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Travel Information
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ARRIVING BY AIR Charter Flights. The majority of travelers who visit Crete arrive by plane into either Chania or Heraklion Airports. Between April and October, there are many charter flights flying direct to Crete from most European countries, therefore saving time and avoiding the hassle of having to change planes in Athens. Chania airport is situated on the Akrotiri Peninsula about 20 minutes drive from the centre of Chania Town and 30 minutes drive from the Apokoronas area (just east of Chania) where most of our villas are situated. Chania airport is the smaller of the 2 airports and is the better option on a number of levels. It is a very easy airport to find your way around and it is much less chaotic than Heraklion Airport, and closer to our holiday villas. Flying in and out of Chania airport does, however, have limitations as to the day of the week that you travel (most direct UK charters only arrive and depart on Tuesdays, but Easy Jet have just announced that from May 23, 2010, they will be flying to Chania every Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday) and to the number of towns from which you can travel from (generally only Gatwick and Manchester from the UK). Heraklion Airport is located about 5 km east of the city of Heraklion and is the largest airport on Crete. Heraklion is about 1 hour and 50 minutes drive from the Apokoronas region and the Villas Crete Holidays office. This drive is almost exclusively on the National Highway that runs parallel with the scenic north coast and is very pretty during the day (harder at night though due to the lack of street lamps). There are a lot more flights to Heraklion than to Chania which means that the airport is much busier. There are advantages, however, to flying in and out of Heraklion airport including the increased number of arrival and departure days, the increased number of destinations (including Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham etc.) and the greater availability of seats, which in turn can lead to cheaper prices. Easy Jet now fly into Heraklion and their prices can be quite low if you book early: www.easyjet.com Scheduled Flights. Anyone wanting more flexibility with flight times and arrival days, or anyone not travelling from countries with direct charter flights, will need to take a scheduled international flight to Athens and then change planes to a scheduled domestic flight. There are many domestic flights a day from Athens to either Chania or Heraklion with either Aegean Airlines or Olympic Airlines. (I prefer to use Aegean Airlines as over the years I have found them to be excellent and nearly always on time). Changing at Athens airport has become relatively easy since the new airport was opened a few years ago. If you have flown in with either Aegean or Olympic you should already have your boarding pass for your connecting plane and your luggage will be automatically transferred for you. If you are changing from a different airline you just collect your luggage and then go upstairs to check-in at either Aegean or Olympic. For prices and schedules go to: www.aegeanair.com or www.olympicairlines.gr ARRIVING BY SEA Ferries. You can take a ferry from the port of Piraeus (Athens) to either Heraklion or Chania. There is a regular overnight ferry service and the ships depart each evening around 8:30 PM and they take approximately 10.5 hours to complete the journey, arriving at their destination at about 6.00am. During the summer there is also a high speed catamaran that runs between Piraeus (Athens) and Rethymnon, that takes about 4.5 hours. Travelling by ferry is generally cheaper than flying and can be quite an adventure. For those on a budget you can go deck class, and for those of you who require a little more comfort sleeper cabins can be bought with bunks for either 2 or 4 persons (best to book in advance). The ferries are fairly modern and have cafes, bars and restaurants. An overnight summer sailing can be a lovely experience but you would be best to avoid weekends and travelling at the beginning or end of Greek holidays as the ferries can then be very crowded (and smoky). Particularly during the winter, stormy weather can cause the ferries to be delayed of cancelled, whereas planes can fly in almost any weather. For ferry schedules and prices, go to www.greekferries.gr. Detailed Travel Information Between Crete and The United Kindom. For the best travel information for visitors to Crete from the United Kingdom including a full list of which airlines fly from which airports, on which days, I highly recommend that you go to the website: www.travel.creteforyou.com Flight Companies. When you are looking for flight seats we suggest that you try the following companies who sell airline tickets:
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