A private transfer from Rethymno Town to Paleochora covers 128.0 km (79.5 mi) in about 2 hr 19 min and costs a fixed fare from €190 per vehicle, not per person.
One booking covers the journey in either direction: arrival from Rethymno Town, or the departure run back from Paleochora 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SUV | Skoda Karoq | up to 4 | 4 | €190 |
|
Minivan | Peugeot Traveller, Mercedes Vito | up to 8 | 8 | €290 |
|
Minibus | Mercedes Sprinter | up to 18 | 18 | €600 |
The same fare applies in both directions: Paleochora back to Rethymno 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 Rethymno Town to Paleochora: 128.0 km (79.5 mi), about 2 hr 19 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 Rethymno at the time on your voucher. City pickups are door-to-door, so there is no meeting point to find.
Rethymno sits midway along the north coast, roughly an hour from each of Crete's two airports, and that position is why it is a pickup point at all. Rethymno gives guests staying in the middle of the island a start point that does not require driving to Heraklion or Chania first.
The old town, between the Fortezza and the harbour, is largely pedestrianised. Where a hotel sits inside it the driver arranges the nearest legal stopping point and confirms it before the day, so nobody is left waiting on a street a car cannot enter.
Journeys in both directions use the national road along the coast, which keeps timings predictable even in August.
At your accommodation's entrance, or the closest legal stopping point when the address sits inside the old town.
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 reachable.
Tell us as early as you can if your plans change, so the driver can be rescheduled.
Paleochora is a town on the south-west coast of Crete, built across a short peninsula with a beach on each side: sand to the west, shingle to the east. Paleochora is the largest settlement on this coast and the one with a full range of shops, banks and tavernas, which is why it is used as a base rather than only as a stop.
The ruins of the Venetian castle of Selino stand on the point at the end of the peninsula, above both beaches.
Paleochora is also a ferry town. The coastal boat that links the villages of the south west, Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro and Chora Sfakion, runs from here, and several of those places have no road access at all.
We drop you at the door of your hotel, apartment or villa, on either beach or in the streets between them.
The centre of Paleochora is closed to vehicles in the evenings through the summer. Where that applies your driver stops at the nearest permitted point and confirms it in advance.
Your driver comes to the door of your Rethymno address at the time on the voucher. The old town is a grid of narrow one-way lanes and parts of it take no vehicle at all, so where that applies the car waits at the nearest legal point and you are told which one in advance.
The drive crosses to the south-west coast, 128.0 kilometres in about 2 hr 19 min. Paleochora is on the far side of the mountains from the north shore, and roughly half this route is mountain road.
The national road west covers the first stage through Apokoronas and past Chania.
The coast road continues to Tavronitis at the junction, which is where the route changes character entirely.
The road turns south there and climbs through the Selino district, hill country of olive terraces and small villages with long stretches of single carriageway and a succession of bends. The descent at the end brings the Libyan Sea into view with the town below on its short peninsula, a beach on each side and the ruined castle of Selino on the point. Allow the full time rather than trimming it.
No direct public service links Rethymno with Paleochora.
The route is the coach to Chania, then the southbound service over the mountains, which runs a few times a day in season and rarely outside it. Two legs, a wait between them, and the last southbound departure goes well before evening.
Your driver takes you to the door of your accommodation in Paleochora. 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 Paleochora 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: 128.0 km (79.5 mi), about 2 hr 19 min, and the same fixed fare from €190 per vehicle. Your driver collects you from your accommodation in Paleochora at the agreed time and takes you straight to Rethymno Town.
Paleochora back to Rethymno is the same 128.0 kilometres at the same fixed price.
Early departures start in the dark for much of the year and the mountain section is slower then, which is built into the pickup time on your voucher.
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.
Two hours and nineteen minutes of driving, plus your deadline, plus a genuine margin for the mountain road.
If you are meeting the coastal ferry, give us the sailing and the pickup is timed against the boat instead.
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 Rethymno Town to Paleochora 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 Rethymno Town to Paleochora costs a fixed €190 for an SUV carrying up to 4 passengers. A Minivan for up to 8 people is €290.
Not a practical one. The road south leaves the coast at Tavronitis, which is why this route runs west before it turns.
Two beaches either side of a short peninsula, sand west and shingle east, the ruined Venetian castle of Selino on the point, and the coastal ferry along the south-west shore.
Yes. Give the sailing at booking so the pickup is set against it.
Paleochora has two, sand on the west side of the short peninsula and shingle on the east, with the ruined castle of Selino on the point between them. Give the property name so the driver takes the right side.
Glaros Hotel, Nicolas Beach, Elman, Caravella Luxury Apartments and Calypso Studios are among the places on the two beaches and the streets between them.
More than most on this coast. Paleochora has year-round shops, banks and a school, so an off-season booking arrives somewhere still functioning.
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 €190 for a Standard car to Paleochora.
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. Rethymno Town to Paleochora and Paleochora to Rethymno Town are the same journey at the same fixed €190, 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 taxi in Crete we run, from the airports and ports to the resorts and villages along both coasts.