Making the most of Heraklion Crete
Use these notes to shape a realistic day ashore, then confirm any time-sensitive information for the date of your call.
Arriving at the port
Cruise ships berth in port. Heraklion provides a shuttle to the passenger terminal, a 5 minute journey; from there, the old town and its main sights are a brisk 20-25 minute seafront walk. Taxis wait outside the port.
The Iraklion (Heraklion) cruise terminal has a tourist office offering free city maps.
The port bus stops at the Blue Port Terminal office, where ferry tickets are sold. A small booth sits immediately to the left, selling an all-day, all-bus pass for 5 Euro. A few metres right of it, a small pedestrian exit leads to the bus stop for Knossos VIA the town’s central bus area. Follow the Yellow line on the footpath to downtown. Knossos buses run about 20 minutes apart; on the way back they call at the central bus area and then the port gates. Hop on/off tickets are available directly in front of the Port building…
Take a printable map with you.
Heraklion has museums in abundance, a summer-long arts festival, historic sightseeing, lively nightlife and year-round events.
Venetian walls still surround and define the city centre, including seven projecting bastions. Nikos Kazantzakis is buried in the southernmost, Martinengo Bastion, on an exposed hilltop bearing the poignant words, "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.
Getting around
From the main square, the public bus runs directly to Knossos’s gate for around 3 Euros return. There are 2 a 3 buses an hour.
Use the open-top hop-on hop-off service to discover Heraklion and pause at the Palace of Knossos just beyond the city.
To reach the bus station, exit through the port gates and turn right. Continue until the station is on the other side of the road, then cross over. A small booth towards the station’s rear sells tickets for the clearly marked Knossos bus.
Nearby places
Some 5 km (3 mi) south of Heraklion, Knossos is Crete’s most important and best-known Minoan palace complex. Tradition identifies it as the seat of the legendary Cretan king Minos. The Palace is also associated with the Labyrinth and Minotaur myth, and with the story of Daidalos and Ikaros. Excavation indicates that people occupied the site continuously from the Neolithic period (7000-3000 B.C.) until Roman times.
Admission costs 15.00 euros, or 8 euro for 65+ EU citizens only.
Food and shopping
Many visitors remember shopping on Odos 1866, home to the open-air market (Mon-Sat, 8am-2pm). Its stalls offer seasonal fruit and vegetables alongside discounted socks, towels and T-shirts. It is also ideal for Cretan souvenirs including thyme-flavored honey, dried herbs and teas, olive oil, olive-oil based cosmetics and pumice stones. At Odos 1866’s upper end, a side street to the right leads to the fish market.
Most ordinary shops close on Sundays; principally tourist shops remain open.
Money
The currency is the Euro.
In Greece, "Cash is king": cash payment can lower prices for many items, and credit cards are not always automatically welcomed.
Staying connected
The terminal offers free WiFi. H&M in town also has an open WiFi connection.
Opening Hours and
Public services are open Monday to Friday, 8.00am – 2.00pm. Retail stores and speciality shops trade Monday to Friday, 9am – 1.30pm, then 5pm – 9pm; Saturday hours are 9am – 2pm. Supermarkets open Monday to Friday, 9am – 9pm, and Saturday, 9am – 6pm. Tourist shops and convenience stores generally have no official timetable and during summer are usually open from dawn until well after midnight.