Visiting Knossos: Tickets, Bus 2, Opening Hours and the Best Time to Go
Knossos is 5km from Heraklion, tickets start around €20 and city bus 2 gets you there for under €2. Here is how to visit without queuing in the sun or arriving with the cruise crowd.
Knossos is the reason most people come to Heraklion, and it is the site most often visited badly — at midday, in a queue, without any idea which walls are Minoan and which were poured by Arthur Evans in the 1920s.
It sits about 5km south of the city centre, which makes it one of the easiest major archaeological sites in Greece to reach independently.
Getting there
City bus 2 runs from central Heraklion to the site roughly every 20 minutes and costs about €1.70 each way. Buy at a kiosk or ticket machine rather than from the driver — the driver fare is higher. The stop is at the site entrance.
Taxi: about €12–15, 15 minutes.
Driving: simple enough, but the car park fills by mid-morning in summer and the overflow is roadside.
Tickets
Entry starts at around €20 in high season, with reduced rates for EU students and seniors, and lower prices in winter. The combined ticket with the Heraklion Archaeological Museum costs less than buying both separately and is valid across several days — the right purchase if you plan to see the finds as well as the site, which you should.
Skip-the-line entry is bundled into most guided tours. Between June and September, that queue is in unbroken sun, which is when it stops being a convenience and starts being the reason to book.
See guided tours with skip-the-line entry ›
When to go
Arrive at opening, around 08:00, or after about 16:00. The cruise passengers and the resort coaches converge mid-morning and the site is at its worst between roughly 10:00 and 14:00 — hottest, busiest, and slowest through the narrow sections where everyone bunches.
Shoulder season changes the experience completely. In May, June, late September and October, the same visit is a pleasant walk rather than an endurance event.
What to expect on site
The palace is not a single building you walk around; it is a sprawl of rooms, staircases, light wells and storage magazines on several levels, with no obvious route. The famous elements — the Throne Room, the Grand Staircase, the dolphin fresco, the red columns — are interleaved with Evans’s concrete-and-paint reconstructions, which is either fascinating or infuriating depending on how much you know going in.
That is the specific gap a guide fills here, and why this is the one site near Heraklion where we think the tour is worth the money rather than a convenience. The full case, including how to read a listing before booking, is in is a guided Knossos tour worth it?.
Bring: water, a hat, and shoes with grip — the polished stone underfoot is slick. There is very little shade anywhere on the site.
Pair it with the museum
The Heraklion Archaeological Museum holds what Knossos no longer does: the frescoes, the figurines, the Phaistos Disc. The palace supplies the scale, the museum supplies the objects, and each is diminished without the other. Do the museum on the same trip if you can — the combined ticket assumes you will.
See combined Knossos + museum options ›
If you only have one day
Knossos in the morning, museum after lunch, old town and harbour in the evening is the classic Heraklion day and it works. Our 3-day Heraklion itinerary expands it, and top things to do covers what else fits around it.
Comparing it with the other Minoan palace? Knossos vs Phaistos sets out which one suits which kind of visitor.
Prices and hours change
Ticket prices and opening times are set by the Greek Ministry of Culture and vary by season. Treat the figures here as the range to plan around and confirm before you travel.
Keep reading
Agia Pelagia, Crete: Calm Water 23km West
Agia Pelagia is the main resort west of Heraklion — a wind-sheltered bay with several beaches, tavernas along the front and an hourly bus into the city. Who it suits and what to expect.
Ammoudara: Heraklion's Beach, 7km West
Ammoudara is Heraklion's beach — 7km of Blue Flag sand, a promenade of tavernas and bars, and the north coast's most reliable wind for windsurfing. Close enough to the city to do both.
Hersonissos, Stalis & Malia Compared
The three resorts east of Heraklion run into one another but are not interchangeable. Hersonissos is large and mixed, Stalis is the family middle, Malia is the party town — and the hill villages above are the quiet alternative.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much are Knossos tickets? ▾
Entry to the palace starts at around €20 in high season, with reduced rates for EU students and seniors and lower prices in the winter months. A combined ticket covering both Knossos and the Heraklion Archaeological Museum costs less than the two separately and is valid over several days, which is the better buy if you are seeing both.
How do I get to Knossos from Heraklion? ▾
City bus 2 runs from the centre of Heraklion to the site roughly every 20 minutes and costs around €1.70 each way — buy from a kiosk or machine rather than the driver for the lower fare. A taxi is about €12–15 and takes 15 minutes. Driving is straightforward but the car park fills by mid-morning in summer.
What time does Knossos open? ▾
In the summer season, roughly April to October, the site typically opens at 08:00 and closes at 20:00 with last entry around 19:30. Winter hours are considerably shorter. Hours are set by the Ministry of Culture and change between seasons, so confirm on the day you plan to go.
How long do you need at Knossos? ▾
Between 90 minutes and two and a half hours. Longer than that in July heat is unpleasant — there is very little shade on site — and shorter than 90 minutes means walking past most of it.
Is Knossos worth it, or should I just do the museum? ▾
Do both if you can. The palace gives you the scale and the layout; the Heraklion Archaeological Museum holds the frescoes, the Phaistos Disc and everything portable that was found there. Seeing the site without the museum is the more common mistake of the two.
Do I need a guide at Knossos? ▾
Not for access — it is easy to reach and enter alone. For comprehension, it helps more here than at most sites: the signage is sparse, the plan is a warren, and the painted reconstructions raise questions the site never answers.