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Welcome to Iraklion.org, a basic introductory guide to the capital
city of Crete, sometimes seen as Heraklion, Iraklio, Irakleion
or Heraklio. Heraklion is located approximately centrally on the
north coast of the island and is also the eponymous capital of
the Iraklion prefecture.
Heraklion has a major regional airport which is served by daily
Aegean and Olympic planes to and from Athens plus many other flights
besides. During the peak of the summer the airport can become
extremely busy as the majority of Crete's summer visitors arrive
and depart on charter flights through Iraklion. From the UK alone
there are flights out of Manchester, Gatwick, Newcastle, Glasgow
and many other airports. You can find more Crete
Flight information here. When it comes to hotel accommodation
every side street in the centre seems to have a sign up for a
hotel, and you will find everything from cheap and cheerful rooms
to five star luxury on Crete. You can find over 50 hotels in the
area bookable through AlphaRooms
- Heraklion
Must visit. No visit to Crete is complete without a visit to
Knossos, the most famous of the Minoan palaces and extensively
reconstructed to give the visitor an insight into life on the
island over 4000 years ago. The palace of Knossos is renowned
for the Minotaur and the labyrinth that Theseus defeated. The
harbour is attractive and the shopping is wide and varied. Iraklion
is a proper working city where tourism is important but Greek
life and business is the main order of the day. Fashion wear,
technology shops and private and public offices can all be found
in Heraklion, in addition to a good selection of chic bars and
tempting restaurants.
Driving around Heraklion. Although the airport is very easy to
access, with only a short slip road connecting it to the national
highway, driving around and getting in and out of Iraklion centre
can be a lengthy and, for the new visitor, slightly testing experience.
Traffic can be very heavy on the roads.
If you wish to venture beyond Iraklion, nearby holiday hotspots
include Hersonissos and Malia, both taking less than half an hour
by car.
Iraklion.org is published by the Crete editors from the Make
It Greece network and was launched in 2008. Please note that we
are not a travel agent or holiday company and cannot make accommodation,
flight or other travel and transport arrangements.
Useful Links
Pictures of
Iraklion at Flickr
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Featured Iraklion, Crete & Greece Sites
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Iraklion Prefecture : Holidays
in Analipsi and at the Sensatori resort - Gouves
- Matala - Stalis
Crete : Xania
- Agios Nikolaos
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