Heraklion
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Explore · Crete
Where the bus can take you on Crete
The island from its own elevation data, every place this guide has a page for, and the corridors the KTEL companies and the Heraklion city operator publish to it. Choose a view, pick a kind of place, and open one to plan the day.
Corridors checked against the operators’ publications between 13 August 2026 and 5 October 2026, each page with its own date; terrain rendered 3 October 2026.
Skip the map to the list of places 
Drag to turn the island. Pinch, or hold Ctrl and scroll, to zoom. Terrain Copernicus DEM GLO-30. © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA.
Bus corridors on the map
- KTEL Heraklio–Lasithi: east and south
- KTEL Chania–Rethymno: west
- Heraklion city buses
- Samaria Gorge: the walk and the ferries
Places
26 places
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Photo: Cayambe, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons History and archaeology
Knossos
The Minoan palace site just south of Heraklion’s centre, inside the city bus operator’s area.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Jules Verne Times Two, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Cities · History and archaeology
Rethymno
The mid-coast city where the two KTEL networks meet, with a Venetian harbour and the Fortezza above the old town.
Scheduled service
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Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Cities · History and archaeology
Chania
The western hub: a walkable Venetian harbour, and the KTEL departures most westward day trips start from.
Scheduled service
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Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · Gorges and nature
Elafonisi
A shallow lagoon at the south-western corner, with a sandbar you can wade across to a protected islet.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: C messier, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Coast and harbours · Gorges and nature
Chora Sfakion
The small port where the road meets a coast that has none: the way back for Samaria Gorge walkers.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Petro Stelte, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Towns · Coast and harbours
Sitia
An unhurried port town at the far eastern end of the island, with white houses above a working harbour.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Jimzoun, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons
Falassarna
A west-coast beach with its own published corridor from Chania; every journey changes at Kasteli.
Conditions apply
Who publishes a corridor here
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Beaches and lagoons · Gorges and nature
Balos
A lagoon beyond Kissamos Port, reached by a separate boat or road leg once the bus corridor ends.
No verified bus
Nearest place a published corridor reaches: Kissamos Port, on the Chania corridor
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Photo: Moonik, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Towns · Coast and harbours
Kissamos
A north-west coast town the timetables call Kasteli, with its own port and rows on to Falassarna and Elafonisi.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Towns · Beaches and lagoons
Paleochora
A south-west coast town with its own rows from Chania and local buses along the coast to Kountoura.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Joehawkins, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Coast and harbours · Gorges and nature
Sougia
A small south-coast harbour at the end of the Chania–Omalos–Sougia row, where the Agia Irini gorge walk ends.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Chris.urs-o, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Gorges and nature · Coast and harbours
Agia Roumeli
The roadless village where the Samaria Gorge walk ends, with ANENDYK boats east and west.
No bus; ferry only
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Rockhopper2, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Coast and harbours · Gorges and nature
Loutro
A village with no road between Chora Sfakion and Agia Roumeli, reached by the ANENDYK boats.
No bus; ferry only
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), CC BY 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons History and archaeology · Beaches and lagoons
Frangokastello
A 14th-century Venetian castle on the shore, reached by local rows from Chora Sfakion.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Goldkatzer, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · Towns
Plakias
A south-coast bay with its own direct bus from Rethymno, and a published corridor on to Preveli.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: dronepicr, CC BY 2.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · Gorges and nature
Preveli
A palm-lined river mouth and beach on the south coast, with its own published corridor from Rethymno.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons History and archaeology
Arkadi Monastery
A monastery 25 km from Rethymno at the foot of Psiloritis, with daily rows from Rethymno.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: Moonik, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · Towns
Agia Galini
A south-coast resort 58 km south of Rethymno, with rows from both Heraklion and Rethymno.
Scheduled service
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Photo: Anna.Tsolidou, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · History and archaeology
Matala
A small south-coast bay with rock-cut chambers in the headland and Red Beach over the ridge.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Photo: C messier, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Towns · Gorges and nature
Anogia
A village on the slopes of Psiloritis, with rows from Heraklion and Rethymno and none on Sunday.
Conditions apply
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Cities · History and archaeology
Heraklion
The island capital, where the city buses and the KTEL coaches east and south are separate systems with separate tickets.
Scheduled service
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Beaches and lagoons · Towns
Hersonissos
A resort town on the coast east of Heraklion, with quieter hill villages a short climb above it.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Beaches and lagoons · History and archaeology
Malia
A beach strip, and on the plain east of town a Minoan palace site, quieter than Knossos.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Towns · Coast and harbours
Agios Nikolaos
Eastern Crete’s hub town, with Lake Voulismeni a few minutes from the waterfront and a bus station of its own.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
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Coast and harbours · History and archaeology
Elounda
The mainland side of the crossing to Spinalonga, on the sheltered water of Mirabello Bay.
Scheduled service
Who publishes a corridor here
-
Photo: Mihael Grmek, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped), via Wikimedia Commons Beaches and lagoons · Gorges and nature
Vai Palm Beach
A palm grove running down to a beach at the island’s far eastern end, beyond Sitia.
No verified bus
Nearest place a published corridor reaches: Sitia
The island at a glance
Crete in four figures
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2
KTEL companies split the island
KTEL Heraklio–Lasithi publishes the east and south; KTEL Chania–Rethymno publishes the west.
Source: KTEL Heraklio–Lasithi S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for east and south CreteKTEL Chania–Rethymno S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for west Crete
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30
Bus links drawn on the map
Each joins two places a published corridor names in turn. 6 are dotted: every corridor over that stretch is one whose page says access can be suspended, marks a change, lets the day decide the departures, or points to the city operator’s own itinerary.
Source: KTEL Heraklio–Lasithi S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for east and south CreteKTEL Chania–Rethymno S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for west CreteHeraklion Urban BusesOfficial urban itineraries, tickets and telematics
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24 of 26
Destinations with a published corridor
Balos and Vai Palm Beach: no bus corridor this guide could verify; their pages say what to do instead. Loutro and Agia Roumeli: no road; the ANENDYK ferry is the published way in.
Source: KTEL Heraklio–Lasithi S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for east and south CreteKTEL Chania–Rethymno S.A.Official routes, timetables and fares for west Crete
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2,448 m
Highest ground in the elevation model
The highest point of the island map's relief, resampled from Copernicus DEM GLO-30 when it was rendered on 3 October 2026.
Source: Copernicus (European Union and ESA)Copernicus DEM GLO-30 on the Registry of Open Data on AWS
Conditions
What kind of day is it across the island
Current readings in Heraklion and Chania, at Omalos above the Samaria Gorge and in Sitia at the far east. On the gorge and the boat legs, the weather is part of the plan.
Chania
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Omalos
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Sitia
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Live readings are unavailable right now. The guidance below does not depend on them.
What the weather decides here
- The Samaria Gorge day The park can suspend access when conditions require it, and the boat legs on this coast are weather-dependent. Read the current park notice before choosing a bus.
- Balos, beyond Kissamos Port The bus corridor ends at the port; the lagoon is a separate boat or road leg, and weather and other providers can affect it.
- The Elafonisi wading crossing In calm conditions the channel to the islet is shallow; after wind it can run deeper and faster than it looks.
These are measured weather readings, not a service status. We do not infer from a reading whether a bus, a ferry or the gorge is running; the operators’ and the park’s own notices are the source for that.