Cheap car hire at Heraklion Airport starts from around £15 a day booked ahead, roughly a third of what the big international brands charge.
Heraklion Airport (HER), officially Nikos Kazantzakis, is Crete’s busiest gateway, just 5 km east of the city, and the ideal base for central and eastern Crete: the Palace of Knossos is fifteen minutes away, and Elounda, Agios Nikolaos and the island fortress of Spinalonga lie within an hour. This guide to car hire at Heraklion Airport gives you the real prices, the honest lowdown on driving, and the local knowledge the big booking sites leave out.
How Much Does Car Hire at Heraklion Airport Cost?
Cheap car hire at Heraklion Airport costs from around £15 a day for a small economy car booked ahead in the shoulder season, rising to £25 to £45 a day in July and August.
The lowest rates for car hire at Heraklion Airport come from the local Cretan and Greek suppliers such as Surprice, Right Cars and Yours Car Rental, which run large desks at the airport. Here is the honest comparison the big booking sites rarely show side by side:
| Supplier type | Economy car, per day (shoulder season) | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Local Greek suppliers (Surprice, Right Cars, Yours) | From £15 | The lowest rates, large airport desks, local support |
| Mid-tier brands | £28 to £40 | Familiar names, middling prices |
| Major brands (Avis, Hertz, Sixt) | £52 to £62 | Global names, the highest prices for the same car |
The difference is stark. On car hire at Heraklion Airport, the same economy car can cost three or four times more from a major brand than from a local Cretan supplier standing at the next desk. This is the single biggest saving you can make on a Crete holiday, and it is why comparing all suppliers at once, rather than booking direct with a big name, is always worth it.
| Car class | From (booked ahead) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Economy / Compact | £15/day | Couples, city parking, low fuel costs |
| Intermediate / Saloon | £22/day | Families, longer touring east and south |
| Small SUV | £30/day | The Lasithi Plateau, mountain villages, groups |
| Automatic (small) | £28/day | Those who prefer not to change gear on the hills |
Book your car hire at Heraklion Airport two to three weeks ahead for shoulder-season trips, and three to six months ahead for July and August, when Heraklion runs close to capacity and the cheapest cars sell out first.
Collecting Your Hire Car at Heraklion Airport
Heraklion is a single-terminal airport, so collecting your car hire at Heraklion Airport is simple. Most desks sit in or just outside the arrivals hall, and the local suppliers run walk-to-your-car pickups from the adjacent car park rather than a shuttle. After a busy charter arrival the desks can be briefly busy, so have your voucher, licence, passport and credit card ready to speed things along.
One detail the big sites bury: bring a credit card, not a debit card, in the lead driver’s name for the security deposit, as most suppliers will not hold a deposit on a debit card or in cash.
Photograph any existing marks on the car before you drive off. A new airport at Kastelli is expected to replace Heraklion around 2027 to 2028, but the current terminal (HER) remains the gateway for now and all car hire operates from here as normal.
What Heraklion Airport Unlocks in Crete
Car hire at Heraklion Airport opens up the richest concentration of sights on the island. The table below gives real drive times from the airport, the kind of concrete detail that helps you plan an arrival day rather than guess:
| From Heraklion Airport to | Drive time | What is there |
|---|---|---|
| Palace of Knossos | 15 to 20 min | The great Minoan palace, an easy arrival-day stop |
| Hersonissos / Malia | 25 min | Lively resort strip, beaches, Minoan Malia palace |
| Agios Nikolaos | 50 to 60 min | Elegant town on the Gulf of Mirabello |
| Elounda & Spinalonga | 1 hour | Upmarket resort, boats to the island fortress |
| Lasithi Plateau | 1 hr 15 | High mountain plateau, windmills, Zeus’s cave |
| Rethymno | 1 hr 10 | Venetian old town to the west |
Beyond these, a hire car reaches the Crete the coaches miss: the Minoan palace of Phaistos and the hippie beach caves of Matala to the south, and the palm-fringed beach of Vai far to the east. We are building a full set of Crete scenic drives from Heraklion to map the best routes in detail. Three are now live: our guide to the Lasithi Plateau scenic drive, taking in Knossos, Krasi village and the Cave of Zeus; the Elounda and Spinalonga scenic drive around the Gulf of Mirabello, including the local Plaka boat secret; and the Cretan South scenic drive across the Messara Plain to Gortyna, Phaistos and the hippie beach caves of Matala. Each guide includes honest, road-by-road driving notes, a Leaflet map, and downloadable PDF and GPX files.
Is It Easy to Drive from Heraklion Airport?
Yes, and it is easier than Crete’s reputation suggests. You will read that Cretan driving is nerve-racking, but that reputation comes mostly from two things that are simple to understand once explained. Here is the honest picture, which the booking sites never give you.
The airport sits directly on the E75, the fast, modern, toll-free north-coast dual carriageway, so within minutes of leaving the terminal you are on an easy, familiar-feeling road that runs the length of the island. There are no motorway tolls anywhere in Crete. The main roads are genuinely straightforward.
The first local habit to know is that slower drivers pull onto the wide hard shoulder to let faster traffic overtake, which feels odd at first but is safe once you expect it; check the shoulder is clear before you pass.
The second is that mountain and village roads are narrower, steeper and more winding than the coast road, sometimes with a rough surface or a stray goat, so keep to a small, nimble car and take the hills gently. Do those two things and driving in Crete is well within the reach of any confident UK driver.
Speed limits are 50 km/h in towns, 90 km/h on the open road and 110 km/h on the E75, lower in the wet. For the official rules of the road and current requirements, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office keeps an up to date summary on its Greece travel advice pages.
Do you need an International Driving Permit at Heraklion?
No. UK, EU and EEA licence holders do not need an International Driving Permit to hire a car at Heraklion or drive anywhere in Greece. Your full national licence, held for at least a year, plus your passport and a credit card in the main driver’s name for the deposit, is all you need.
Frequently Asked Questions: Car Hire at Heraklion Airport
How much is car hire at Heraklion Airport?
Cheap car hire at Heraklion Airport starts from around £15 a day for a small economy car booked ahead, rising to £25 to £45 a day in July and August. The local Greek suppliers offer the lowest rates, often three or four times cheaper than major brands like Avis or Hertz for the same car, so comparing all suppliers at once is the surest way to the best price.
Which airport is better for Crete, Heraklion or Chania?
Heraklion (HER) is better for central and eastern Crete, including Knossos, the Lasithi Plateau, Elounda and Spinalonga, and it is the island’s busiest airport with the widest choice of cars and flights. Chania (CHQ) suits western Crete. Choose Heraklion if your trip focuses on the centre or east of the island.
How far is Heraklion Airport from the city centre?
Heraklion Airport is just 5 km east of the city centre, about a ten to fifteen minute drive. The Palace of Knossos is only a little further, around fifteen to twenty minutes from the airport, making it an easy first stop before you head to your base.
Is it hard to drive in Crete?
No, Crete is not hard to drive for a confident driver, despite its livelier reputation. The main north-coast road is a fast, toll-free dual carriageway, and the two things to know are that slower drivers pull onto the hard shoulder to let you pass, and that mountain roads need a small car and a gentle pace. Manage those and it is very straightforward.
Do you need a car in Heraklion?
A car is the best way to explore the region around Heraklion, whose finest sights, from Knossos to the Lasithi Plateau to the Gulf of Mirabello, are spread across central and eastern Crete. Buses link the main towns but are slow and skip the villages and coves, so a hire car is well worth it for anything beyond a stay in the city.
Do you need an International Driving Permit for Crete?
No. UK, EU and EEA licence holders do not need an International Driving Permit to drive in Crete or anywhere in Greece. Your full national licence, held for at least a year, plus your passport and a credit card for the deposit, is all you need to collect your car at Heraklion.
Compare Cheap Car Hire at Heraklion Airport
Ready to book? Use the search above to compare cheap car hire at Heraklion Airport across all suppliers at once, and see the local-supplier saving for yourself. Choose a small car for the mountain roads, book early for the best price, and central and eastern Crete is yours. For the west of the island, see our cheap car hire Chania Airport page, or return to the full car hire in Crete guide.
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