Crete By Car

Hiring a car is a fantastic way to travel around the island with a baby or a toddler and is quick and easy, as long as you have your driving license with you. Make sure that you pre book a car seat to ensure availability and on arrival at the car rental agency, check the car seat for damage and ask has it ever been in an accident.

Ensure that you take out comprehensive insurance cover and check when renting the car what marks are on the car so that you don’t get charged for these. Petrol/ Gas stations often close around 9PM, particularly in villages. On the National Highway, there are service stations, but they are often 30 miles or so apart – make sure you fill up with gas before bank holidays and Sundays when you may have more difficulty finding an open station.

Be careful when driving in Crete, as Cretans can drive aggressively, fast, and on the edge of safety. Keep your wits about you and remember to  drive on the right side of the road.

Parking is a challenge – especially in cities. You are better off finding the center, and parking in a pay lot and walking (most cities and towns are easy to walk around).

Crete By Taxi

Taxi services are another way to get around Crete, but can be quite expensive. They are, however, very accessible and you will find taxi stands in the center of virtually all villages, towns and cities. There are 2 taxi tariffs in Greece: Tariff 1 is day hours ranging from 5:00 am to midnight and Tariff 2 is night hours ranging from midnight to 5:00 am.

Taxis are exempt from the necessity to use a car seat however, carrying an infant or toddler on your lap is not advisable in case of an accident. Consider bringing your own car seat with you from home. Many airlines offer to carry two pieces of baby equipment free of charge. If you are not bringing your car seat, you may be able to organise a taxi with a car seat. Crete Taxis work around the island and have their base in Heraklion offer free car seats and booster seats in their taxis but remember to pre book.

Crete By Bus

Public transportation is fairly frequent and timetables quite trustworthy. Bus drivers usually divert from their marked routes to enter little villages if asked to do so. Bus services along the north coast and towards the south coast are excellent, reliable, frequent and cheap.

Crete By Ferry

There are ferry services from Piraeus to Heraklion, Rethymno and Chania and from Thessaloniki and the Cyclades to Heraklion. There are also connections between Paleochora, Sougia, Agia Roumeli, Loutro and Hora Sfakion (Sfakia). There is also a connection with the islet of Gavdos, Europe’s southernmost point (Cape Tripiti).