Crete: Getting There

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BY PLANE
More people fly from the Athens Airport with Olympic Airways or Aegean Airlines, that  have cheap, fast, domestic flights from Athens to Sitia on the east, Heraklion in the center, and Chania on the west. Reservations are necessarily in the High Season. In the summer Olympic Airways & Aegean Airlines also offer services between Heraklion and Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini and Thessalonica. For more info see Olympic Airways Site or Aegean Airlines

An alternative to Olympic Airways is Air Greece and Aegean Airlines, those have flights to points Cretan, sometimes for cheaper prices. Most flights take less than an hour. For more info visit Air Greece and Aegean Airlines Sites.

The airport of Heraklion is located 5 km (3 miles) east of the city. To get to the airport you have two choices.

• By Public Buses, get them at Platia Eleftherias (liberty Square) or at the other points along the way. The ticket costs about 0.60 €

• By Taxi that costs about  5-7 €

The airport of Chania is located about 15 km (10 miles) out of the town at Akrotiri. To get to the airport you have two choices. Public Bus, that meet all flights, or by Taxi that costs about  10-12 €

Agios Nikolaos does not has its own Airport, but visitors can use the Airpot of Heraklion or the airport of Sitia to get there. The Heraklion Airport can be reached by bus or taxi at about 90 minutes from Ag. Nikolaos and the Airport of Sitia at about 2 hours.

See the Athens International Airport website for full information on flight schedules and airlines operating to/from Athens.

Summary of direct flights to Athens
Amsterdam: KLM & Olympic Airways
Brussels: Olympic Airways
Barcelona: Iberia; Madrid: Iberia & Olympic Airways
Berlin & Stuttgart: Olympic Airways; Frankfurt: Lufthansa; Munich: Lufthansa & Olympic Airways
Bangkok: Thai Airways; Singapore: Singapore Airlines
Copenhagen: Maesk Air
Geneva & Zurich: Swiss Airlines
Vienna: Olympic Airways & Austrian Airlines
Manchester: Olympic Airways; London Gatwick and London Luton: EasyJet
London Heathrow: Olympic Airways & British Airways
Milan & Rome: Alitalia, Olympic Airways & Aegean Airlines
Montreal & Toronto: Olympic Airways
New York JFK: Delta Airlines & Olympic Airways
Paris: Air France & Olympic Airways

BY BOAT
Most Travelers arrive in Crete by boat. During the summer the island has frequent connections to Athens (Piraeus Port), Thessalonica and sometimes in high season occasional  international ferries to Ancona in Italy, Cesme in Turkey, and Halifa in Israel.

The journey from Piraeus, Athens port to Crete take about 9 hours on standard ferries, and 6 hours on the high-speed fleets ( Knossos Palace and Festos Palace - of the Minoan Lines). On the Athens - Crete route, overnight ferries arrive at their destination between 5.00 and 6.30 in the morning.  Thessaloniki to Heraklion  sailing (with the Minoan Lines El Greco) takes approximately 22 hours.

On the route to and from Heraklion in Crete, the Eleftherios Venizelos on the ANEK fleet is one of the biggest ships of its kind. Public areas and cabins are all of high standard. The new Knossos Palace (Minoan) was put in service at the end of 2000. It includes amongst its facilities a cinema, internet cafe as well as a swimming pool and music club. Food on the ships is satisfactory.
There are both self service and full service restaurants - pricing in each is similar.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The ferries sail when the weather is considered suitable and stable conditions are predicted. If the weather is bad, sailings will be cancelled (not often - but there are a few such days every year), and you should be accommodated on the next available sailing. 

ADVICE: Allow flexibility in your schedule when traveling by ferry as part of an ongoing journey. If delayed, see some of the sights of interest you may have missed! The shipping companies are prone to changing which ships they use on any given route - so as always, call to check if you want to book on a particular ship.

Ferry schedule - Ferries to and from Heraklion, Chania and Rethymno