Please sign in to post.

Bus from Heraklion airport to Eleftherias Square

We want to take the bus instead of a taxi to our hotel, Capsis Astoria, in Heraklion. Our tour leader told us it would be too difficult to figure out which bus to take and what stop to get off at so we should take a taxi. I’ve taken public buses in other European cities often and find it part of the adventure and a good way to get a feel for the country. I’ve had good experiences with public transit elsewhere. Has anyone taken a bus from the Heraklion airport and is it hard to find the correct one going to Eleftherias Square?

Obviously I don’t speak Greek but I was under the impression that English is a widely spoken second language there. Is that true of Crete?

Posted by
25 posts

In the spring of 2019, I took a taxi to my hotel from the airport, as it was 10€; and I had been traveling for 24 hours.
I did not find the airport to be particularly well-signed. In Heraklion I took public buses to/from Knossos; also took bus from Heraklion to Chania. There is a public transit website for Crete. Sometimes it is just easier to get in the taxi!

Posted by
193 posts

I agree! After perusing the website and doing searches on the English part of it I gave up. The bus doesn’t actually go into the airport anyway so a taxi is the better option.

Posted by
28 posts

We too find it part of the adventure to take public transit. We took the bus from Eleftherias Square to the airport last week. The bus seemed to run about every 10 minutes and took less than 20 minutes to get to the airport and maybe made 6 stops on the way. The ticket cost 2 euros and we purchased the tickets from the bus driver. I had exact change so I don't know if the driver can provide change. It was a very short walk from the drop off to the terminal. If I remember correctly you will walk out the main airport door and cross a road that is probably the airport drop off/pick up road and the stop is to the right. When I got off the bus I think I noticed a couple other buses parked so walk to where you see buses. I assume the bus will say Heraklion (if in Greek I assume you will be able to recognize). Whenever I am on public transportation I keep a maps app open and follow the route so I know where to get off. Have fun and good luck.
We spent 5 days in Crete and everyone generally seemed to have good English (wait staff in restaurants, hotel staff, rental car staff).