Flights from Belfast to Crete
Big enough that the two ends of the island are separate destinations. Which airport you land at decides most of your holiday before you have unpacked.
- Flight time
- 4h 25mfrom BFS
- Airport
- HERHeraklion (Nikos Kazantzakis)
- Season
- May to October
- Direct from Belfast
- Yes
Why this route matters from Belfast
Crete is not really an island holiday in the sense the other Greek destinations are. It is 260 kilometres long, it has mountains rising over two thousand metres in the middle, and it supports a population of six hundred thousand people who were there long before tourism.
That scale is the appeal and the trap. You can have a beach week in a resort thirty minutes from the plane, or you can spend a fortnight and still not see the western half.
Who Crete suits
Book it if you want a Greek island with somewhere to drive to, you are interested in ancient history, or you want a season that stretches into late October.
Look elsewhere if you want everything within walking distance, or you will not hire a car.
The east–west decision
This is the one that catches people out.
Heraklion in the centre-north is the main airport and the gateway to the eastern half: Hersonissos, Malia, Agios Nikolaos, Elounda. Transfers are short, the hotel stock is deep, and Knossos is twenty minutes away.
Chania in the west has the most beautiful old town on the island, a Venetian harbour and the best beaches, including Balos and Elafonissi. From Heraklion airport it is a two-and-a-half-hour drive.
Booking a Chania hotel on a Heraklion flight without noticing is a common and expensive mistake.
Three things worth the drive
Knossos, twenty minutes from the airport, is the palace complex at the heart of Minoan civilisation, Europe’s first literate society, occupied from around 1900 BC. Go at opening or late afternoon.
The Samaria Gorge, in the west, is a sixteen-kilometre walk down through a national park, ending at a village on the south coast that has no road and which you leave by ferry. It takes most of a day and it is the best day on the island.
Balos and Elafonissi, both in the far west, are shallow pink-tinged lagoons that look manufactured and are not. Both are a long drive and both are full by late morning in season. Leave early or do not bother.
Where to stay
- Choice and a short transfer
Hersonissos
Half an hour from the airport, with the widest range of hotels on the island and a busy seafront. Convenient rather than characterful.
- Nightlife, and a Minoan palace
Malia
Known for one thing, and also home to a substantial Minoan palace site just along the coast that almost nobody visiting the bars ever sees.
- A town with a bottomless lake
Agios Nikolaos
A harbour town built around a deep inland lagoon, with a smarter feel and better restaurants than the package resorts west of it.
- Spending more
Elounda
The upmarket corner of the island, looking across at the fortress island of Spinalonga. Quiet, expensive, and genuinely lovely.
- Venetian old town and a long beach
Rethymno
Halfway to Chania, with a Venetian harbour, an intact old town and a very long sandy beach running east from it.
When to go
A long season by Greek standards, and the south coast stays warm even later. October here is one of the best-value weeks in the Mediterranean.
| Month | Air | Sea | How busy |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 16°C | Closed |
| February | 15°C | 16°C | Closed |
| March | 17°C | 16°C | Barely open |
| April | 20°C | 17°C | Opening up |
| May | 24°C | 19°C | Sweet spot |
| June | 28°C | 23°C | Busy |
| July | 30°C | 25°C | Peak |
| August | 30°C | 26°C | Peak |
| September | 27°C | 25°C | Sweet spot |
| October | 24°C | 24°C | Excellent |
| November | 20°C | 22°C | Shutting |
| December | 17°C | 19°C | Closed |
Typical averages, not forecasts. Sea temperature lags air temperature by roughly two months, which is why October often swims better than June.
Mistakes people make
Booking Chania and flying to Heraklion. It is a two-and-a-half-hour drive across the island. Crete is 260 km long and people routinely underestimate it.
Planning Samaria as a casual day out. The gorge is a 16 km downhill walk taking most of a day, finishing at a village you leave by boat. It is superb and it is not a stroll.
Expecting Elafonissi to be empty. The pink-sand lagoon is three hours from Heraklion and packed by eleven in season. Worth it early, dispiriting late.
Treating Knossos as optional. It is the centre of Bronze Age Europe's first literate civilisation, twenty minutes from the airport, and most beach visitors skip it.
Frequently asked questions
Heraklion or Chania?
Heraklion for Knossos, the eastern resorts and the shortest transfers. Chania for the prettiest old town on the island and the western beaches. They are two and a half hours apart.
Do I need a hire car in Crete?
More than on most Greek islands. It is 260 km long with mountains in the middle, and the best beaches and gorges are nowhere near the resorts.
Is Crete good in October?
Excellent. Air around 24°C, sea still 24°C, and the crowds gone. It is one of the best-value weeks anywhere in the Mediterranean.
What is Knossos actually like?
A large Bronze Age palace complex, partly reconstructed in concrete by Arthur Evans in the early twentieth century, which some visitors find helpful and others find intrusive. Go early and take the shade seriously.
Before you book
- Guide
What actually fits in hand luggage
Why bags that fit at home fail at the gate, and the measurement everyone gets wrong.
- Explainer
Flight only, or a package?
What the bundle is really worth, and the protection you lose by booking the parts separately.
- 4h 15m
Rhodes
One of the last inhabited medieval walled cities in Europe, attached to an island with three hundred sunny days a year and a wind problem on one side.