A private transfer from Heraklion Town to Kournas covers 104.0 km (64.6 mi) in about 1 hr 36 min and costs a fixed fare from €115 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Town, or the departure run back from Kournas 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 | €115 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €124 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €136 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €152 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €268 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €598 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Kournas 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 Kournas: 104.0 km (64.6 mi), about 1 hr 36 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.
Kournas is a village in the hills above the north coast, beside the only natural freshwater lake on Crete. Lake Kournas sits in a bowl below the village, ringed by hills, and its water level and colour change through the year as the springs feeding it rise and fall.
The village itself is inland and agricultural, a few kilometres up from Kavros and Georgioupolis on the coast.
Pedal boats work the lake in summer and tavernas line one shore, but there is no development around the rest of it, which is what keeps the setting intact.
We drop you at the door of your accommodation in the village or at the lake shore.
The village and the lake are separate points a couple of kilometres apart on a narrow road. Say which you need at booking, and give the property name if it is accommodation.
The drive runs west for 104.0 kilometres and takes about 1 hr 36 min, the last part of it climbing off the coast to the lake.
Your driver picks you up at your Heraklion address and is on the national road within minutes. Ammoudara, Agia Pelagia and Lygaria pass early, then Fodele, Bali and Panormos take the headlands, and Rethymno comes at 78.4 kilometres.
West of the city the road runs on to the Almyros and the Georgioupolis beach, and the turning inland is signposted from there.
Those last four kilometres are the ones that shape the fare. Kavros, on the coast below, is 100.0 kilometres from Heraklion at about 1 hr 29 min and €105 for a Standard car. Kournas is 104.0 at about 1 hr 36 min and €115, so four kilometres of hill road add seven minutes and ten euros.
The lake sits in a bowl below the village, closed in by hills on three sides with no building around most of its shore. It is the only natural freshwater lake on Crete, and its level and colour change through the year as the springs feeding it rise and fall.
There are two arrival points here and they are not interchangeable. The village is agricultural and sits above; the lake shore with its tavernas and pedal boats is a couple of kilometres down a narrow road. Say which one you need at booking, and give the property name if you are staying rather than visiting.
Accommodation is village rooms and houses rather than hotels, which is another reason the name on the booking matters more than an address.
There is no useful public route to Kournas.
The Heraklion to Chania coach stops at Georgioupolis on the national road below, and the lake is a climb from there on foot or by local taxi. Two vehicles and a hill, against one car that stops where you asked it to.
The return leg is the same journey in reverse: 104.0 km (64.6 mi), about 1 hr 36 min, and the same fixed fare from €115 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Kournas at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Town.
Kournas back to Heraklion covers the same 104.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The descent to the coast opens the return and the national road carries the rest of it. A pickup from the village is set a few minutes earlier than one from the lake shore, because the narrow road takes the time it takes.
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 36 min of driving, the check-in or boarding time you have been given, and extra minutes for the hill road at the start.
Send the flight number or sailing at booking. The pickup is calculated from it and 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 Town to Kournas 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 Kournas costs a fixed €115 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €152.
Kavros on the coast is 100.0 kilometres from Heraklion at €105 and Kournas 104.0 at €115. The difference is four kilometres of narrow hill road at the end.
Two separate points a couple of kilometres apart on the same road. Say which you want at booking, since your driver takes a different turning for each.
It is the only natural freshwater lake on the island, set in a bowl with hills on three sides and almost nothing built around it. Pedal boats and tavernas work one shore in summer.
Book the return as its own transfer with a time on it. The fare is fixed per vehicle in each direction rather than charged for waiting.
Tavernas along the accessible side and pedal boats in summer. The rest of the shoreline has nothing built on it, and the water changes colour and level through the year as the springs rise and fall.
It is agricultural rather than scenic, a working place a couple of kilometres above the water. Most visitors go to the lake and drive up to the village afterwards, if at all.
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 €115 for a Standard car to Kournas.
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 Kournas and Kournas to Heraklion Town are the same journey at the same fixed €115, 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.