So Young Hostel
The bigger, looser Old Town hostel where the rooftop turns into a free-form bar most evenings and the kitchen sees real cooking.
So Young is a four-minute walk from the Archaeological Museum on Almyrou Street, and it's the larger of Heraklion's two boutique-leaning hostels. Bigger common spaces, an actual rooftop with views over the Old Town tile-work, and a kitchen that sees more cooking than most. Solo travelers tend to stay an extra night.
So Young occupies a four-storey stone building right in the centre of the Old Town, two streets behind the Archaeological Museum. The location score (9.5 from guests) is on the high end for Heraklion — you can walk to Lions Square in three minutes, the Loggia in five, and the seafront promenade with Koules Fortress in eight.
Layout is bigger than Intra Muros: three mixed dorms, two female dorms, four privates, and a serious common floor that includes a real shared kitchen (full hob, double oven, three fridges with labelled shelves), a lounge with a high chair for kids, and the rooftop terrace that gets the most sun in the building. The rooftop is where the bar happens — guest-organised more than staff-organised, but on a Friday in summer there's usually someone selling raki shots from the kitchen.
The vibe is sociable but not fratty. The pet-friendly tag and the high chair tell you something about the crowd: a mix of solo backpackers, slow-travelling thirties, and a few couples with one well-behaved dog. The tour desk books Knossos, the Cretan wine roads, and the Spinalonga island day trip, and you can hire a windsurf board through them too — Almyrou is fifteen minutes' drive from the windsurfer beach at Ammoudara.
Downsides — there's parking but only one space and it's first-come; the building has stairs only above the ground floor; and the front rooms catch noise from Almyrou around 11pm when the bars empty. The garden side is markedly quieter.
- 01The kitchen sees more cooking than most hostel kitchens combined
- 02Rooftop bar is loose and guest-run, not a staff-driven event calendar
- 03Garden-side rooms are the quiet ones; ask for them and you sleep
- 04The 9.5 location score is real — the entire Old Town is on your doorstep
- 05Good for slow-travel: longer-stay backpackers and couples cohabit on the lounge floor
- Three minutes' walk to Lions Square, four to the Archaeological Museum
- Real shared kitchen with full hob, double oven, three labelled fridges
- Rooftop terrace runs as a guest-organised bar most summer evenings
- Pet-friendly with one well-behaved dog allowed per room
“Everything was perfect, staff very nice and helpful, the place was clean, comfy, well designed and convenient. Walked everywhere from here.”
“The rooms, bathrooms and common areas were very clean, the location was excellent and the bed pretty comfortable. Rooftop was the highlight.”
“Clean, well maintained, good facilities and free coffee. I especially connected very well with two solo travellers I met in the kitchen.”
- Heraklion Archaeological Museum300 m
- Lions Square (Liontaria)250 m
- Venetian Walls promenade400 m
- 1866 Street covered market300 m
- Koules Fortress & Old Harbour650 m
- Heraklion Airport (HER)5 km
