Lefka apartments

Airports in Crete

Crete has two international airports: in Chania (CHQ) and Heraklion (HER). The airport of Chania, which is small but fairly new, is only 15 Km from the city and 17 Km from Lefka apartments; therefore its better to have your flight arranged to Chania than Heraklion. On the other hand, Heraklion airport is about 5 Km from the center of Heraklion and about 140 Km from Chania and Lefka apartments. Checking out and checking in is very quickly, especially in Chania airport, since there are not too many planes arriving and going.

From the airport (Chania) you can take a taxi to Lefka apartments or to the center of Chania. Unfortunately, there are no buses running from the airport to the city; therefore you don't have many choices - either get a taxi or rent a car. The price for a taxi for Lefka apartments is about 30 €. Just as you get outside the airport of Chania you can see a big sign with all the official prices to many popular destinations; please make sure that you check this information to avoid potential problems.

If you need a taxi for Lefka apartments, we can always arrange one for you.

At Heraklion airport a taxi into into the town costs about 10-15 euros. There are regular buses between Heraklion airport and Eleftherias square - tickets should be bought before boarding and cost about 1 € to the center. If you get to Heraklion town, then you can take the bus for Chania and Lefka apartments. If you prefer, you can get a taxi instead, but since the distance between the two cities is about 140 Km, expect to pay around 120 €.

Again, if you need a taxi to come and pick you up from Heraklion or Heraklion airport, we can arrange it for you.

Cash/ATM machines for cash advances and withdrawals can be found at both Chania and Heraklion airports. Banks for currency exchange or cashing travelers cheques are also present.

Domestic flights

Within Greece, all flights are a short hop, so you might think there would be little to choose between airlines. Basically there are two airlines that you can use for your holidays in Chania and Lefka apartments:

• Aegean Airlines
• Olympic Airlines (formerly Olympic Airways)
• Athens Airways

Most people think that, in terms of quality and service, Aegean Airlines is the best. However, Olympic Airlines, the former national carrier, is now private owned and shows clear signs of efforts in this direction whereas Athens Airways is a new company entering dynamically in the Greek air transport industry. All airlines, provide many flights from Athens to Chania or Heraklion, especially during the summer. Flights are very short; it takes about 50 minutes to fly from Athens to Chania or Heraklion.

For details about scheduled flights to Chania, please follow the links above and visit the airlines web sites.

International flights

Charter flights are in most cases quite inexpensive and therefore quite popular for people choosing Chania for their holidays. There are many charter flights from April to October but since Heraklion is the capital of Crete the number of charter flights to Heraklion is greater than to Chania.

Charter flights are available to Crete from most European countries; in some cases these can be obtained from local travel agents and online via various web sites in each country. Below is a list of web sites that offer these charter flights, some of them with online booking. This might help you in your search of direct charter flights for your holidays in Chania and Lefka apartments.

• Justtheflight.co.uk: Flights to Chania from the UK and from Ireland.
• Charterflights.co.uk: A good booking system and good flight selection.
• Opodo: Pan-European travel company, with huge selection of charter flights from various airports to Crete.
• Airflights Direct: Cheap flights to Crete.
• 1st Western Air Travel. A list of charter flights; no online booking.
• Cheapestflights.co.uk: Easy to use and selection is good.
• Flymonarch.com: Monarch flights.
• Avro.co.uk Cheap flights from Avro.
• Flightsavers.co.uk: Shows which sites or companies should have availability of seats.
• FlightLine international: Charter flight search.
• Air charter guide: Choose your charter flight company by location.
• Norwegian airlines: Flights to Chania from Norway.
• Airlines of the web: Lots of info.

Ferry connections

Chania has also daily ferry boat connections to Piraeus from the harbor at Souda. So, one option for coming to Lefka apartments is to fly (or drive) to Athens and take the ferry from Piraeus (Pireas) - the port serving Athens. Athens airport is a bit far from the port, but you can use the public transportation. Heraklion and Rethymnon, which lies between Chania and Heraklion and is about 50 Km from Chania, have also daily ferry connections to Piraeus.

Piraeus to Crete sailings take about 9 hours on standard ferries (ANEK Lines), only 4 hours and 45 minutes on the high speed of Hellenic Seaways (to Chania) and about 6 hours on the high-speed ferries of the Minoan Lines fleet (to Heraklion).

On the Athens (Piraeus) - Crete route, overnight ferries arrive at their destination between 5.00 and 6.30 in the morning. You can also arrive to Heraklion by the Minoan Lines Daedalus, which travels from Thessaloniki to Heraklion and stops in many popular islands, like Mykonos, and Santorini. The trip is a bit long but its cheap. As an alternative you can use the high speed ferry of Hellas Flying Dolphins, which connects Heraklion with Santorini, Paros, Mykonos and Tinos. If you are in Peloponese, you can also arrive to Chania and Lefka apartments by getting the ferry of ANEN Lines, which connects Kissamos (else known as Kasteli, about 40 Km's from Chania) with Piraeus through Kythera, Gytheio, and Kalamata.

For all the ferries, you can buy tickets in advance from Paleologos Shipping Agency via their web site http://www.ferries.gr/. You can also buy tickets online by visiting the web sites of the shipping companies. Information on schedules can also be obtained by Greek Travel Pages.

Please note that the ferries sail when the weather is considered suitable and stable conditions are predicted. If the weather is bad, sailings will be cancelled (not often - but there are a few such days every year, especially during the winter), and you should be accommodated on the next available sailing.

Local bus transport in Crete

KTEL is the general name given to the Intercity Road Transport Companies in Greece. For bus connections & timetables please visit their site.

As general rule with buses, please check before making your arrangements to travel by bus - schedules in Crete can (and many times do) change unexpectedly. Double check until the last minute on public holidays (25 Mar, 1 May, 15 Aug, 28 Oct, 25 Dec, Easter Sunday). In the summer, buy tickets the day before you will travel, be early at the bus station/stop for best chance of a (good) seat. Buy tickets at kiosks for local buses and at bus stations or local agent for longer trips.

In Heraklion there are three bus stations. The station that serves Chania is across the road from the port, near the marina. In Chania, there is only one KTEL bus station in the town center, only about 2 Km from Lefka apartments.

Local buses from Chania town to near town areas, such as Yermaniko Pouli where Lefka apartments are located, run from 1866 Square, which is about 50 meters from the KTEL bus station. The buses are very frequent and run every 15-20 minutes. Tickets to Lefka apartments cost 0.90€ and you can buy them in advance from kiosks or get them in the bus (in this case you are charged with a penalty).

You can take buses number 15 (Daratso-Galatas-Kalamaki) or number 21 (Kalamaki. Bus numbers and destinations are written on the top of each bus. More information such as timetables can be found in the local bus service web site. Please, ask the bus driver to drop you to Sprider, which is a popular store that sells clothes just opposite from us. We are located just opposite the bus stop.

Local buses to Souda (the port of Chania) depart just in front of the main market (about 300 meters from 1866 square) and the KTEL bus station.

Driving directions to Lefka apartments

Coming from Chania airport: Follow the signs and take the road that goes to Chania town (see map - download map). Coming from Chania's port (Souda): Follow the signs and take the road that goes to Chania town (see map - download map). Coming from Heraklion or Rethymnon: Take the first motorway exit to Chania (this leads to Souda - port). Follow the signs and take the road that goes to Chania town (see map - download map). You have to pass Chania downtown and continue west to the road that goes to Agia Marina and Platanias. After 2 or 2½ Km approximately from Chania downtown you will see to your left a stone fence with trees and of course the sign. That's Lefka apartments, on the road almost opposite of a big super market called Carrefour and by Sprider, which is a well know local clothing retail shop. Remember the area is called Yermaniko Pouli (it means German Bird!) and everybody knows it.