We are planning to take an overnight ferry from Piraeus to Heraklion in May. Is there any significant difference other than price between the Anek and Minoan ferries?
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Philadelphia, PA, USA
3397 posts
I believe one goes to Heraklion, Minoan, and Anek goes to Chania. I believe the the Minoan ship (these are really like small sea liners) is newer, but hey! You're sleeping most of the time.
The BIG question to determine which you choose is... what is your Itinerary? If you plan to move ON from Crete to say, Santorini, then you should definitely instead sail into CHANIA .... Ferries onward from Crete go almost only from Heraklion By starting in CHANIA y ou can explore the Island west to east in 4-5 days, ending up in Heraklion (mainly for its Museum and for Knossos-- it is a big Concrete City, historic but not handsome).. That way you avoid back-tracking. Crete is a BIIIG Island, it is really a country, so if you want to make t he most of time, you need to be strategic. This fabulous online map (click & it gets huge) http://www.explorecrete.com/crete-maps/images/Crete-eot.png shows all the possibilities. In my 5 trips to crete, 4-5 days each, I've barely scratched the surface. However by starting in Chania for 1-2 days, (it's the loveliest town in Crete, in fact considered 2nd most beautiful town in all of Greece) --- then driving South, then finally, N E up to Heraklion, you can have a great adventure and many discoveries.
But perhaps I'm gettting wayout ahead of my skiis, and all you want to do is land in Heraklion & go plunk into some resort like Elounda for 5 days, what do I know? Sorry for all unrequested info.