How to Get From Athens to Crete

There are basically two ways to get from Athens to Crete: by ferry or by plane. I am explaining in full detail what is the best way depending on your situation and your budget as not every ferry and flight is the same.

In my honest opinion, the absolute best way to get from Athens to Crete is by plane (a one-hour flight from Athens to Heraklion or Chania airport).

The ferry from Athens to Crete (Chania or Heraklion) takes approximately. 8-13 hrs (depending on which ferry you take) and in my opinion you should take it only if you cannot find a flight ticket (sold out or not good times) or you want to take your car with you (yes, in Crete you need a car unless you are staying in an all-inclusive hotel and you are not planning to get out at all (I hate these holidays but it might be your thing).

Keep reading…

VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

• You have two options for getting from Athens to Crete: ferry or plane.
• Best way toget from Athens to Crete: By Plane (45mins), especially if you are visiting Crete for 2-3 days only, because it’s simply faster; the ferry is only worth taking if you are planning to get your car from Athens to Crete
• Best Website for Ferry Prices & Timetables to Crete:Ferryhopper
• The ferries to Crete only depart from Piraeus port; Rafina Port is not an option for Crete
• Between April and October, there are more than two ferries a day from Athens to Heraklion and two more ferries a day from Athens to Chania (from Piraeus port); there are fewer ferry options in the winter (November-March)
• How long is the ferry ride from Athens to Crete? It varies from 4.5 hours (fast-Seajet Ferry) to 9 hrs (slow-Minoan Lines, ANEK or Fast Ferries companies)
• How much does it cost to take a ferry from Athens to Crete? The slowest ferry (Minoan Lines Ferries – usually overnight) costs around 45 euros, and the fast ferry (Seajet Ferries) can cost up to 80 euros
• You can book your ferry online, but you always have to get the ticket printout from the ferry kiosk in Piraeus/Rafina port or any other Greek travel agency (it’s the Greek law, unfortunately) – AKTINA TRAVEL AGENCY is in Athens Airport
• Best Way to go from Athens Airport to Athens main port (Piraeus) to take any ferry to Crtete is by taking the Athens Airport Bus X96 (X96 Bus Route – X96 Bus runs every 20-30 mins) – X96 Bus ticket costs 6 euros (adult) and 3 euros (kids) or buy an ATH.ENA Card
• Direct International Flights from Athens to Crete: only from major European cities and only between April and October.

Ok, so let’s see all the available options from Athens to Crete:

1. Flights from Athens to Crete (Chania or Heraklion)

The best and cheapest website to book or search for flights from Athens to Crete is Booking.com Flights, which has all the available options (including low-cost airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet).

Aegean Air is the best Greek airline that can take you to Crete, but you also have many more options these days, like SkyExpress (equally good). There are only two main airports on Crete: Heraklion (HER) and Chania (CHQ).

• Heraklion airport Official website (HER)
• Chania Airport Official Website (CHQ)
• Athens Airport Code is: ATH (Athens)
• If you want to travel from Crete to Santorini, I suggest this excellent day trip from Chania or Heraklion.
• Every plane that lands at Chania or Heraklion takes off after bout 1 hour to fly back to Athens.
• The exact times of the flights change and are not the same throughout the year, so ensure you get the right times from Booking.com Flights, as it will give you all the available flights immediately.
• There are more flights from Athens to Crete between April and October (the high season), but there are plenty of flights throughout the year.
• If you book your tickets well in advance (6 months), you could probably find some very good deals with return tickets. I have flown to Heraklion with just 50 euros (especially in low season)
• The cost of the flight from Athens to Crete may come up to 200 euros during the high season (April-October)
• If you are staying close to Heraklion, it’s wiser to get a flight to Heraklion, but if the times don’t work out, you can still get a flight to Chania and take the bus or drive to your hotel or villa.

The airlines that fly from Athens to Crete (April-October) usually are:

• Aegean Airlines (Olympic Air is the same airline with a different brand name)
• Ryanair
• Sky Express
• Bulgaria Air
• Volotea

PROs OF FLYING FROM ATHENS TO CRETE

• So much faster than the ferry (45 mins by air)…you can save a whole day and spend it on the island instead
• If you have just landed at the Athens airport, you can wait there till your connecting flight to Heraklion or Chania departs (usually 2 hours between connecting flights should be ok, even though Athens Airport is not that big )

CONs OF FLYING FROM ATHENS TO CRETE:

• It can be much more expensive (especially in the high season)
• The flight times to Crete may not be convenient, and you might have to spend some boring hours at the Athens airport.
• You don’t get to see any other Greek islands ( you can get a glimpse of them by taking the ferry, which is like a mini cruise in a way…see below)
• You cannot get your car with you (yes, you need a car in Crete)

• Laudamotion, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines (from Vienna)
• Thomas Cook (from Birmingham, Gatwick, Manchester, Brussels)
• Thomson (from Birmingham, Gatwick, Manchester, Bristol)
• Volotea, Blue Panorama, Iberia (from Venice, Bari, Naples, Palermo)
• Germanwings (from Cologne)
• Norwegian (from Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm)
• Transavia (from Paris, Amsterdam)
• British Airways (from London Heathrow, London City)
• Condor (from Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt)
• Aegean (from Russia, Italy, Cyprus)
• Easyjet (from Rome, Milan, Geneva, Manchester, Gatwick)
• Vueling (from Barcelona, Bilbao)
• Jetairfly (from Brussels)
• HolidayJet (from Zurich)

2. Ferries from Athens to Crete

Going to Crete by ferry is your second option; it can be a very nice experience if you visit the island for more than 5 days and if it’s your first time in Greece. But I am not going to lie to you: it can be a tiring and tedious experience, and you would have to stay on the ferry for 8-9 hours.

A few important things to know about the ferries from Athens to Crete:

• Ferries from Athens to Crete depart only from the port of Piraeus.
• The slow ferry from Athens (Piraeus) to Chania or Heraklion takes approx. 13 hours to arrive (Minoan Line Ferries) – check timetables here
• The quick ferry from Athens (Piraeus to Crete) takes 8.5 hours to arrive (Seajets Ferries) – check timetables here
• The slow Ferry ticket to Santorini costs ~45 euros (depending on the seat you choose)
• A fast Ferry ticket to Santorini costs ~70 euros (depending on the seat you choose)
• Minoan Lines Ferries are the biggest you can take to Crete and are the most stable, but also the slowest (9-10 hours to arrive). You won’t feel much with these, no matter how bumpy or windy.

FERRIES FROM ATHENS TO CRETE

Before deciding which ferry to take (and checking timetables and prices for all ferries), you should head over to Ferryhopper and simply enter your desired dates.Ferry prices and times change every year and every month!

You have the following options for ferry boats from Athens to Crete:

• From Piraeus port: MINOAN LINES FERRIES (these are the best and they have the largest fleet of ferries, which are named: SANTORINI PALACE, KNOSSOS PALACE, FESTOS PALACE)
• From Piraeus port: ANEK LINES FERRIES
• From Piraeus port: FAST FERRIES

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO PIRAEUS PORT

The easiest and cheapest way to get to the Athens ferry port, Piraeus, is to take the bus X96, which stops just outside the Athens airport.

The X96 bus takes between 50 minutes and 80 minutes (depending on the traffic) to go to the Athens ferry port (Piraeus), and the X96 bus route to Piraeus ferry port is the following:

Crete Ferries depart from E3 Port Gate, so you have to stop at the bus station, STATION ISAP (which is also a metro station).

Or in Greek : ΣΤΑΘΜΟΣ ΗΣΑΠ

GPS screens show you where you are on the X96 Athens bus. The X96 bus runs 24/7, and there is a bus every 30 minutes roughly (in Greece, time runs in a very strange way…so never expect something to be on time…that’s just a small tip from Greeks…you’d better get used to that, unfortunately).

But there is an X96 bus every 20-30 minutes, so there will be one for you too!

For the X96 bus, you have to buy tickets from a kiosk just outside the bus stop (and just outside the airport, follow the “Bus” signs in the airport). For adults the Athens bus ticket (called “ATH.ENA) costs 6 euros and for kids (under 6) it costs 3 euros.

The Athens Bus Ticket for X96 Bus (and X95 bus that goes to the center of Athens – Syntagma Square)__is called ATH.ENA ticket

The X96 bus is pretty fast, and it costs only 6 euros!

Also, BE CAREFUL:

Don’t get confused.

This is a Greek version of saying: “Airport – Pireaus”, so it’s the same…

HOW TO GET FROM ATHENS AIRPORT TO CENTRAL ATHENS

X95 is the bus that will take you from Athens airport to Syntagma Square (central Athens), but you also have the option of taking the metro

To go from Athens Airport to Syntagma Square (the most central point in Athens), you have to take either the metro (it’s overground for some stations, and then it goes underground) or the bus X95, which will take you to Syntagma Square within 30-40 minutes.

The X95 bus stop is next to the X96 bus stop, and the tickets are the same and are sold from the same kiosk.

You can also take the metro line 3 to get to Syntagma Square from the Athens Airport.

Check on this link the timetables for Athens metro lines

Athens metro timetables, Syntagma Square to Athens (it stops at other stations too…)

Athens metro timetables, Airport to Syntagma square (it stops at other stations too…)

A flight is much quicker and more convenient overall. For the last years, Ferryhopper has been the best way to check timetables and even book ferry tickets online, and I highly recommend it to everyone looking to get a ferry to Crete.

Frequently Asked Questions