A private transfer from Heraklion Town to Elounda covers 71.4 km (44.4 mi) in about 1 hr 8 min and costs a fixed fare from €74 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Town, or the departure run back from 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 | €74 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €84 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €90 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €124 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €180 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €430 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Elounda back to Heraklion Town costs the same as the arrival leg. Child and booster seats are added at booking, at no extra charge.
Your driver comes to the door of your hotel, apartment or address in Heraklion at the time on your voucher. City pickups are door-to-door, so there is no meeting point to find and no walk with luggage.
Heraklion is Crete's capital and largest city, and its centre is a dense grid of one-way and pedestrianised streets inside the Venetian walls. Heraklion's older streets will not take a vehicle at all, so where an address sits behind a pedestrian zone the driver arranges the nearest point a car can legally stop and tells you where that is before the day.
Give the exact address and the hotel name when you book. A street name alone is not always enough in the centre, where numbering restarts across districts.
Journeys east towards Hersonissos, Malia and Agios Nikolaos leave on the national road without crossing the centre. Journeys south to Matala and the Messara plain climb out through the Venetian gate and over the hills.
At your accommodation's entrance, or the closest legal stopping point when the address sits inside a pedestrian zone.
Your driver calls ahead if there is any doubt about where the vehicle can wait.
Give us the pickup address and a contact number at booking. Your driver waits at the agreed time and calls if the entrance is not accessible.
Tell us as early as you can if your plans change, so the driver can be rescheduled.
Elounda is a resort town on Mirabello Bay in the Lassithi region of eastern Crete, 11 kilometres north of Agios Nikolaos. It grew from a fishing village into the island's main luxury resort strip, and most of its large hotels sit along the water on the road between the town and Plaka.
The town itself is compact and walkable. The harbour, the tavernas and the central square sit within a few hundred metres of each other, and Elounda Beach is 450 metres from the centre. Guests staying in the bay-side resorts are usually a short drive from that centre rather than in it.
Elounda is the departure point for Spinalonga, the fortified island 4.8 kilometres away by boat. Elounda also sits beside Olous, a submerged ancient settlement 1.1 kilometres from the town.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, villa or apartment, including the resorts spread along the Plaka road north of town.
Elounda's central streets are narrow and busy in season. Drivers use the hotel entrance rather than the town square where access allows, so you are not walking the last stretch with luggage.
The drive begins at your Heraklion address and runs east on the national road for 71.4 kilometres. Starting in the city rather than at the airport adds about 4 kilometres to the journey, because the car has to reach the eastern edge of Heraklion before the open road begins.
The first minutes are the ones that vary. Your driver leaves the centre past the port and picks up the national road above Karteros and Amnissos, the beaches immediately east of the city that most Heraklion residents use. From there the road is clear.
The middle section is the developed coast: Kokkini Hani, Gournes and Gouves, then the exits for Anissaras, Piskopiano, Koutouloufari and Chersonissos, then Stalida and Malia running into each other along the shore. Traffic here is heaviest in the middle of a July or August afternoon, and this is the stretch that decides whether the run takes an hour or rather more.
The road turns inland after Malia, climbs away from the coast, and rejoins the sea at Agios Nikolaos, where the final 11 kilometres north to Elounda begin. About 1 hr 8 min is the normal door-to-door figure.
Elounda is the far end of a run of destinations sold from this hub along the same road. Chersonissos is 26.7 kilometres from the city, Malia 36.2, Sissi 44.7 and Agios Nikolaos 64.3, with Elounda at 71.4. The fare rises with each of them rather than being banded, so the quote on this page is for the full distance.
The final section past Agios Nikolaos is the reason the last few kilometres take longer than their share. It is coast road rather than national road, with bends and a climb, and it is the only part of the drive where the car is not on a main route.
The public route means two changes: an intercity bus from Heraklion to Agios Nikolaos, then a local bus or a taxi for the last 11 kilometres.
Both legs run on a fixed timetable and the last connection to Elounda goes early in the evening, so an afternoon start is the only comfortable one. The intercity coach also leaves from Heraklion's bus station rather than your accommodation, which is the leg that hurts most with luggage.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in 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 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: 71.4 km (44.4 mi), about 1 hr 8 min, and the same fixed fare from €74 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Elounda at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Town.
Elounda back to Heraklion is the same 71.4 kilometres in reverse, at the same fixed fare.
Westbound traffic through the resort coast builds from mid-morning, so a pickup that has to reach something fixed in Heraklion is set against that rather than against the drive time.
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 Elounda we work back from what you need to reach: about 1 hr 8 min of driving, plus any check-in or terminal time, plus a buffer for the Malia to Gouves stretch and for the Heraklion end.
Tell us the flight, the sailing or the appointment 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 Heraklion Town to 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 Heraklion Town to Elounda costs a fixed €74 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €124, and the fare covers the vehicle rather than each seat in it.
About 1 hr 8 min for the 71.4 km (44.4 mi) route in normal traffic. Leaving the city and crossing the resort coast are the two parts that move; the inland section after Malia runs at a steady speed.
The airport sits east of the city and joins the national road directly, so it starts about 4 kilometres closer to Elounda. A city pickup covers those kilometres plus whatever Heraklion's streets are doing at that hour.
Yes. Where the street takes no vehicle, your driver arranges the nearest legal stopping point and confirms it before the day. Give the hotel name as well as the address when you book.
Elounda is 71.4 kilometres from Heraklion Town and Agios Nikolaos is 64.3, so about 7 kilometres separates them. The extra time is larger than the extra distance suggests, because that last stretch is coast road.
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 €74 for a Standard car to 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.
The driver arranges the nearest legal stopping point and confirms it before the day, so nobody is left waiting on a pedestrianised lane. Give the accommodation name as well as the street when you book.
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 Town to Elounda and Elounda to Heraklion Town are the same journey at the same fixed €74, 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 transfers we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.