A private transfer from Heraklion Port to Kolymbari covers 159.0 km (98.8 mi) in about 2 hr 16 min and costs a fixed fare from €185 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Port, or the departure run back from Kolymbari 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 | €185 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €202 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €215 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €260 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €444 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €955 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Kolymbari back to Heraklion Port 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 Port to Kolymbari: 159.0 km (98.8 mi), about 2 hr 16 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 in front of the Passenger Terminal at Heraklion Port, holding a banner with your name and the company name on it. Ferry arrivals cluster, so the terminal forecourt fills quickly; the banner is what makes your car findable in it.
Heraklion Port sits inside the city, a few minutes from the centre and about 4 kilometres from the airport. Heraklion Port is the island's main ferry gateway, taking the overnight sailings from Piraeus as well as the routes from Santorini, Mykonos, Paros and Naxos.
Overnight ferries from Piraeus dock early in the morning, which is the port's busiest window and the one where on-demand taxis are hardest to find. A pre-booked car is already waiting when the ramp goes down.
Cruise calls berth at the same port area and follow the same procedure.
In front of the Passenger Terminal, where your driver waits with a banner showing your name and ours.
Stay at the terminal rather than walking out to the road. The port approach is one-way and busy at docking time, and the vehicle cannot stop on it.
Give us your ferry or cruise line and arrival time at booking. We track sailing arrivals as well as flights, so a late docking moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
Tell us as early as you can if your sailing is cancelled or diverted to another port, so the driver can be reassigned.
Kolymbari is a village at the base of the Rodopos peninsula, on the coast west of Chania where the beach strip ends and the headland begins. Kolymbari is built around a working harbour and a long pebble beach, and it keeps the feel of a village rather than a resort.
Gonia Monastery stands at the northern edge of the village, above the sea, and the Orthodox Academy of Crete sits beside it.
The road north from here runs out along the Rodopos peninsula, an empty limestone headland with no settlements on it, which is why Kolymbari is the last village on this stretch of coast.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, in the village or along the coast road either side of it.
Kolymbari's lanes towards the harbour are narrow. Where an address sits on one, your driver stops at the nearest point a car can wait and confirms it before the day.
The car leaves the port gate for the national road west and covers 159.0 kilometres in about 2 hr 16 min to the village at the foot of the Rodopos peninsula.
Kolymbari is 5 kilometres further from the quay than Maleme and reaches it a minute sooner, 159.0 kilometres at about 2 hr 16 min against 154.0 at about 2 hr 17 min. The island crossing is identical for both; the difference is in the approach at the western end.
Ammoudara, Agia Pelagia and Lygaria pass in the first half hour, then Fodele, Bali and Panormos on the headlands, and Rethymno at 77.8 kilometres.
Georgioupolis and the Apokoronas slope follow, the road climbs over Aptera above Souda Bay, and Chania goes by on the bypass. The beach strip runs out through Agia Marina, Platanias and Maleme, and Kolymbari sits where the sand ends and the headland begins.
Nothing on this coast continues past it. The road north of the village runs onto the Rodopos peninsula, an empty limestone headland with no settlements on it, so Kolymbari is the last place along this shore a car can take you.
The village is built around a working harbour, with the fishing boats using it through the year, and the beach is long pebble rather than the sand behind you. Gonia Monastery stands above the sea at the northern edge, with the Orthodox Academy of Crete beside it.
Avra Imperial Hotel, Euphoria Resort, Selini Suites, Aphea Village and Chryssana Beach Hotel are spread along the coast road either side of the village. The lanes down towards the harbour are narrow, so where an address sits on one your driver stops at the nearest point a car can wait and confirms it before the day.
The KTEL service between Chania and Kissamos stops at Kolymbari on the main road above the village.
Reaching it from the quay means Heraklion's bus station after a night at sea, close to three hours to Chania, a change, and then the walk down from the stop with luggage. The car does the whole of it in 2 hr 16 min and finishes at the door.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Kolymbari. 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 Kolymbari 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: 159.0 km (98.8 mi), about 2 hr 16 min, and the same fixed fare from €185 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Kolymbari at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Port.
Kolymbari back to Heraklion Port covers the same 159.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The climb from the village up to the main road opens the return, then the Chania bypass and the Apokoronas stretch, then the Rethymno bypass. Piraeus sailings leave Heraklion in the evening, so departures here are usually booked for the early afternoon.
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 16 min of driving, the boarding time your ferry or cruise line requires, and margins for the harbour lanes and the two bypasses.
Send the operator and sailing when you book, and the pickup is set against boarding rather than the printed departure time.
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 Port to Kolymbari 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 Port to Kolymbari costs a fixed €185 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €260.
By 5.0 kilometres, and about a minute quicker. Kolymbari is 159.0 kilometres from the quay and Maleme 154.0, at €185 and €155.
An Orthodox monastery above the sea at the northern edge of the village, with the Orthodox Academy of Crete beside it. Both are within walking distance of the harbour.
Yes. The fishing boats use it through the year and the tavernas around it are built for that trade first, which is why the front looks different from the resort strips east of here even in August.
Pebble, and it changes the day. The sand runs out before Kolymbari, so the water here is clearer and the beach emptier than at Platanias or Agia Marina, and it shelves more steeply.
A dawn arrival reaches the village while the boats are unloading, which is the one hour it is busy. Nothing else on this coast starts that early, so a six o'clock ferry and a two and a half hour drive land you at the best moment of the day here.
The Balos and Gramvousa sailings leave from Kissamos, fourteen kilometres further west, not from this harbour. Kolymbari's own boats are working craft rather than trip boats.
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 €185 for a Standard car to Kolymbari.
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 ferry operator and sailing time when you book. We track arrivals, so a late docking moves the pickup rather than costing you the transfer.
In front of the passenger terminal, where the driver waits with a banner showing your name and ours. Ferry passengers all reach the quay at once, which is what the banner is for.
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 Port to Kolymbari and Kolymbari to Heraklion Port are the same journey at the same fixed €185, 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.