Car hire in Crete – hire a car at Crete airport
The Greek island of Crete has two airports: Heraklion – HER and Chania – CHQ. The island is called Krētē in Greek.
Compare car hire prices in Crete
Hyundai i10 is a popular choice for traveller looking for a cheap hire car in Crete. Will not offer much comfort, however, for more than wo people on holiday (plus luggage).
Long distances in a hire car in Crete
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands although it doesn’t seem very big on the map. Crete measures about 160 miles from east to west, but it takes about 7 hours to drive from one end of Crete to the other (250 mile drive).
Crete measures on the other hand only 30-35 km from north to south in most places, which will usually takes around 2 hours to drive in a hire car on the roads in Crete, as they won’t normally take you directly from A to B.
Heraklion airport in Crete
The largest airport in Crete is Heraklion in the central region of Crete’s northern coastline. Heraklion International Airport in Crete is also known as Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport and due to the large number of tourists in Crete it is the second largest Greek airport measured measured in traffic.
Low fare airline Easyjet fies to Heraklion from London-Gatwick, London-Luton, Bristol, and Edinburgh, while Jet 2 offers direct routes to Crete from Leeds, Manchester and East Midlands, just to mention some arirports. In the summer season, charter airlines Thomas Cook and Thomson Airways provide direct services from a broad variety of UK airports, amongst them: Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcstle, Manchester, Doncaster, East Midlands, Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, Bristol and Cardiff. Regular services are also avaialble from the British and Greek flag carriers BA and Aegean Airlines, with departures from London Gatwick.
Find cheap car hire in Heraklion Airport, Crete
Chania (Souda) Airport in Crete
Chania Airport is in the north-west part of Crete. Chania International Airport is also known by its Greek name Ioannis Daskalogiannis, or Souda Airport named after Souda Bay in Crete.
Accommodation and car hire are available at a very reasonable price in Crete, which along with the comfortable climate, Crete’s beautiful nature and cultural heritage contribute to the greek island’s popularity . UK flights to Chania Airport are available from the low-cost airlines Easyjet and Ryanair with departures from London-Gatwick (Easyjet), Bristol, East Midlands, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester and London-Stansted (Ryanair). Charter cariers Thomson Airways and Small Planet Airlines also fly from the UK to Chania, in Crete.
Chania Airport car rental deals on Cartrawler Crete
Car hire in Crete
It is relatively cheap to hire a car in Crete’s two airports compared to other Greek tourist destinations.
You can expect to hire a small car in Crete from around £120 in July or August. If you are lucky you may find a good offer on car hire in Crete at prices under £100 for a week’s car hire, even in July.
It is also possible to find a Suzuki Gran Vitara or Toyota Rav4 (4x4) for around £450 for a week’s car hire in Crete. If you are content with a smaller ’mountain goat’, a Suzuki Jimny 4x4 or similar are often available at around £300 for a week’s car hire in Crete.
Keep in mind that you often have to pay a little extra for car hire in Greece if you are under 23 years old. Some car hire companies in Crete even add an extra charge if the driver is under 25.
The car hire prices in Crete normally fall in September-October, but it will still pay off to book a car in Crete well in advance.
Car hire companies in Crete
In the two airports you will find the following hire companies:Autocandia, Sur Price, Caldera Car Hire Crete, Autos Holidays, Elite, Monza Rent A Car, Service Rent-A-Car, Europcar, Keddy, Budget, AutoUnion, Sixt, Antena Rent-A-Car, Hertz, Avis amongst others.
The prices for the same type of vehicle can fluctuate quite a lot, and as such it is wise to read that ’price details’ on each individual car hire offer as the terms and conditions may vary.
The insurance conditions are in mostly the same as in other countries and the insurance excess on a hire vehicle in Crete does not tend to be very high unless you hire an expensive vehicle.
