Car Hire in Heraklion - Getting to Heraklion

Crete is located in the Aegean Sea about 300kms south of Athens. There are two airports, and visitors have the choice of flying into one and out of the other. Heraklion is the main airport and receives traffic from Athens daily, as well as flights from a growing number of major European cities. Chartered carriers are extremely popular in the summer, offering package deals including hotel transfers.

Heraklion Airport is situated about five kilometres to the east of town and taxis are the preferred means of transport into the city. Chania Airport is 15kms east of its town.

If you choose to visit Crete by boat, Minoan Lines and ANEK ferries leave from the port of Piraeus (south of Athens), and arrive at either Heraklion or Chania ports. Car ferries leave for the island several times a day from Piraeus; the overnight ferry is popular.

There are many other ferry connections from destinations all over Greece, including: Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Kalamata and Glythio, as well as some of the Cyclades Islands and Kythira. Some of these may not run in bad weather and, unless the waters are calm, they can take a long time.

The Italian ports of Brindisi, Ancona, Bari and Venice also have regular connections with Crete in season, and there is also a service from Cyprus. These ferries are scarce out of season between November and April.