You can book flights direct to Crete with most of the major holiday airlines, or Olympic or Agean Airlines via Athens. Easy Jet fly from Gatwick and Manchester. Charter flights from the UK arrive Saturdays or Tuesdays and we will be flexible to starting a booking on a Tuesday, however we may not be able to accommodate you if there are bookings either side of you starting at the week-end. If this is the case, and you would still like to use Villa Eleni, contact us and we will see if there is local hotel space available for the additional days. You can also get ferries from the other islands and also from Athens.
You will need to hire a car and for this we recomend Autocandia as they seem to offer the best choice/price combination. Remember to take out the additional insurance for tyres and the underneath of the car!
The villa is equidistant from Chania or Heraklion airports. It is about 2 hours/120 Km drive from either airport. It is possible to use the shorter mountain route from Heraklion 80 Km, but it still takes the same time!
From Chania: As you come out of the airport follow the National Road signs to Rethymnon and Heraklion. At Rethymnon, take the turning to Spili and Ag. Galini.
(1) Keep going through Spili (there is a 'by-pass' around the town) and continue for another 25 km. This road will take you through the mountains with a wonderful view of Mount Psiloritis, the highest mountain on Crete. When you reach the T-junction at the end of this road, turn right towards Ag. Galini and about 500 metres later take the right hand fork in the road signposted Melambes and Rethymnon (this is the old Rethymnon road).
(2) Continue up this road for 2.7 km. You will pass a taverna that is shut down, a Swiss-style chalet on your left, a huge rock formation on your right and then a new series of small white houses on your left. Take a right hand turn down a dirt track (there should be a Villa Eleni sign to guide you) – if you come to some peppermint green houses on your right then you have gone too far. You should now be travelling back towards the huge rock formation. Continue along this dirt track, ignore the first turning to the left. Take the second turning to the left (there should be another Villa Eleni sign here) and you will see the villa on your right. It is 800 metres from the tarmac road. The final left turn and the turn into the villa are both very sharp and you may find these difficult depending on how big a car you have rented. You may find it easier to continue another hundred metres and turn round, which will make the turning to the villa straightforward, and then backing through the villa gates. (To exit the villa it is easiest to turn the car round and then back out again).
From Heraklion: There are two routes from Heraklion. The first is to take the main National Road from the airport towards Rethymnon and Chania. After about 6 km take the turning (route 97) that will be signposted to Agia Varvara, Agii Deka, Mires and Timbaki. After passing through all these four towns, continue on towards Agia Galini. Just before Agia Galini, you will pass a Shell petrol station and then the main road to Spili and Rethymnon on your right and about 500 metres later you should take the right hand fork in the road signposted Melambes and Rethymnon. From here follow the instructions from (2) above.
The alternative route from Heraklion is slightly longer in distance, however, will be just as quick as the road is much better. Depending on the time of day, it is often very slow through the industrial towns of Agii Deka, Mires and Timbaki and you may have followed very slow lorries all over the winding mountain road. So our recommended route from Heraklion is to take the National Road along the North coast all the way to Rethymnon. From there, take the road signposted to Spili and Ag. Galini and then follow the directions from (1) above.!
You can book flights direct to Crete with most of the major holiday airlines, or