Heraklion, Greece

[warie]

We intend to take a cruise to Greece, now I am looking for information about Crete and Athene. What is the distance from the port in Heraklion to town, can we walk that distance and what is the distance to Knossos and what is the best way to get there on our own?

And about Athene if we dont want to go to that busy city centre (which I know) do you have tips for us what to do in Piraeus itself and is Piraeus (old shopping part for instance) walkable from the ship? Thanks in advance.

[Hlitner]

The normal docking area in Heraklion is actually right at the edge of town. You can walk from the pier into the center of town in a few minutes..although some of the walk does have an uphill slope. Knossos is actually quite close to Heraklion (I recall it only took us about 20 minutes) with the major problem being the traffic in Heraklion. I am not sure about the taxi fares, but it should be pretty reasonable. Another alternative is to simply rent a car for the day..which would allow you to explore more of the island. As for Piraeus, on our last visit we decided we did not want to go into Athens (have been there many times). We walked across the street from the port and rented a small car. We than drove South along the coast..stopped for a swim at one of the nice beaches along the road,, and went the entire way down to Sounion. We than returned via a different road (that went North through the interior) and found some strange cave up in the hills (it was a real tourist attraction with guided tours in the cavern). Another alternative is to take one of the hydrofoils (within walking distance of the cruise ship pier) to the nearby island of Aeginia. This is a very "laid back" Greek island with some beaches (one of these is within walking distince of the hydrofoil pier) a few cute cafes, and great prices on the local Pistachio nuts. This is the closest Greek Island to Piraeus and I recall the boat ride was about an hour.

 

Hank