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Crete's fourth town, and the only one that sits midway between the island's two airports · About 80 km, a €9.90 coach every hour, and one station change on the way
Rethymno is the easiest of Crete's four main towns to reach by public transport and the one most likely to have been booked from the wrong airport. The coach along the north coast is frequent, cheap and comfortable: every hour on the half hour, all day, every day, for €9.90 and an hour and a half. The catch is the same one that catches people out at Heraklion Airport every summer. The coach does not leave from the airport. You take a city bus into Heraklion first, change at Central Bus Station A, and buy a second ticket there. And unlike travellers heading all the way to Chania, you cannot use the fast express, because it does not stop here.
Rethymno sits almost midway between Crete's two airports, and the difference in how you reach it is large. From Chania Airport there is a direct bus to Rethymno for €8.80, no change and no city leg. From Heraklion Airport there is no direct bus at all: a city bus into Heraklion, a change at Station A, then an hour and a half on the coach, about two and a half hours in total. If you have not booked flights yet, price Chania before you book Heraklion. If you already have, the route below works perfectly well, it just takes longer than the map suggests.
The express does not stop here
There are four express coaches a day between Heraklion and Chania, at 09:30, 12:45, 15:30 and 18:45, and they cut the journey from three hours to two hours and seven minutes for the same fare. They are no use to you. The operator's own route search returns both the stopping service and the express when you ask for Chania, and only the stopping service when you ask for Rethymno. The express runs end to end. Take the hourly service and do not wait for a faster one.
The coach does not start at the airport
Some travel sites imply you can board a westbound coach at Heraklion Airport. You cannot. KTEL Herakliou-Lasithiou's own Stations page lists nine stations with street addresses, and the airport is not one of them, and every westbound timetable begins at Central Bus Station A on Ikarou Avenue. Budget for the city bus, the walk and the wait, not just the coach time.
All four options, in detail
City bus, then KTEL coach
€9.90 for the coach, one change, hourly all day
CheapestOur pick
Price
€9.90 coach, plus €1.30 to €1.80 for the city bus
Duration
About 2 hr 30
Availability
Coach 05:30 to 22:30 daily · city bus about 06:00 to 23:00
How it works
Two legs and one change. First, a blue city bus from the stop outside the terminal into Heraklion, roughly 20 minutes. Get off at Central Bus Station A on Ikarou Avenue, beside the passenger port, which is where the westbound intercity coaches leave from. Buy the second ticket there at the counter. The coach to Rethymno runs every day, every hour on the half hour, from 05:30 until 22:30, and takes an hour and a half. It is the Chania service calling at Rethymno on the way, routed via Bali. Coming back, departures from Rethymno are 05:45, 06:30, and then hourly on the hour from 08:00 right through to midnight.
Fares and times
Every coach fare and duration below came from KTEL Chania-Rethymno's own ticket-price system rather than from a travel site. That matters here, because the figures most widely repeated online, a fare of €8.30 and a journey of an hour and a quarter, are both wrong.
Coach, Heraklion to Rethymno
€9.90 full fare · 1 hr 30 · every day, hourly on the half hour from 05:30 to 22:30
Coach, Rethymno to Heraklion
Same €9.90 · 05:45, 06:30, then hourly on the hour 08:00 to midnight. There is no 07:00
Reduced coach fares
€7.40 on a 25 percent student card · €4.90 on a 50 percent student card, for large families and for disabled passengers
City bus, airport into Heraklion
€1.30 Zone A or €1.80 Zone B bought in advance, against €2.30 and €2.80 on board · about 20 min
Heraklion city travel passes
€6 for 24 hours, €15 for three days, €30 for a week — worth it only if you are staying in Heraklion, not passing through
Taxi or private transfer
About €92 to €94 one way from licensed Crete operators, and €100 quoted by Rethymno's own taxi cooperative for the return · about 1 hr 10
From Chania Airport instead
€8.80 by direct bus via Souda, no change — cheaper and simpler than coming from Heraklion
Landing at Chania instead? Rethymno is far simpler from that side, a single direct bus for €8.80, and the route has its own page: Chania Airport to Rethymno.
Carrying on to Chania rather than stopping at Rethymno? That is the same coach, two hours further, and it has its own page: Heraklion Airport to Chania.
Continue your trip
Once you have arrived, here is where to find things to do.
Coach times, coach fares and the journey duration on this page come from the two operators' own systems, read directly, and the two agree with each other exactly. City bus fares are the operator's published table effective 23 March 2026. Last checked on 31 July 2026. Taxi figures are published fixed prices from licensed operators at each end of the route, which is why two slightly different numbers are given rather than one.
Twenty minutes on the city bus plus an hour and a half on the coach is one hour fifty on paper. In practice allow about two and a half hours from landing to arriving, because you also have to collect bags, walk to the stop, wait for a city bus, buy a ticket at Station A and wait for a coach that does not connect with anything. The coaches leave on the half hour whether or not your flight was late.
The €3 airport fee is on departure, not arrival
Since November 2025 Heraklion Airport charges €3 per departing passenger, to fund maintenance until the new airport at Kastelli opens. It is worth understanding correctly: the civil aviation authority's own decision describes it not as an increase but as a continuation of reduced charges, replacing a fee that had been €12. You will not be asked for it when you land, and it does not affect anything on this page. It is already inside your ticket price when you fly home.
You buy from a different operator at each end
The Heraklion to Chania corridor is run jointly by two companies, and it shows in the ticketing. KTEL Chania-Rethymno's online system does not even offer Heraklion as a boarding point, because that end belongs to KTEL Herakliou-Lasithiou. Practically this means one thing: buy at the counter of the station you are actually standing in, and do not waste time hunting for the route on the other operator's website.
Booking
Nothing to book in advance, and nothing sensible to book online. Buy the city bus ticket at a kiosk before boarding, not on the bus, because on board costs a euro more per person. Buy the coach ticket at the Station A counter when you get there. In August the middle-of-the-day departures do fill, so if you land at a busy hour, go to the counter before you sit down for coffee.
Best for · not great for
Anyone travelling light who lands before about nine in the evening
Solo travellers and couples, where a taxi costs ten times as much
Anyone staying in Rethymno old town, which is walkable from the bus station
Late arrivals — the last coach west leaves Heraklion at 22:30
Families with several cases, who must move them between two stations
Good to know
•Buy the city bus ticket before you board. Heraklion charges €1.30 in Zone A and €1.80 in Zone B in advance, against €2.30 and €2.80 on the bus. It is a euro a head for thirty seconds at a kiosk.
•There is no 07:00 coach back from Rethymno. Departures are 05:45, 06:30, then nothing until 08:00. It is the one gap in an otherwise clockwork timetable, and it catches people with morning flights.
•Half-price fares are real and are sold at the counter: €4.90 instead of €9.90 for students on a 50 percent card, large families and disabled passengers, and €7.40 on a 25 percent student card. Ask, and carry the card.
•Rethymno's intercity bus station is on the edge of the centre, about a fifteen-minute walk from the Venetian harbour and the old town. For most old-town accommodation you will not need a taxi at the far end.
Door to door in about an hour and ten, from around €92
Door to door
Price
From about €92 per car, one way
Duration
About 1 hr 10
Availability
Any hour, including night arrivals
How it works
A licensed driver meets you inside arrivals with a name board, and takes you straight to your accommodation door. Because this is a fixed-price intercity run rather than a metered city hop, the price is agreed when you book and does not move with traffic. Licensed Crete operators publish this route at roughly €92 to €94 one way, with a small discount if you book the return at the same time. Rethymno's own taxi cooperative quotes €100 in the other direction, from Rethymno to the airport, which is worth knowing when you plan the trip home.
Booking
Book ahead by email or through the operator's own site and confirm the total in euros, including luggage and any child seats, before you travel. Give your flight number so the driver tracks the arrival, which is the main thing you are paying for over a taxi rank.
Best for · not great for
Families and groups of three or four, where the per-head cost closes fast
Late arrivals after the last coach at 22:30
Anyone staying outside Rethymno town, in Adelianos Kampos or Panormo
Solo travellers and couples, for whom it is roughly ten times the coach
Good to know
•Four people in one car works out at about €23 each, against €9.90 plus a city bus fare each on the coach. That is a real gap, but it buys you an hour and twenty minutes and no station change with luggage.
•Ask your hotel first. Rethymno has a large all-inclusive belt east of the town at Adelianos Kampos and Platanes, and packaged stays often include the airport transfer already.
•Confirm which Rethymno you mean. The town, the beach strip east of it and the villages in the hills behind are all addressed as Rethymno, and they are not the same drive or the same price.
Taxi from the rank
No booking needed, but agree the figure before the bags go in
Door to door
Price
Roughly €92 to €100, agreed in advance
Duration
About 1 hr 10
Availability
24 hours
How it works
The official rank sits just outside the arrivals building and licensed cars wait there around the clock. This is an intercity run of about eighty kilometres rather than a short city hop, so agree the total in euros with the driver before the luggage goes in, using the published fixed prices as your reference. Crete's taxi tariff is set by the regional authority, the meter starts at €1.80, and the rate outside city limits is higher than inside, which is why a Rethymno run lands where it does.
Booking
No booking. Join the rank and speak to the marshal or the first driver. If a figure well above €100 is quoted for a standard car, that is worth questioning politely, and asking for the published tariff.
Best for · not great for
Anyone who lands without a booking and does not want to wait
Night arrivals, when the rank is the only thing still running
Anyone on a budget — this is the most expensive way to reach Rethymno
Travellers who want the price fixed in writing before the day
Good to know
•Luggage over 10 kg is chargeable at €0.40 a piece under the published tariff, and there is a higher night rate between midnight and five in the morning. Neither is a driver inventing charges.
•Always ask for the receipt. The published tariff makes the point explicitly: you are not obliged to pay without being given a receipt or invoice.
•A pre-booked private transfer usually costs the same or slightly less than the rank on this route, and it removes the negotiation. The rank's advantage is that it is there when you are, not the price.
Rental car
The one that unlocks the hinterland behind Rethymno
Most flexible
Price
From about €35 a day in high season
Duration
About 1 hr 10
Availability
Desk hours, typically 07:00 to 23:00
How it works
Desks sit in the arrivals hall and most cars are collected from the car park across the road. The drive is straightforward: join the E75 north coast highway westbound and stay on it for about eighty kilometres. It is a good road, dual carriageway for most of the way, and the run takes a little over an hour. Rethymno has two exits, and the one signposted for the centre puts you nearest the old town.
Booking
Book before you fly in July and August, when the island genuinely runs out of cars. Read the fuel and excess terms rather than the headline rate, and photograph the car from every angle at pickup and again at return.
Best for · not great for
Stays of four days or more, where the daily rate beats repeat transfers
Anyone planning Arkadi, Preveli, Plakias, Margarites or the Amari valley
Travellers continuing west to Chania or east to Heraklion later in the trip
Anyone staying only in Rethymno old town, where parking is the problem
Short stays of two or three nights
Good to know
•Rethymno old town is largely pedestrian and Venetian-narrow. If you are staying inside it, confirm with your accommodation where you are actually allowed to park before you book a car for the whole stay.
•The reason to take a car here is what is behind the town rather than the coast road. Arkadi monastery, the Museum of Ancient Eleftherna, the potters at Margarites and the south-coast beaches at Plakias and Preveli are all within an hour and poorly served by bus.
•If you are only going to the monastery, there is a bus. KTEL runs Rethymno to Arkadi and on to the Eleftherna museum and Margarites two or three times a day, which covers the single most popular day out without a car.
We are not linking a booking platform on this page. The honest answer for most people here is a €9.90 coach ticket bought at a counter, and nobody pays a commission on those. The transfer platforms that do pay commission quote above the licensed local operators on this route, so linking them would cost you money and earn us some. Where a platform genuinely matches local pricing, we will say so and link it.
