A private transfer from Heraklion Town to Istron covers 74.7 km (46.4 mi) in about 1 hr 4 min and costs a fixed fare from €80 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Town, or the departure run back from Istron 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 | €80 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €98 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €102 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €125 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €200 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €445 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Istron back to Heraklion Town 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 Town to Istron: 74.7 km (46.4 mi), about 1 hr 4 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 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.
Istron is a scattered settlement on the coast east of Agios Nikolaos, on the shore of Mirabello Bay where the road begins to climb away from the water. Istron is known for the string of small sand and shingle coves below it, of which Voulisma is the best known and the busiest.
There is no village centre in the usual sense. Hotels, villas and apartments are spread along the coast road and up the slopes behind it, separated by olive terraces.
The setting is the reason people come: the bay is wide and open here, with the Sitia mountains across the water and very little built along the far shore.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, at the coves or up on the slopes behind them.
Istron is spread over several kilometres with unnamed tracks running off the main road. Give the property name and any directions the owner sent when you book.
The drive runs east for 74.7 kilometres and takes about 1 hr 4 min, ending on the shore of Mirabello Bay where the coast road starts to climb.
Your driver collects you at your Heraklion address and is on the national road within a few minutes. The eastern resort coast carries the first half hour, past Gouves and Chersonissos to Malia at 36.2 kilometres.
Sissi and Milatos follow, the island empties out, and Agios Nikolaos comes at 64.3 kilometres. Istron is ten kilometres beyond it, along the water.
This is the quickest run of its length on the eastern side, and the figures make the point. Istron is 74.7 kilometres out at about 1 hr 4 min. Plaka, on the Elounda coast and only 1.7 kilometres further at 76.4, is quoted at about 1 hr 15 min, because that road leaves the bay and works north through the resorts while this one stays on the fast side of it.
Istron has no centre to arrive in. Hotels, villas and apartments are spread along several kilometres of coast road and up the slopes behind, separated by olive terraces, with unnamed tracks running off the main road to reach them.
Below the road is a string of small sand and shingle coves, of which Voulisma is the best known and the busiest, and the bay opens wide from them across to the Sitia mountains with almost nothing built on the far shore.
Mistral Mare Hotel, Hotel Istron Bay, Elpida Village and Athina Villas are among the properties here. Give the name and any directions the owner sent, because the track is what your driver needs rather than the road.
The KTEL coach from Heraklion to Agios Nikolaos runs regularly, and the Sitia service passes Istron on the main road above the coves.
That is the city bus station first, then two coaches with a change, then a walk down an unnamed track to the property. Over 74.7 kilometres the fare saving is real and the last part is what people weigh against it.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Istron. 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 Istron 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: 74.7 km (46.4 mi), about 1 hr 4 min, and the same fixed fare from €80 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Istron at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Town.
Istron back to Heraklion covers the same 74.7 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The climb up from the coves to the main road takes the first few minutes, then the run west is quick as far as the resort coast. The Heraklion approach at the end is the section that thickens through the morning.
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 1 hr 4 min of driving, whatever check-in or boarding time applies at the far end, and a margin for the track up to the road and the city approach.
Give us the flight number, sailing or appointment at booking, and the pickup time is printed on your voucher rather than agreed on the day.
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 Istron 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 Istron costs a fixed €80 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €125.
The best known of the coves below the road at Istron, and the busiest of them. The others along the same stretch are smaller and quieter.
Istron is spread over several kilometres and the tracks off the main road are unnamed. The property name and the owner's directions identify the turning; an address usually does not.
Ten kilometres west along the bay. Agios Nikolaos is 64.3 kilometres from Heraklion against 74.7 here, and it is where the shops and the harbour are.
The properties along the coast road and the slopes above it, among them Mistral Mare Hotel, Hotel Istron Bay, Elpida Village and Athina Villas.
Wide and open, with the Sitia mountains across the water and very little built on the far shore. Istron sits where the road begins to climb away from it.
On foot from most of them, down the slope to the water. The turnings from the main road are unnamed, which is why the property name rather than an address gets the car to the right one.
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 €80 for a Standard car to Istron.
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 Istron and Istron to Heraklion Town are the same journey at the same fixed €80, 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.