Roadster

The only ferry arrival I find to Heraklion from Santorinin arrives at 6:50 PM. My husband and I really wanted to save Heraklion for our last night on Crete, but arriving so late, we are not sure we should proceed to Chania that evening, with a 2 1/2 hour bus ride from there. Any advice on this? Our other option is to reverse our trip and fly direct to Chania from Athens. Then proceed to Santorini after our 6 days in Crete. This would mean a little longer wait in Athens for our flight. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

travelerjan

Switch your flights, the longer wait in airport, still worth it. Much more logical, no backtracking. It's wonderful to arrive in Chania in evening (the sun set isn't until nerly 9pm), and see the life around the harbor and lovely lanes, and nice to awaken in a beautiful place.

After your exploration of Western Crete, you can time it to bypass Heraklion & reach Knossos at 2 pm the day before your Santorini ferry. See knossos, then drive into Heraklion & drop car, go to Museum (it's supposed to be open until 7:30 or 8 in summer). A nice sunset stroll in Herak is out on Causeway to Fortress, at traffic circle at foot of causeway, a terrific (glassed in) taverna famous for Cretan Mezedes for a memorable cretan feast. Hotel Lato is the recommended upscale place for a night, Hotel Kronos is moderate, if u get hi floor balcony, fine sea view.

I think I told u before that driving in Heraklion (traffic, 1-way streets) is No Picnic ... strategies include: • Of Course detailed route marked on paper map by your rental guy, BOTH from Knossos & big highway AND alt. route coming back from Knossos via the seafront highway • One time we had agreement w. car agency for pick-up, we just found curb parking near Hotel Kronos, dropped key at desk. Another time, we kept car & dropped it at designated lot by ferry pier. • You can also go from Knossos to airport, drop in designated lot, and taxi or take local bus into city - bus depot is right by ferry pier. Taxi to hotel & check in... hotels to museum, all walkable. Note: yes your phone gives u walk-instructions but paper map gives the "big picture" don't rely totaly on google.

neckervd

.....or take the bus. Iraklio dp every hr until 22.30
The Iraklio bus station is close to the ferry port

travelerjan

I guess he means it departs every hour on the half hour The bus takes about 2.5 hours to Chania if you get in at 7:30pm (21:30) you could get the ? 22:30 would arrive 11 pm. at Bus station ... a bit of a walk to most hotels near the seafront.

You have to compare it with the arrival time you'd get if you caught that flight direct to Chania ... from Airport, taxi to most hotels on West side of Chania Old Town is about €15-20, takes abut 30 minutes.

stanbr

My inclination would be to catch the flight to Chania. Yes you have to wait at the airport but you are going to have to sit on the ferry for several hours as well. Cost surprisingly for the fast ferries might be very close to the cost of the flight. Getting into Chania around 6 is a lot better than 10.

For fun this is what is waiting for you.
Chania http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632117917828/
Chania May 2016 https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr...57671465596275

Roadster

That is very helpful. Thank you. I have been agonizing about it all day. It does make so much more sense. My biggest problem is that the place I want to stay in Santorini is only available at the beginning of my trip or at the end. If it was available in the middle, my problems would be solved! I had wanted to begin in Santorini, but Chania looks lovely. Thanks for sharing the photos!

Roadster

What would your advice be if we decide to stick with our plan with arriving by ferry in Heraklion at 6:50PM and staying the night there? We could see Knossos the next morning and proceed to Chania arriving in the afternoon. We would then arrange to fly back to Athens from Chania the morning of our USA departure. And if we did this, should we rent a car to go to Knossos and then to Chania or take the bus? I know we will not want to rent a car for a few days while in Chania. We will be content to chill and walk around. We also want to hike the Samaria Gorge and have some beach time. I have read that we can get a bus tour to the Gorge.

Roadster

I know that if I go to Crete, I am supposed to see the ruins of Knossos, but we have traveled many places and seen many ruins. We may not even need to put this on our itinerary. I think we will probably still want to stay the night in Heraklion, rather than travel so late to Chania. This trip for us is about nature, beaches, water, relaxing, exploring. We are trying to avoid big cities, large crowds, and lots of tourists.

kja

Your latest plan -- night in Heraklion, visit Knossos, move on to Chania -- makes sense to me!

I thought the bus to/from Knossos very easy and comfortable.

Hope that helps!

kja

BTW, consider making sure you have time for the excellent archeology museum in Heraklion.

stanbr

If you want to stick with your original plan and you are not particularly interested in Knossos just walk to the bus station near the ferry port. Its less than a 10 minute walk. There are buses hourly on the half hour. So if you arrive at 6:50 you will easily make the 7:30 bus to Chania.

Even at 10 O'clock when you arrive in Chania the old town will still be active and the Greeks generally head out to dinner between 11 and midnight. Its a great way to get your introduction to Greece late night.
Have your hotel pre booked. Stay in the old town / harbour area. We always stay at or near Theotokopoulou street. Its a 2 minute walk from the harbour but is quiet at night.
Theotokopoulou St area http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr5...7632118491316/

Another option for you might be to fly to Heraklion. I think there are more flights to Herak than Chania. If you get a better flight time that minimizes your wait at Athens airport migh make sense.

You can take a taxi to the bus depot and catch an earlier bus. You may find that flying is still reasonably priced compared with the ferries. After many trips to Greece we have learned that time is a more precious commodity than money. If you can fly and save a few hours that is almost always a good plan.

stanbr

I just re read your post. I see you might be planning on flying back to Athens and connecting to the flight back home.

Experienced Greece travelers almost unanimously suggest you do not try to make same day connections on your return flight. While the Greek airlines have great reliability records, stuff can happen on vacation and being stuck on an Island as your flight back home departs can be very messy.

A couple of years ago our return flight to Athens was delayed 4 hours. We had Americans, French, UK and South Africans scrambling to change their return flights because none of them made their connections. There can be strikes, mechanical issues and weather that can cause delays.

Since your flight back to Athens won't be on the same airline as your flight home the airline isn't responsible to get you another flight.

Just saying, think about it.

Roadster

Thank you for the advice. I tend to rely on good luck, but decided it is a smart move to fly the day before and stay the night in Athens.
Do you think we need to buy a bus ticket in advance for the late bus?

stanbr

I don't see any way for you to pre book your bus ticket. You have to buy it at the bus depot when you arrive.