Mailing Address

By air:

There is a considerable number of flights daily (10-20 depending on the season) connecting Heraklion International Airport (“Nikos Kazantzakis”, airport Code: HER) with the Athens International Airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” (ATH). There are also direct connections from Heraklion to various Greek islands as well as to major European cities. Aegean Air and Olympic Air are the major carriers to Athens.

• Olympic Air, 25th August 27-29, Tel. +30 281044846, 2810244824, 2810244868
• Aegean Airlines, Dimokratias 11, Tel. +30 2810344321, 2810344321, 2810344761
• Sky Express, Heraklion Airport, Tel. +30 2810223500, 2810223500, 2810282828
  
  

The distance from the airport to Heraklion center is approx. 5 km.

By sea:

There are now three ferry lines going daily between Athens (Departure from Piraeus Port) and Heraklion:

• Minoan Lines (Departure at about 22:30, Arrival at 6:00)
• Superfast Ferries (Departure at 15:00, Arrival at 21:30)
• ANEK Lines (Departure at about 21:00, Arrival at 6:00)
  
  

During summer, Minoan Lines and ANEK lines introduce daily routes but these are not available every day.

Distances – approximately, from the center of Heraklion:

• 5 km to Heraklion International Airport
• approx. 20 minutes walking distance to the Port
• 6 km to the Minoan Palace of Knossos
• 8 to 10 km to FORTH

By Taxi:

The use of a taxi is a convenient and relatively not expensive mean of transportation in Heraklion. Taxis in Heraklion are colored silver. You can find a lot around in the city streets. You can find them also waiting at the airport, the port, the bus stations, in the Lions Square, the “Platia Eleftherias” Square, and in “Platia Kornarou”.

From the Airport to the center of town, the cost of a taxi is approximately 10 to 15 Euro.

By Public Transportation:

There is a frequent public bus service from Heraklion-airport to the center of town as well as from the center of town to FORTH. Ticket vending machines are located next to most main bus stops. You can also buy tickets from most kiosks around the city. We advise you to buy your ticket prior to getting onto a public bus. The current price of the bus ticket from the airport to the centre of town is 1.20 Euro (one way) or 2.00 Euro if purchased on the bus and the current price of the bus ticket from the airport or from the centre of the town to FORTH is 1.70 Euro (one way) or 2.50 Euro if purchased on the bus.

The building of FORTH is located 8 to 10 kilometers South-West of Heraklion center. You can reach FORTH by using:

a taxi: It will cost you approximately 15 to 20 Euro, and the driving time is approximately 20 minutes. The name of FORTH in Greek is spelled and pronounced “ITE”, and “ITE” is near the University Hospital, spelled “PAGNH” and pronounced “PAGNI”; make it clear to your taxi driver that you are going to “ITE” which is different from “TEI”, this will ensure that he does NOT take you to “TEI” by mistake!

a public bus: The (one-way) ticket to FORTH costs 1.70 Euro or 2.50 Euro if purchased on the bus, and takes about 30 minutes to reach FORTH.

The “The Heraklion City Center” Google map above, shows the location of the bus stop in the centre of the city, in front of the Astoria hotel, in the direction towards FORTH; the note on that map also lists the bus line number, name, frequency, and approximate times. We advise you to buy your ticket prior to getting onto a public bus, as well as your return ticket (for your return from FORTH – it is very hard to find a selling point at or near FORTH).

When the bus reaches the area of the “Voutes” campus of the University, near which FORTH is located, use this “FORTH Location and Bus Stops” Google Map for orienting yourself.

If you are in bus line #8, the bus terminal is just in front of the FORTH building.

* The bus arrives at Astoria bus station (Platia Eleftherias) about 10 minutes later. The bus drops you off at FORTH premises.

If you are in bus line #11, (the frequency of this service is approximately every 15 minutes) the first and very large building of the campus that you will see in front of you and to the right hand side of the road is the University Hospital (“PaGNH”); approximately 800 m after that stop, and immediately after a downhill road and a very sharp 135-degree right turn, is the bus stop where you should get off and walk to the left (North), for 200 meters, towards the FORTH campus, as shown on the “FORTH location and bus stops” Google map. This same map contains information on public buses for returning to Heraklion, from these same bus stops: the buses keep moving in the same direction, making a circle inside the University campus, and then returning back to Heraklion (i.e. bus stops exist only on one side of the road, since all buses travel in a single direction).

From the airport and the port as well as from the city center, you can reach both FORTH and the University of Crete by bus, No.11 (ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ / ΠΑΓΝΗ), (“ΠΑΓΝΗ” is the university hospital located 800 meters south of the Physics Department “ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ”) and No.8 (ITE) (“ITE” stands for the Greek abbreviation of FORTH – the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, 1000m west of the Physics Department). Both buses stop near (200m) from FORTH and in front of the University of Crete – Physics department. There are bus stops in the city center. The main stop is in “Platia Eleftherias” Square.