Crete: Getting There
BY PLANE
More people fly from the Athens Airport with Olympic Airways,
that has 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 also offer services
between Hwraklion and Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini and Thessalonica.
For more info see Olympic
Airways Site or Click
Here for Olympic Airways Schedules
| 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 €
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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. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Pireas to Heraklion |
| Company: |
Minoan Lines |
ANEK Lines |
| Telephones |
010-4080006 to 13 and 0801-11-75000* |
010-4197410/20/30 |
| Every day |
21.00 (Knossos Palace or Festos Palace) |
20.00 |
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Heraklion to Pireas |
| Telephones |
0810-229646, 229602, 229680 |
0810-222481, 346440 |
| Every day |
21.00 (Knossos Palace or Festos Palace) |
20.00 |
*New Minoan Lines phone number
is a local call from anywhere in Greece and can be used for all reservations.
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