Transportation
THERE WILL BE A FREE BUS SERVICE FROM HERAKLION AIRPORT AND CITY CENTER ONLY ON 22nd OF JUNE and return on 25th (more details about times will be provided in due course)
(Schedule might be changed and transfers might be cancelled at any time in order to response to the unpredictable situation of COVID-19).
BY PLANE
Travelers can reach Rethymno by air travel from Athens via Heraklion (N. Kazantzakis Airport – HER) or Chania (Daskalogiannis Airport – CHQ). Flights between Athens and either of these cities take slightly less than one hour. Information regarding flights and time schedules can be located in the official sites of Olympic Airlines and Aegean Airlines and the site of the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. Also, at the end of May there are flights of low cost airlines, which connect Chania and Heraklio directly to European cities.
BY BOAT
Ferryboat connection between Piraeus and Crete is available (MINOAN Lines – ANEK Lines) through Heraklion or Chania, Souda Bay. After arrival at the port of Souda (Chania) delegates would cneed to choose the bus or taxi options listed below.
LAND TRAVEL IN CRETE
Taxi is the most convenient way for land travelling. The rates are more or less fixed for all taxi companies. Transfer by taxi from Chania Airport or from Heraklion Airport is expected to be around 100€ per route from/to airport. This cost can be divided if more than one passengers share the taxi.
Bus can actually take you to any part of Crete with an affordable price. After arriving at the airport, travellers can take a taxi to the bus terminal (KTEL) in the city of Chania or Heraklion. From either city buses leave for the Rethymno bus terminal approximately every hour between 5:30 and 21:00.
Renting a car can be also convenient and of reasonable cost, but you have to face the difficulties of the road. In late May the main roads usually have heavy traffic. .
Below we list the airlines that offer direct flights to HER Heraklion Airport as mentioned at the airport’s webpage:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Aegean Airlines | Athens, Thessaloniki Beirut, Berlin –Tegel, Bordeaux, Brest, Deauville, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, Larnaca, Lyon, Marseille, Metz/Nancy, Moscow–Domodedovo, Munich, Nantes, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Saint Petersburg, Rhodes, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion, Toulouse, Zürich,Yerevan Belgrade, Budapest, Groningen, Hannover, Iași,Kiev–Boryspil, Tbilisi |
| Aeroflot | Moscow–Sheremetyevo |
| Alitalia | Rome–Fiumicino |
| Armenia Aircompany | Yerevan |
| Astra Airlines | Thessaloniki, Dresden, Munich |
| Austrian Airlines | Vienna |
| Blu-express | Bergamo, Rome–Fiumicino |
| BlueBird Airways | Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion |
| British Airways | London–Gatwick |
| Brussels Airlines | Brussels |
| Condor | Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Stuttgart |
| Corendon Airlines | Antalya, Berlin–Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg (begins 27 April 2019), Hannover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Leipzig/Halle, Linz, Nuremberg, Paderborn/Lippstadt, Stuttgart (begins 13 August 2019), Vienna, Zürich |
| Corendon Dutch Airlines | Amsterdam, Brussels, Groningen, Maastricht / Aachen, Rotterdam |
| easyJet | Berlin–Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Bristol, Edinburgh, London – Gatwick, London – Luton, Manchester, Milan – Malpensa, Paris – Charles de Gaulle |
| easyJet Switzerland | Geneva |
| Edelweiss Air | Zürich |
| Ellinair | Athens, Thessaloniki Belgrade, Berlin–Tegel, Bucharest, Katowice, Kiev–Boryspil, Moscow–Sheremetyevo, Munich, Santorini, Saint Petersburg, Tbilisi, Warsaw–Chopin |
| Eurowings | Berlin–Tegel, Cologne/Bonn, Graz, Hamburg, Hannover, Nuremberg, Salzburg |
| Finnair | Helsinki |
| Germania | Berlin Schönefeld, Berlin – Tegel, Bremen, Dresden, Erfurt / Weimar, Friedrichshafen, Münster / Osnabrück, Rostock |
| Germania Flug | Zürich |
| Iberia Express | Madrid |
| Jet2.com | Belfast-International, Birmingham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, London – Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Laudamotion | Düsseldorf |
| Lufthansa | Munich |
| Luxair | Luxembourg |
| Neos | Bergamo, Bologna, Milan–Malpensa, Rome–Fiumicino, Verona |
| Norwegian Air Shuttle | Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo–Gardermoen, Stockholm–Arlanda |
| Ryanair | Athens, Berlin–Tegel (begins 1 April 2019) |
| Sky Express | Athens, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos, Paros |
| Small Planet Airlines Poland | Warsaw – Chopin |
| SmartWings | Brno, Budapest, Debrecen, Lille, Ostrava, Pardubice, Paris – Charles de Gaulle, Prague |
| SunExpress Deutschland | Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart |
| Swiss International Air Lines | Geneva |
| Thomas Cook Airlines | Birmingham, Bristol, East Mindlands, Glasgow, London–Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Transavia | Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Rotterdam |
| Transavia France | Lyon, Nantes, Paris–Orly |
| TUI Airways | Birmingham, Bournemouth (begins 3 May 2019), Bristol, Cardiff, Doncaster / Sheffield, East Midlands, Exeter, Glasgow, London – Gatwick, London – Luton (begins 2 May 2019), London – Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich |
| TUI fly Belgium | Brussels, Charleroi, Ostend / Bruges, Strasbourg |
| TUI fly Deutschland | Basel / Mulhouse, Cologne / Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hannover, Leipzig / Halle, Munich, Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, Vienna |
| TUI fly Netherlands | Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Rotterdam |
| Utair | Moscow–Vnukovo |
| Volotea | Athens Bari, Marseille, Naples, Palermo, Venice, Verona |
| Vueling | Barcelona, Rome–Fiumicino |
| Wizz Air | Budapest |
Accommodation
Various accommodation options are available i.e. hotels, apartments or studios in walking distance of Rethynon town to suit all needs and budgets.