From Heraklion Airport to Plakias by bus

[aniabr]

You're absolutely correct John  , should have left it to you, if I remember rightly you put a pretty good description of the route on here somewhere!

george g...

So from Heraklio I should turn right or to left? I don't know now...

Take notice of what John says aniabr he's done that trip a lot more times than I have!   Right!!

george g...

ok and maybe sombody have a good map of crete? i can buy it at the airport? i think i need gps:)

[John R]

ok and maybe sombody have a good map of crete? i can buy it at the airport? i think i need gps:)

GPS maps not available for Crete. Hire cars companies have always provided me with a map when I take the car.

John R

[John R]

ok and maybe sombody have a good map of crete? i can buy it at the airport? i think i need gps:)

I copy below an edited version of directions to Plakias from Heraklion airport written elsewhere on this forum - for a night time journey. The last paragraph added by Santa to help my uncertainty :-

Setting off from the airport is easy (Heraklion anyway). You drive away from the airport and a few hundred yards later make an easy right turn on to the main east/west highway. You simply drive on that all the way to Rethymnon (no urban roads at all). The left turn outside Rethymnon can be missed in the dark. It is actually a right hand slip road off the dual carriage way (You then turn left to go under the main road). It is very well signed with amongst other things (I forget !!) Preveli and Spili signed on it. However I always find that in the dark the slip road seems a bit small and insignificant for such a major turnoff - in the dark anyway.

Assuming you get down that slip road you then turn left (under the main highway) to drive west towards the west coast. This road is perfectly ok and straightforward.

Problems - if any - might start when you turn right off that road to Plakias. You have a choice of two right hand turns - fairly close to each other. The first is signed to Sfakia (and/or Selia ??) and I think it is better for you to ignore that and take the second right turn about 1km later (signed to Preveli - and perhaps Plakias - not sure about Plakias though)

It is on this very last part of the route that you need to navigate carefully as there are some dark night time alternatives to go wrong on. Signs to Asomatos and Lefkogia and Plakias are healthy if/when they exist !!. Following Prevelli signs is also a very good idea EXCEPT for the final turn off to Prevelli which you must not take. The problem is how do you know it is the last turn off and I can't really describe it !!. It is however a distinct left turn to Prevelli. Unfortunately we know this section of road so well by memory now that it is difficult for us to remember the signage and landmarks............................

Once you are past the Gorge and through the next village- Assomatos, you will reach a fork which you must take left-the sign says Plakias but be mindful of it. Once you make that left, always stay right- on the same road-do not make any left turns until you reach a fork which shows Myrthios to the right and Plakias to the left- Take the left and you will role into Plakias

John R

[George]

I always look for the 'Oasis' Palm trees, after Lefkogia John, then I know I'm 'home'!

You won't get a better route description than that aniabr!

good luck!

george g...

[Barny]

I think I would wait for the sun to come up!
56 days to go.

                Barny.

[aniabr]

I think I would wait for the sun to come up!
56 days to go.

                Barny.

thanks a lot! I will be driving by day:)

[fraoula]

There's a company I used to use for my customer's when booking a dynamic package; Holiday taxis
< HolidayTaxis.Com> you select the destination ie- Crete Heraklion then date and resort ( yes, they have Plakias) and it brings
up the options of shuttle bus transfer (single about £20 each or return about £40)  taxi usually comes out quite a bit more so probably better locally, but if your wanted to be quids up, go for the shuttlebus transfer- it's either a mini bus or transfer coach. Just an idea for you if it's any help!  

[John R]

There's a company I used to use for my customer's when booking a dynamic package; Holiday taxis
< HolidayTaxis.Com> you select the destination ie- Crete Heraklion then date and resort ( yes, they have Plakias) and it brings
up the options of shuttle bus transfer (single about £20 each or return about £40)  taxi usually comes out quite a bit more so probably better locally, but if your wanted to be quids up, go for the shuttlebus transfer- it's either a mini bus or transfer coach. Just an idea for you if it's any help!  

Just looked and that shuttlebus service looks very cheap indeed. Would be interesting to find out just how "available" it really is when required etc.

John R

[fraoula]

There's a company I used to use for my customer's when booking a dynamic package; Holiday taxis
< HolidayTaxis.Com> you select the destination ie- Crete Heraklion then date and resort ( yes, they have Plakias) and it brings
up the options of shuttle bus transfer (single about £20 each or return about £40)  taxi usually comes out quite a bit more so probably better locally, but if your wanted to be quids up, go for the shuttlebus transfer- it's either a mini bus or transfer coach. Just an idea for you if it's any help!  

Just looked and that shuttlebus service looks very cheap indeed. Would be interesting to find out just how "available" it really is when required etc.

John R

Wll like I say, I used to use it to book my customers their transfers if the holiday didn't include them.  I've done for several different countries and as far as I know, the shuttle bus acts just like a transfer coach would or taxi service ie; if there's say some people arriving at a similar time as you and are going to Bali or Ayia Galini for example you would be on the same bus as them, so  you may have some stops on the way or  could just be direct!
here's their definition of the shuttle service:

Shuttle Transfer
           
Shuttles are a cheap, quick and effective way of travelling to and from your accommodation in a city or country you may be unfamiliar with. When using a pre booked shuttle service you instantly have the security of knowing how you will arrive directly at your accommodation. Please be aware that there may be a wait for your shuttle at the airport since they run to a schedule, Maximum wait time 1 hour. Transfer times are estimated and can depend on traffic and the number of stops en-route.  

hope that helps!
Row  
PS one piece of advice is to phone holiday taxis before travel and get the relevant telephone number for your destination so that you're not left stranded! I had one lady that for some reason thought the driver would come and fetch her from her apartment and the bus left without her! There's no Rep to make sure you're there, so if you're not on time, the driver will go!

[Greecemad]

Fraoula,

Thanks for the information about HolidayTaxis shuttle bus service. I didn't known anyone operated such a service. I can think of situations in the past where I would have used them if I had known about them, e.g. when arriving at Heraklion late at night to avoid staying a night in Heraklion, arriving at Heraklion too late to get the last bus to Matala and having to do part of the journey by taxi, or arriving at Kos airport where getting an taxi for the 25 km to Kos Town is the only option.

Greecemad

[Chas]

There's a company I used to use for my customer's when booking a dynamic package; Holiday taxis
< HolidayTaxis.Com> you select the destination ie- Crete Heraklion then date and resort ( yes, they have Plakias) and it brings
up the options of shuttle bus transfer (single about £20 each or return about £40)  taxi usually comes out quite a bit more so probably better locally, but if your wanted to be quids up, go for the shuttlebus transfer- it's either a mini bus or transfer coach. Just an idea for you if it's any help!  

I've just tried the "holidaytaxis" site, as described but can't see any sign of the shuttle bus option ..... all I see are:

Standard Taxi  (more info) (1 - 4) passengers    105 mins    £93.60    £186.00    
Minibus  (more info) (5 - passengers    105 mins    £234.00    £468.00    
Minibus  (more info) (9 - 12) passengers    105 mins    £237.60    £474.00    
Minibus  (more info) (13 - 16) passengers    105 mins    £243.60    £487.20

Have they dropped the option  =or= have I done it wrong?

Please help.

[Ali & Dave]

My brother used the company when he visited in July, he paid for the shuttle service about 20 quid each way and was driven down in a taxi.  The taxi driver was very accomodating and dropped him at the Beach Bar (4.30am) on the way down and only had difficulty finding him to go back as the office had put the Lavicon (??) Hotel.  So being the same driver he checked in the Beach Bar first and then checked with the local taxi drivers.

Obviously Mike was lucky he could have been on a minibus dropping along the north coast first.

Ali

[Chas]

Wow!  No wonder they've dropped the option if somebody ended up £70 out of pocket (Taxi= £93; Shuttle=£20) ......

If you and Dave didn't want us to come back, you only had to say

[Noopsy]

While planning my journey this year I went onto the KTEL website, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they had extended their service from Rethymno to Plakias: the last bus now leaves at 1930 hrs.  This is great as I won't need to catch the first plane on Sunday night, then toss and turn on an uncomfortable seat for hours in Athens Airport before catching the onward flight to Crete the following morning.  Now I can accomplish the whole journey in one day, and arrive in Plakias just in time for dinner (and a Mythos)!  

Noopsy

[cornucopia]

While planning my journey this year I went onto the KTEL website, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they had extended their service from Rethymno to Plakias: the last bus now leaves at 1930 hrs.  This is great as I won't need to catch the first plane on Sunday night, then toss and turn on an uncomfortable seat for hours in Athens Airport before catching the onward flight to Crete the following morning.  Now I can accomplish the whole journey in one day, and arrive in Plakias just in time for dinner (and a Mythos)!  

Noopsy

Just a word of warning - I don't know when you're going but the timetable changes around about the second weekend of September and the late bus no longer runs.

I know this through bitter experience...