A private transfer from Heraklion Town to Plaka covers 76.4 km (47.5 mi) in about 1 hr 15 min and costs a fixed fare from €78 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Town, or the departure run back from Plaka - 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 | €78 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €92 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €100 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €130 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €195 |
|
Bus | Coach Bus | up to 52 | 30 | €460 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Plaka - Elounda 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 Plaka - Elounda: 76.4 km (47.5 mi), about 1 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.
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.
Plaka is a small village on the coast north of Elounda, facing Spinalonga across a narrow channel. Plaka is the closest point on the mainland to the island, and the crossing from here is the shortest of the boat trips that visit it.
The village is a short line of tavernas and rooms along a pebble shore, with the fishing boats pulled up beside them.
Development stops at Plaka. The road continues north into empty country, which is why the village stays quiet even though it sits at the end of the Elounda hotel strip.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, in the village or along the coast road approaching it.
Plaka is small and its lanes run down to the water. Your driver uses the nearest point a car can turn and tells you where that is before the day.
The drive runs east for 76.4 kilometres and takes about 1 hr 15 min, ending at the village facing Spinalonga across a narrow channel.
Your driver picks you up at your Heraklion address and joins the national road within minutes. Gouves, Chersonissos and Stalida pass on the eastern resort coast, Malia comes at 36.2 kilometres, and Sissi and Milatos follow before the island empties out.
Agios Nikolaos arrives at 64.3 kilometres. The road then turns north for Elounda at 71.4 and runs the length of the hotel strip along the bay, and Plaka is at the end of it.
Plaka is where the development stops. North of the village the road continues into empty country, which is why the last house on the Elounda coast is quieter than anything on the bay behind it.
The village is a short line of tavernas and rooms along a pebble shore with the fishing boats pulled up beside them, and Spinalonga sits directly opposite. This is the closest point on the mainland to the island, so the crossing from here is the shortest of the boat trips that visit it.
The fare is worth a glance against the map before you choose between here and the coves opposite. Plaka is 76.4 kilometres from Heraklion at €78 for a Standard car, and Istron, 1.7 kilometres nearer at 74.7, costs €80. The further village is the cheaper transfer, and it is also the slower one by eleven minutes, because this road works north through the Elounda strip rather than staying on the fast side of the bay.
Cayo Exclusive Resort and Spa, Blue Palace Elounda, Royal Marmin Bay and Domes of Elounda stand on the coast road approaching the village. The lanes in Plaka itself run down to the water, so your driver uses the nearest point a car can turn and says where that is before the day.
The local bus from Agios Nikolaos serves Elounda and continues to Plaka a few times a day in season.
Reaching it means the coach from Heraklion's bus station to Agios Nikolaos first, then the wait, then the local service. Two changes and a timetable that thins sharply outside the summer, against 1 hr 15 min door to door.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Plaka - 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 Plaka - 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: 76.4 km (47.5 mi), about 1 hr 15 min, and the same fixed fare from €78 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Plaka - Elounda at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Town.
Plaka back to Heraklion covers the same 76.4 kilometres at the same fixed price.
The Elounda strip southbound is the slow part in the morning, and Agios Nikolaos follows it before the national road opens up. An early flight or sailing from Heraklion means leaving before the strip fills.
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 15 min of driving, the check-in or boarding time you have been given, and margins for the Elounda strip and the Heraklion approach.
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 Plaka - 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 Plaka costs a fixed €78 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €130.
Plaka is the closest point on the mainland to the island, across a narrow channel, so the boat trip from here is shorter than the ones from Elounda or Agios Nikolaos.
About 5 kilometres. Elounda is 71.4 kilometres from Heraklion and Plaka 76.4, at the northern end of the same coast road.
Plaka is 76.4 kilometres from Heraklion at €78 and Istron 74.7 at €80. The two sit on different sides of Mirabello Bay and fall into different bands.
The resorts along the coast road and the rooms in the village, among them Cayo Exclusive Resort & Spa, Blue Palace Elounda, Royal Marmin Bay and Domes of Elounda.
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 €78 for a Standard car to Plaka - 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 Plaka - Elounda and Plaka - Elounda to Heraklion Town are the same journey at the same fixed €78, 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.