A private transfer from Heraklion Airport to Paleochora covers 209.0 km (129.9 mi) in about 3 hr 15 min and costs a fixed fare from €215 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Airport, or the departure run back from Paleochora 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 | €215 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €230 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €240 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €280 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €504 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €1,100 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Paleochora 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 Paleochora: 209.0 km (129.9 mi), about 3 hr 15 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.
The 209.0 km drive from Heraklion Airport crosses the whole island to reach Paleochora on the Libyan Sea, the longest transfer the engine sells. Filmed along the route a private transfer follows.
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.
Paleochora is a town on the south-west coast of Crete, built across a short peninsula with a beach on each side: sand to the west, shingle to the east. Paleochora is the largest settlement on this coast and the one with a full range of shops, banks and tavernas, which is why it is used as a base rather than only as a stop.
The ruins of the Venetian castle of Selino stand on the point at the end of the peninsula, above both beaches.
Paleochora is also a ferry town. The coastal boat that links the villages of the south west, Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro and Chora Sfakion, runs from here, and several of those places have no road access at all.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, on either beach or in the streets between them.
The centre of Paleochora is closed to vehicles in the evenings through the summer. Where that applies your driver stops at the nearest permitted point and confirms it in advance.
The drive crosses the island west and then turns south over the mountains, 209.0 kilometres in about 3 hr 15 min, ending on the south-west coast.
The journey is two unequal halves and the second one is where the time goes. The national road carries the car as far as Maleme, 157.0 kilometres out, in about 2 hr 11 min. The remaining 52 kilometres take roughly 64 minutes, because they are hill road rather than carriageway.
The first half is the north coast, run end to end. Ammoudara and Agia Pelagia pass early, then Fodele, Bali and Panormos on the headlands, and Rethymno arrives at 80.5 kilometres.
Georgioupolis, Apokoronas and the climb over Aptera above Souda Bay follow, and Chania is skirted on the bypass at 142.0 kilometres. Stalos, Agia Marina, Platanias and Maleme run out along the western beach strip after it.
At Tavronitis the road leaves the sea. It climbs into Selino, the hill district behind the south-west corner of the island, through olive terraces and small villages, on single carriageway with a long succession of bends and no shortcut around them.
The descent at the end brings the Libyan Sea into view with the town below on its short peninsula. Paleochora has a beach on each side, sand to the west and shingle to the east, and the ruined Venetian castle of Selino stands on the point between them.
Anyone whose flights are still open should weigh where they land. Paleochora is 89.8 kilometres from Chania Airport against 209.0 from Heraklion, which is a difference of about two hours in each direction and a fare difference to match.
Glaros Hotel, Nicolas Beach, Elman, Caravella Luxury Apartments and Calypso Studios are among the properties on the two beaches and the streets between them. The centre closes to vehicles in the evenings through the summer, so where that applies your driver stops at the nearest permitted point and confirms it in advance.
The public route is two coaches and most of a day.
The KTEL service from Heraklion to Chania takes close to three hours, and the Paleochora bus leaves from Chania's station a few times a day, taking around two more over the hill road. Reaching the first coach from the airport comes before either. If the second connection is missed, the next one may be the following morning.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Paleochora. 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 Paleochora 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: 209.0 km (129.9 mi), about 3 hr 15 min, and the same fixed fare from €215 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Paleochora at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Airport.
Paleochora back to Heraklion Airport covers the same 209.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The Selino hills come first and they are slower northbound than south, particularly before dawn, and the whole north coast and three city approaches follow. An early flight from Heraklion means leaving Paleochora at an hour that is worth checking before you book the flight rather than after.
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 15 min of driving, the check-in and security time your airline asks for, and a real margin for the hill road out of Selino.
Give us the flight number at booking. On a run of this length the pickup is calculated from the departure rather than estimated, and the time is printed 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 Heraklion Airport to Paleochora 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 Paleochora costs a fixed €215 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €280.
Far closer. Paleochora is 89.8 kilometres from Chania Airport against 209.0 from Heraklion, about two hours less in each direction.
It is hill road through Selino rather than national road. The first 157.0 kilometres to Maleme take about 2 hr 11 min and the remaining 52 take roughly an hour.
Through the day, yes. The centre is closed to vehicles in the evenings in summer, and your driver then uses the nearest permitted point and tells you which before the day.
Paleochora has two, sand on the west side of the peninsula and shingle on the east, with the ruined castle of Selino on the point. Give the property name at booking so the driver takes the right side.
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 €215 for a Standard car to Paleochora.
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 Paleochora and Paleochora to Heraklion Airport are the same journey at the same fixed €215, 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 taxi in Crete we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.