A private transfer from Heraklion Airport to Maleme covers 157.0 km (97.6 mi) in about 2 hr 11 min and costs a fixed fare from €155 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Airport, or the departure run back from Maleme 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 | €155 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €190 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €200 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €225 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €380 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €885 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Maleme back to Heraklion 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 Heraklion Airport (HER) to Maleme: 157.0 km (97.6 mi), about 2 hr 11 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 Heraklion Airport, holding a sign with your name on it. Your transfer starts there rather than at a taxi rank, so there is no queue to join and no fare to agree on the spot.
Heraklion International Airport (HER) is Crete's main gateway and handled 4,039,249 international arrivals in 2025. Heraklion International Airport concentrates its arrivals into one short terminal, which keeps the walk from baggage reclaim to the meeting area brief even at peak season.
The driver confirms your name and destination, loads your luggage, and leaves from the airport car park. Nothing is settled on the day when you have paid online, and the fare on your voucher does not change.
The airport sits on the coast road immediately east of Heraklion city, which puts every eastern resort on a direct run without crossing town. Westbound journeys join the same national road in the opposite direction.
Inside the arrivals hall, past baggage reclaim, at the transfers meeting area. Your driver holds a name sign that matches the booking.
Look for the sign rather than a taxi rank or a car park level. The phone number on your voucher reaches a person who can locate your driver, if the sign is not where you expect it.
Give us your flight number at booking. Your pickup is then scheduled against that flight rather than against a clock time, and the driver is told to arrive later when the flight lands late.
Tell us as early as you can when a flight is cancelled or rerouted, so the driver can be reassigned.
Maleme is a village on the coast west of Chania, at the western end of the beach strip that begins at Agia Marina. Maleme is known outside Crete for the airfield beside it, which was the main objective of the German airborne landings in May 1941 and the place where the Battle of Crete was decided.
The German War Cemetery stands on Hill 107 above the village, holding the graves of more than 4,000 soldiers, and is open to visitors.
The village itself is quiet, with a long beach of sand and shingle, a scatter of hotels and apartments, and the Rodopos peninsula rising to the west.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, on the beach side of the road or in the village behind it.
The old road through Maleme carries most of the village's addresses. Give the accommodation name when you book, because the numbering along it is not continuous.
The drive crosses the island west, 157.0 kilometres in about 2 hr 11 min, to the village at the far end of the Chania beach strip.
Maleme is the cheapest destination on this side from this airport, and it is not the nearest. A Standard car costs €155 here at 157.0 kilometres, against €165 for Chania Town at 142.0 and €170 for Chania Airport at 149.0. Fifteen kilometres further west than the city, and ten euros less.
Your driver meets you in arrivals and the car is on the national road within minutes. Ammoudara and the cliffs above Agia Pelagia open the run, then Fodele, Bali and Panormos take the headlands.
Rethymno passes at 80.5 kilometres, Georgioupolis and the Apokoronas villages follow, and the road climbs over Aptera with Souda Bay below. Chania is skirted on the bypass, and Stalos, Agia Marina and Platanias run out along the sand.
Maleme is the last of them, and what it is known for outside Crete is not the beach. The airfield beside the village was the main objective of the German airborne landings in May 1941, and the fighting for it decided the Battle of Crete.
The German War Cemetery stands on Hill 107 above the village and holds the graves of more than 4,000 soldiers. It is open to visitors, and for a share of the people booking this transfer it is the reason for the journey.
Maleme is also where the road forks. Tavronitis lies immediately beyond, and the turn south from there leads to Paleochora and the south-west coast, so the village marks the end of the north coast strip rather than a point along it.
The beach is long sand and shingle and quieter than the resorts behind you. Creta Princess by Atlantica, Asterion, Bella Pais and Mike's Hotel stand on and behind the old road, where the numbering is not continuous.
The KTEL coach from Heraklion to Chania takes close to three hours, and the western service continues past Maleme on the old road.
Reaching Heraklion's bus station from this terminal comes first, then two coaches with a change. The western service thins outside the summer months, which matters more at this end of the strip than at the busier end.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Maleme. 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 Maleme 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: 157.0 km (97.6 mi), about 2 hr 11 min, and the same fixed fare from €155 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Maleme at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Airport.
Maleme back to Heraklion Airport covers the same 157.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The old road through the strip is the slow section eastbound, then the Chania bypass, then the Rethymno bypass in the middle of the run. Early flights leave before the strip fills.
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 2 hr 11 min of driving, the check-in and security time your airline requires, and margins for the old road and the two bypasses.
Give us the flight number at booking, and the pickup is worked back from it rather than estimated on the morning.
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 Heraklion Airport to Maleme 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 Heraklion Airport to Maleme costs a fixed €155 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €225.
Chania Town is 142.0 kilometres from this airport at €165 and Maleme 157.0 at €155. The strip beyond the city sits in a lower band than the city itself.
The German War Cemetery, holding the graves of more than 4,000 soldiers from the 1941 airborne landings. It stands above the village and is open to visitors.
Far closer. Maleme is a short drive west of Chania, so arriving in the west removes about two hours in each direction.
The properties on and behind the old road, among them Creta Princess by Atlantica, Asterion, Bella Pais, Mike's Hotel & Restaurant and Solon Appartments.
Yes, from the old road, and the climb up to Hill 107 is short. The graves are laid out on the slope with the airfield and the sea below, which is the point of the site.
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 €155 for a Standard car to Maleme.
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. Heraklion Airport to Maleme and Maleme to Heraklion Airport are the same journey at the same fixed €155, 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 private transfers in Crete we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.