Plakias Virgins!

[Mazey]

We hope to be spending a week in Plakias from 4 October this year.  It will be our fifth visit to Crete, but we have not been to this area before.  We plan to hire a car towards the end of the week and then drive to Pitsidia and spend a week there.  Looked at staying at Orama Studios as they look fairly central - we would like to have an easy walk to tavernas and shops - we both have our bus passes and my partner has an artificial leg, so long walks carrying shopping are out!  although we do like to walk a fair bit.   We also liked the look of the Olive Grove studios, but feel they may be a bit of a way out of the village.  Have e mailed Stella and Anna Studios, but so far had no reply.  Does anyone have any information on the Orama Studios - they seem to charge normal price (35 euros per night) but taxi pick up from Heraklion is 90 euros which sounds a bit steep.  Also, does anyone know if it will be feasible to hire car in Plakias and drive to Piitsidia and leave car there to be collected when we go back home - don't want to drive to Heraklion.  Any suggestions gratefully received!

[Chris H.]

Olive grove is nice, tremendous views but indeed a wee bit outside the village, no problem if you are fit but the last few hundred meters are very steep uphill.

[Jeff Winchell]

but taxi pick up from Heraklion is 90 euros which sounds a bit steep.

Depending on how fast you drive, it is an hour or two from Iraklion to Plakias, so 90 euros sounds about right. You can take a bus (with a change in Rethymno) to save most of that 90 euros. But if you can deal with driving, I wouldn't be surprised if the cheapest option is to rent a car in Iraklion and return it there too. One-way car rentals can be expensive and the cheapest daily rate in Plakias (pickup and returning to Plakias) is somewhere around 40 or more euros. With weekly rates in Iraklion at around 100-150 euros, there's a lot to be said for dealing with driving between Iraklion and Plakias.

[Graham_and_Karen]

Taxi pickup from the airport was 78 Euro last year (83 at night) so 90 Euro is expensive. I agree with Jeff - hiring from Iraklion is probably best although it is possible to hire using a Plakias based firm with a pickup and drop off in Iraklion. A bit more expensive but with the advantage that if you have any problems with the car while in Plakias, they are nearby to sort it out. Last year we hired from JustRentals (Iraklion based) and were very pleased. 2008 price - 165 Euro per week for a Toyota Aygo for early October.

[Greecemad]

Mazey,

I am not a car hire expert, but to do what you want to do about car hire I would have thought that you need a company with offices in Plakias and in Matala (since Matala is close to Pitsidia). I don't know whether there is such an outfit, but this lot seem to offer car hire from many places including Plakias and Matala so it may be worth enquiring with them.

Greecemad

[George]

Mazey,

I am not a car hire expert, but to do what you want to do about car hire I would have thought that you need a company with offices in Plakias and in Matala (since Matala is close to Pitsidia). I don't know whether there is such an outfit, but this lot seem to offer car hire from many places including Plakias and Matala so it may be worth enquiring with them.

Greecemad

During my in-depth research of Car Hire companies over the last couple of years, I've found that most of them are very flexible and will cater for most needs.

I'm in the process of checking them all out again for this year and tried 'this lot' and they were a bit pricey with 'JUST' way out in front with the best quote so far... again, I used them last year and they were very good.

Unfortunately I emailed MONZA Plakias who I would prefer to use, over 2 weeks ago and I haven't had a reply... yet! Antonios gave me a really good quote last year for this year which was well under any other Plakias based company.

george g...