A private transfer from Chania Airport to Rethymno Town covers 70.3 km (43.7 mi) in about 1 hr 12 min and costs a fixed fare from €107 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Chania Airport, or the departure run back from Rethymno Town 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €107 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €152 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €225 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Rethymno Town back to Chania Airport costs the same as the arrival leg. Child and booster seats are added at booking, at no extra charge.
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.
Rethymno Town is the third largest city in Crete and the capital of the Rethymno region, set midway along the north coast between Heraklion and Chania. Rethymno's old town is the most complete Renaissance quarter on the island, built under Venetian rule below the Fortezza and left largely intact since.
The layout is unusually easy to picture. The Fortezza occupies the headland, the old town fills the ground behind the Venetian harbour, and one long sand beach runs east from the centre with the hotel strip behind it.
Rethymno lies 78.4 kilometres from Heraklion and 64.9 kilometres from Chania, which puts it roughly an hour from each and makes it the usual choice for a stay meant to cover the whole north coast rather than one end of it.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, in the old town or along the beach road east of it.
The old town is a grid of narrow one-way lanes and parts of it take no vehicle. Where your address sits inside that grid, the driver uses the nearest point a car can legally wait and tells you which one before the day.
The drive leaves Akrotiri, skirts Chania and runs east along the north coast for 70.3 kilometres. Rethymno is approached from the west on this route, which is the opposite end of the city from the beach hotels and puts the Fortezza in view on the way in.
The road comes off the peninsula and joins the national road above Souda, where the bay is visible on the right as a deep protected inlet. It then climbs past Aptera, the hilltop archaeological site above the bay, and drops into Apokoronas.
Apokoronas is the stretch with the most turnings: Kalyves and Almyrida on the coast, Vamos and Gavalochori inland among the olive groves. The road passes above all of them. Georgioupolis and Kavros follow at the mouth of the Almyros, with the turning to Lake Kournas, the only freshwater lake on Crete, signposted inland shortly after.
The last section climbs past Armeni and comes down through Atsipopoulo into Rethymno from the western side. About 1 hr 12 min is the normal door-to-door figure, and the road holds a steady speed for almost all of it.
Two of the places this road passes are transfers in their own right and worth naming for anyone still choosing where to stay. Kalyves is 28.1 kilometres from the airport and Almyrida 33.3, both on the Apokoronas coast below the road, and Georgioupolis is 48.4 kilometres, roughly two thirds of the way to Rethymno.
Lake Kournas is the one inland detour most people ask about on this stretch. It lies in the hills above Kavros, is the only natural freshwater lake on Crete, and is reached by a climb of several kilometres off the national road rather than from the coast.
There is no direct public service from Chania Airport to Rethymno.
The public route runs airport bus into Chania, then the intercity coach east to Rethymno, then a local taxi or a walk to your accommodation. That is three legs and two waits against one car, and the connection depends on your flight landing close to its scheduled time.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Rethymno Town. 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 Rethymno Town 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: 70.3 km (43.7 mi), about 1 hr 12 min, and the same fixed fare from €107 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Rethymno Town at the agreed time and takes you straight to Chania Airport.
Rethymno back to Chania Airport is the same 70.3 kilometres in reverse, at the same fixed fare.
The Souda and Chania section is the slowest part westbound in the morning, so departure pickups are set against that rather than against the open road.
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.
For a departure from Rethymno we work back from your flight: about 1 hr 12 min of driving, plus the check-in and security time your airline asks for, plus a buffer for the Chania approach and for reaching the car if your hotel sits inside the old town.
Give us the flight number at booking and the exact pickup time is confirmed 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 Rethymno Town 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 Rethymno Town costs a fixed €107 for an SUV carrying up to 4 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €152, and the fare covers the vehicle rather than each seat in it.
About 1 hr 12 min for the 70.3 km (43.7 mi) route. The national road runs at a steady speed the whole way, so a landing at any hour reaches Rethymno in about the same time.
Three: an SUV for up to 4 passengers, a Minivan for up to 8, and a Minibus for up to 18. Each fare on this page covers the whole vehicle.
Neither airport has a clear advantage on time. Rethymno sits 70.3 kilometres from Chania Airport and 80.5 kilometres from Heraklion Airport, and both transfers run close to 1 hr 10 min, so the flight schedule usually decides rather than the drive.
Three sold routes sit along this road: Kalyves at 28.1 kilometres, Almyrida at 33.3 and Georgioupolis at 48.4. Each has its own fixed fare from this airport, so a shorter transfer costs less rather than the same.
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 €107 for a Standard car to Rethymno Town.
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 Rethymno Town and Rethymno Town to Chania Airport are the same journey at the same fixed €107, 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.