You can book flights direct to Crete with most of the major holiday airlines (Thompson, Thomas Cook, Monarch), or Aegean Airlines via Heathrow and Athens. Easy Jet fly from Gatwick and Manchester. Ryan Air from Prestwick and East Midlands. Jet2 from East Midlands, Manchester and Leeds Bradford. 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 recommend Autocandia or Eurocars-creta.com as they seem to offer the best choice/price combination. Both you can pay in advance. For Eurocars guests of Villa Eleni get a 12.5% discount on car hire. Contact us for more details. All drivers need to be over 21 for hiring a car.
Please note that cars come with empty fuel tanks. You will need to fill up after leaving the airport, or if using Eurocars, you can pay for a full tank to be delivered with the car. The nearest petrol station is on the outskirts of Heraklion at the top of the hill on the main road, about 20km. Insurance on cars in Crete normally only covers the upper bodywork etc, and not the underneath or tires. It is worth taking out the additional insurance for tires and the underneath of the car as some roads in Crete are unmade and stony, and others in more rural areas may have gravel and rocks fallen on them!
Most petrol stations take credit cards, but the more rural ones prefer cash. Aegean Oil is the cheapest petrol currently. Allow for a full tank to last about a week.
Driving is on the left. The speed limit on the national roads is 90kmh unless otherwise marked. Drive slowly through towns as pedestrians have right of way, or think they do! To assist someone overtaking you, you are expected to pull right over to the left hand side to give them room to pass. This may mean moving on to the emergency lane occasionally.
The villa is equidistant from Chania or Heraklion airports. It is about 80km from either airport. There is a new Heraklion airport being considered for 2013 which will be slightly closer.
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. 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).
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.
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 (they are building a new road which will take about 30 minutes off the journey). So our recommended scenic route from Heraklion is to take the National Road along the North coast all the way to Rethymnon. From there, the route is the same as for Chania above. Take the road signposted to Spili and Ag. Galini and then follow the directions to Agia Galini, and turn right onto old Rethymnon road.
Once on the old Rethymnon road, 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. The last 100m or so is a concrete road and not a dirt track.
Full and detailed driving instructions will be sent to you on confirmation of your booking.
You can book flights direct to Crete with most of the major holiday airlines (Thompson, Thomas Cook, Monarch), or