A private transfer from Chania Airport to Plaka covers 225.0 km (139.8 mi) in about 3 hr 30 min and costs a fixed fare from €255 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Chania Airport, or the departure run back from Plaka - Elounda at the same fixed fare.
Fares are per vehicle, not per person, and cover the whole car, so a family of four pays once. The price you see is the price confirmed on your voucher; it does not change with traffic, time of day, or a delayed flight.
| Vehicle | Typical models | Passengers | Bags | Fare | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Standard | Skoda Octavia, VW ID.3 | up to 3 | 3 | €255 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €270 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €360 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €440 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €750 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Plaka - Elounda back to Chania Airport costs the same as the arrival leg. Child and booster seats are added at booking, at no extra charge.
The line is the road a driver actually takes from Chania Airport (CHQ) to Plaka - Elounda: 225.0 km (139.8 mi), about 3 hr 30 min door to door. Pickup and drop-off are marked at the coordinates the booking engine quotes against, not at the centre of the nearest town.
Your driver meets you inside the arrivals hall at Chania Airport, holding a sign with your name and the company name on it. Your transfer starts there rather than at a taxi rank, so there is no queue and no fare to agree on the spot.
Chania International Airport (CHQ) sits on the Akrotiri peninsula, on high ground east of the city. Chania International Airport handled 1,574,043 international arrivals in 2025, which makes it the island's second gateway after Heraklion and the natural entry point for western Crete.
The airport's position matters for what happens next. The road down from Akrotiri joins the national road just east of Chania, so Rethymno, Georgioupolis and the whole north coast run east without entering the city, while Platanias, Kissamos and the west coast run through or around it.
Chania Airport is a single-terminal airport, so the walk from baggage reclaim to the meeting point is short even when several flights land together.
Inside the arrivals hall, at the exit, where your driver waits with a name board.
Look for the board rather than heading for the taxi rank. If your flight arrives late at night, the driver is still there: the pickup is set against the flight, not the schedule.
Give us your flight number at booking. Your pickup is scheduled against that flight, and we track it, so a delayed landing moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
Tell us as early as you can when a flight is cancelled or rerouted, so the driver can be reassigned.
Plaka is a small village on the coast north of Elounda, facing Spinalonga across a narrow channel. Plaka is the closest point on the mainland to the island, and the crossing from here is the shortest of the boat trips that visit it.
The village is a short line of tavernas and rooms along a pebble shore, with the fishing boats pulled up beside them.
Development stops at Plaka. The road continues north into empty country, which is why the village stays quiet even though it sits at the end of the Elounda hotel strip.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, in the village or along the coast road approaching it.
Plaka is small and its lanes run down to the water. Your driver uses the nearest point a car can turn and tells you where that is before the day.
The drive crosses the island east, 225.0 kilometres in about 3 hr 30 min, to the village at the northern end of the Elounda coast road.
Plaka is the far end of the Elounda coast, and the last stretch is what makes the timing. Elounda is 215.0 kilometres from this airport at about 3 hr 7 min and €250 for a Standard car; Plaka is 225.0 at about 3 hr 30 min and €255. Ten kilometres of resort strip add twenty-three minutes and five euros, because that road works north through the hotels rather than around them.
Your driver meets you in arrivals and the car comes down off Akrotiri onto the national road east of Chania. Aptera and Souda Bay open the run, the Apokoronas villages follow, and Rethymno passes at 70.3 kilometres.
Panormos, Bali and Fodele take the headlands, Ammoudara opens the Heraklion coast at 139.0 kilometres, and the city goes by on the bypass.
Gouves, Chersonissos, Stalida and Malia carry the eastern resorts, Sissi comes at 189.0 kilometres, and the coast empties before Mirabello Bay. The road turns north at Agios Nikolaos and runs the length of the Elounda strip.
Plaka is where that strip stops. North of the village the road continues into empty country, which is why the last houses on this coast are quieter than anything on the bay behind them.
The village is a short line of tavernas and rooms along a pebble shore with the fishing boats pulled up beside them, and Spinalonga sits directly opposite across a narrow channel.
Cayo Exclusive Resort and Spa, Blue Palace Elounda, Royal Marmin Bay and Domes of Elounda stand on the coast road approaching the village. The lanes in Plaka itself run down to the water, so your driver uses the nearest point a car can turn and says where that will be before the day.
The local bus from Agios Nikolaos serves Elounda and continues to Plaka a few times a day in season.
Reaching it from this airport means Chania's bus station, close to three hours to Heraklion, the eastern coach to Agios Nikolaos, and then that local service. Four changes and a timetable that thins sharply outside the summer.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Plaka - Elounda. There is no central drop-off point and no walk with your luggage at the end. These are properties in the resort we transfer guests to regularly; if yours is not listed, it is still covered, so enter the name when you book.
Villas, apartments and private addresses in Plaka - Elounda are served the same way. Add the address at booking and the fare stays as quoted.
The return leg is the same journey in reverse: 225.0 km (139.8 mi), about 3 hr 30 min, and the same fixed fare from €255 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Plaka - Elounda at the agreed time and takes you straight to Chania Airport.
Plaka back to Chania Airport covers the same 225.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The Elounda strip southbound is the slow part in the morning, then Agios Nikolaos, then the long national road run west with the Akrotiri climb at the end. A morning flight from Chania means a pickup here in the dark.
Book both directions together and the return is held at the same fare. Switch the form at the top of this page to Departure, or select a return when you book.
Allow about 3 hr 30 min of driving, the check-in and security time your airline asks for, and margins for the Elounda strip, the two bypasses and the climb to the terminal.
Give us the flight number at booking. On a run of this length the pickup is calculated rather than estimated, and the time goes on your voucher.
The fare covers the whole vehicle rather than each seat, so 4 people pay the same as 1. The price on your voucher is the price you pay, with no booking fee and no card surcharge.
Your driver waits in the arrivals hall holding a sign with your name on it. You walk out of baggage reclaim straight to the car, without joining a taxi rank or agreeing a fare on the spot.
Child seats cost nothing extra. Reserve the seat in the booking form and state the child's age, so the correct seat is fitted before the driver sets off.
Cancel at least 24 hours before your pickup time and you pay nothing. Plans change; the booking does not lock you in.
The vehicle carries your party and nobody else. It runs from the pickup point to your exact address, with no intermediate stops and no waiting for other passengers.
Your pickup is set against your flight number, not a clock time. Transfers run at any hour, which covers night landings and pre-dawn departures.
Every booking is confirmed by a person and carries a voucher showing your route, vehicle, pickup time and fare.
These are the questions guests ask most often about the Chania Airport to Plaka - Elounda transfer, answered with this route's own distance, duration and fares.
Anything not covered here is answered when we confirm the booking.
A private transfer from Chania Airport to Plaka costs a fixed €255 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €440.
Elounda is 215.0 kilometres from this airport at about 3 hr 7 min and Plaka 225.0 at about 3 hr 30 min. The ten kilometres between them are resort road through the hotel strip.
Directly opposite, across a narrow channel. Plaka is the closest point on the mainland to the island.
Considerably. Plaka lies well east of Heraklion, so arriving there removes about two thirds of this drive.
The resorts along the coast road and the rooms in the village, among them Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Blue Palace Elounda, Royal Marmin Bay and Domes of Elounda.
A short line of tavernas and rooms along a pebble shore with the fishing boats pulled up beside them. Plaka has stayed small because the development stops here and the road north runs into empty country.
Considerably. Elounda's hotels line the bay south of here and Plaka sits at the end of that road, so the traffic thins to whatever is coming to the village itself.
Per vehicle. The fare covers the car and everyone in it, up to that vehicle's passenger and luggage limit. Two people and four people pay the same €255 for a Standard car to Plaka - Elounda.
Yes, at no extra charge. Reserve the seat in the booking form and state the child's age so the correct infant, child or booster seat is fitted before the driver sets off.
Give us your flight number when you book. We track the flight and move the pickup to match the actual landing time, so a delay does not cost you the transfer.
Inside the arrivals hall, at the exit, where the driver waits with a board showing your name. You do not need to find a taxi rank or a car park level.
Yes. Cancel at least 24 hours before your pickup time and there is no charge.
Pay by card online when you book, or in euros in cash to the driver. There is no card surcharge and no booking fee either way.
You receive a confirmation email with your route, vehicle, pickup time and fare on it. Check the details and tell us if anything is wrong. An automated receipt on its own is not the confirmation. The emailed voucher is.
Yes. Chania Airport to Plaka - Elounda and Plaka - Elounda to Chania Airport are the same journey at the same fixed €255, and both directions are booked from this page. Select a return when you book and the price is held for both legs.
Those routes are priced the same way as this one: a fixed fare per vehicle, confirmed before you travel. The same applies to every Crete taxi we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.