A private transfer from Heraklion Town to Rethymno Town covers 78.4 km (48.7 mi) in about 1 hr 15 min and costs a fixed fare from €85 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Heraklion Town, or the departure run back from Rethymno Town 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 | €85 |
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €95 |
|
Premium | Mercedes E Class, Skoda Kodiaq, Jeep Compass | up to 4 | 4 | €110 |
|
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 | €430 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Rethymno Town 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.
Rethymno Town is the third largest city in Crete and the capital of the Rethymno region, set midway along the north coast between Heraklion and Chania. Rethymno's old town is the most complete Renaissance quarter on the island, built under Venetian rule below the Fortezza and left largely intact since.
The layout is unusually easy to picture. The Fortezza occupies the headland, the old town fills the ground behind the Venetian harbour, and one long sand beach runs east from the centre with the hotel strip behind it.
Rethymno lies 78.4 kilometres from Heraklion and 64.9 kilometres from Chania, which puts it roughly an hour from each and makes it the usual choice for a stay meant to cover the whole north coast rather than one end of it.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, in the old town or along the beach road east of it.
The old town is a grid of narrow one-way lanes and parts of it take no vehicle. Where your address sits inside that grid, the driver uses the nearest point a car can legally wait and tells you which one before the day.
The drive runs west along the north coast on the national road and takes about 1 hr 15 min. Getting clear of Heraklion is the only part that is not open road, which is why a city pickup is timed against the traffic rather than the distance.
The first stretch climbs past Ammoudara and the beach hotels west of the city, then lifts onto the cliffs above Lygaria and Agia Pelagia, both signposted down to the sea on the right. Fodele follows in a valley of orange groves inland, and is the village El Greco was born in.
Bali and Panormos come next. Each is a small harbour reached by its own turning rather than a place the road passes through, so the coast is out of sight for most of that section. The shoreline returns at Skaleta, and from there the road runs level past Sfakaki and Adelianos Kampos, where Rethymno's eastern beach strip begins and continues almost unbroken into the city.
Rethymno is entered from that eastern side, so the beach road and the hotel strip come before the old town and the Fortezza. About 1 hr 15 min is the normal figure, with the Heraklion end at morning rush the part that moves.
Three places along this road are sold as separate transfers rather than as points on the way, because each sits off the national road on its own descent to the sea. Agia Pelagia is 23.3 kilometres from the city, Bali is 50.0 and Panormos is 58.7. A car booked to Rethymno passes above all three without entering any of them.
The KTEL intercity coach covers Heraklion to Rethymno in roughly 90 minutes and runs regularly through the day.
It leaves from Heraklion's bus station and sets down at Rethymno's, both of which sit away from where people actually stay, so the coach fare is followed by a local taxi or a walk at the far end. A direct car removes the two station legs and runs to the hour you choose.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Rethymno Town. 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 Rethymno Town 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: 78.4 km (48.7 mi), about 1 hr 15 min, and the same fixed fare from €85 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Rethymno Town at the agreed time and takes you straight to Heraklion Town.
Rethymno back to Heraklion is the same 78.4 kilometres in reverse, at the same fixed fare.
Eastbound traffic thickens on the approach to Heraklion through the morning, so departure pickups before 09:00 are set a little earlier than the drive time on its own would need.
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 Rethymno we work back from your flight or sailing: about 1 hr 15 min of driving, plus the check-in or terminal time you are asked for, plus a buffer for the Heraklion end.
Give us the flight number or the sailing 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 Rethymno Town 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 Rethymno Town costs a fixed €85 for a Standard car carrying up to 3 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €130, and the fare covers the vehicle rather than each seat in it.
About 1 hr 15 min for the 78.4 km (48.7 mi) route. The national road holds a steady speed the whole way, so the variable part is leaving Heraklion rather than the coast itself.
Yes. The KTEL intercity coach takes around 90 minutes and runs regularly, though it works station to station rather than door to door at both ends.
Your driver gets as close as the lanes allow. Parts of the old town take no vehicle at all, so the car stops at the nearest legal point and you are told which one before the day. Give the hotel name at booking as well as the street.
Both sit off the national road on their own turnings, 50.0 and 23.3 kilometres from Heraklion, and each is sold as a transfer in its own right. Ask when you book if you want the car to stop, because the driver's day is planned around the time on your voucher.
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 €85 for a Standard car to Rethymno Town.
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 Rethymno Town and Rethymno Town to Heraklion Town are the same journey at the same fixed €85, 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.