Ferry from Athens (Piraeus) to Crete (Heraklion)

Athens to Crete Ferry Guide

Piraeus Port Guide

The port city of Piraeus in Greece lies on the Saronic Gulf in the Attica region of the country and forms part of the Athens urban area, with the centre of Athens located some 12 km from the port. The centre of Piraeus is generally congested with traffic and tends not to be place where tourists would go. The area has many of the facilities you would expect of a non-tourist town: banks, public buildings, pedestrian areas, shopping streets and the like. The area around Zea Marina and Mikrolimano Harbour are perhaps the most attractive part of Piraeus and have a good selection of restaurants, cafes and bars.

Piraeus is Greece's main port and the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world. Unsurprisingly, it is the hub of Greece's maritime industries and the base for its merchant navy. Having recently undergone a refurbishment, facilities at the port have improved and include ATM's, bureau de change, restaurants, cafes, bars and a number of travel agencies selling ferry tickets. destinations served by the port include the island of Crete, the Cyclades Islands, the Dodecanese Islands, the eastern parts of Greece and parts of the northern and eastern Aegean Sea.

How to get to the port of Piraeus

As the port of Athens is so vast, please be mindful of the gate from which your ferry departs. There is a free shuttle bus service departing every 20 minutes and transports passengers from E7 to gates E1, E2, E3. Passengers can easily reach Piraeus port from Athens city centre by taking Line 1 (Green Line) from Monastiraki station. This journey takes approximately 30 minutes and drops passengers between gates E5 and E6 at the terminal. Metro tickets are available for purchase at any metro station or transport ticket office. Please be mindful that the metro only operates between 06:30 to 23:30 on weekdays and finishes at 01:00 on weekends.

Heraklion Guide

Located on the Greek island of Crete, Heraklion is the island's largest city and is one of the main urban centres in Greece. The city can trace its history back to at least the 9th century AD when its development began and then later came under the influence of the Arabs, the Venetians and the Ottomans. Popular sites in the city with tourists include the fortification walls that are essentially the boundary of the old city. These were first built by the Arabs and then reinforced by the Venetians. From the seven bastions, only the Martinengo bastion survives to this day and is where visitors will find the tomb of the renowned writer N. Kazantzakis, overlooking the city. The city was also a venue during the 2004 Olympic Games, and hosted games of the football tournament.

Located in the city's old port, visitors can still see the vaulted tarsanades where ships used to be built and also the 16th century Koule Fortress. From the port, ferries depart to destinations including Santorini, Ios, Paros, Mykonos and Rhodes. There are also ferry services to the Greek mainland port of Piraeus.