissos.