I read that Crete has the best beaches in Europe. What would you suggest? Chania or Heraklion or something else?
My family is from Heraklion but if I had to choose one over the other it would definitely be Chania. Heraklion has the more city like, urban feel while Chania looks like a friggin post card in every direction. Absolutely breathtaking scenery.
As for beaches an absolute must is 1) Balos Beach which requires a bit of a hike in order to get there (but totally worth it). It's often makes it on many international top 10 lists as far as beaches are concerned. Also 2) Elafonisi. It's a sandy archipelago that look legitimately looks like peach beach from Mario Kart. That alone should be a selling point.
If all you did was go to Crete and no where else in Greece you would have made a good decision. There are so many places in Greece that are amazing too don't get me wrong but Crete is a one stop shop. It has everything.
Edit:
Also consider these islands.
Paros: This island is the Mykonos for Greeks and people who don't want to pay obscene amounts for everything. Most travel savvy tourists opt to come here instead.
Syros: This is an interesting one because it is totally on the off beaten path and not really as tourist freindly as other islands BUT in terms of architecture it's second to none. It has such an austere beauty to it and seriously resembles kings landing from GOT. It's also the administrative capital of the Cyclades.
Naxos: This place is often compared to Paros. I have never been but my girlfriend has and she cannot decide between the two.
Beyond this there are other islands that are stunning and worthy of consideration. Sifnos, Folegandros, Milos and more. Definetly stick to the cyclades. All the islands here are within spitting distance from one another. If I were to do an Island style trip with many stop offs I would personally get a hotel/hostel at syros or paros as my base and just take day trips to santorini, mykonos and all the other ones mentioned.
I promise I will stop rambling but definitely check out corfu. It's the most unique out of all the islands imo because it's the greenest and most livable of all of them besides Crete but its on the other side of Greece. This would be a good island to consider if you wanted to segway into Italy.