Ferries From Heraklion: Every Island You Can Reach (2026)

Crete’s Gateway to the Aegean

Heraklion is not just Crete’s biggest port — for island-hopping purposes it is effectively Crete’s only port. Around 179 sailings a week in high season connect it to sixteen or more destinations across the Cyclades, the Dodecanese and the mainland.

No other Cretan port comes close. Souda, serving Chania in the west, runs an overnight service to Piraeus and essentially nothing else in the Aegean. Sitia, in the far east, has a useful Dodecanese connection but few sailings. Kissamos goes west to Kythira and the Peloponnese. If you are travelling from Crete to another Greek island, the odds are overwhelming that you are leaving from here.

This page is the full route list. For the terminal itself — check-in windows, lockers, the walk into town — see the Heraklion ferry port guide.

The Cyclades

The main event, and where most island-hopping routes go.

Destination	Duration	Fare from	Season
Santorini (Thira)	1h35 fast / 3–5h conventional	~€92 / ~€15	Year-round, up to 3 daily in season
Ios	~2–4h	Varies	Seasonal
Naxos	~2–4h	Varies	Seasonal
Paros	~3–5h	Varies	Seasonal
Mykonos	~3–3.5h	~€105–150	Seasonal, departures ~07:30–08:30
Tinos	~4h+	Varies	Seasonal
Syros	~4h+	Varies	Seasonal
Milos	Varies	Varies	Seasonal
Serifos	Varies	Varies	Seasonal
Anafi	Varies	Varies	Limited, seasonal

Santorini is the headline route and the one worth understanding properly, because the choice between the conventional ferry and the high-speed catamaran is a difference of roughly €80 and two hours. We break it down in the Heraklion to Santorini ferry guide.

Naxos and Paros are the practical hubs of the central Cyclades — both sit on the main north–south ferry spine, so onward connections from either are easy and frequent. They are the natural second stop after Santorini.

Mykonos matters mainly as an exit point: it has an international airport with good direct connections, which makes it a sensible place to end a trip.

The Dodecanese

Crete’s least-known ferry connection, and one of the most rewarding. Services run from Heraklion and, more frequently, from Sitia in eastern Crete.

Destination	Duration	Notes
Kasos	Varies	Small, very quiet
Karpathos (incl. Diafani)	~3h30–4h45 from Sitia	~4 weekly sailings
Chalki	Varies	Tiny, few visitors
Rhodes	~7h30 from Sitia	The eastern terminus

Operators on this run include ANEK / Aegeon Pelagos, Blue Star Ferries and Kasos Princess. Frequencies are low — often a few sailings a week rather than daily — so this route needs planning around, not improvising.

The payoff is that Karpathos and Kasos see a fraction of the visitors the Cyclades do, and the route is barely covered in English-language travel writing. If you want somewhere in Greece that still feels unvisited in August, this is where to look.

Mainland & Crete

Route	Duration	Fare from	Notes
Piraeus (Athens)	9–10h	€30 deck, €60–120 cabin	Year-round. Day ferry ~09:00–18:00; overnight ~21:00–06:00
Sitia	Varies	Varies	Eastern Crete, connects onward to the Dodecanese

The overnight Piraeus crossing is a genuinely good way to travel if you book a cabin — you go to sleep in Athens and wake up in Crete, saving a night’s accommodation and a day of travel. Deck seats at €30 are a false economy on a nine-hour night crossing.

Operators

• SeaJets — high-speed catamarans, most Cycladic routes
• Minoan Lines — conventional, Piraeus and Cyclades
• ANEK Superfast / Blue Star Ferries — conventional, Piraeus, Cyclades and the Dodecanese
• Fast Ferries — high-speed, seasonal
• Golden Star Ferries — seasonal Cycladic routes

Which operator runs a given route changes between seasons. Check a live schedule rather than assuming last year’s pattern holds.

Four Things That Catch People Out

1. High-speed catamarans get cancelled in wind. The meltemi blows hardest in July and August — exactly when most people travel. Conventional ferries are far more weather-resistant. Never put a catamaran between yourself and an international flight without a buffer day.
2. “Ferry” covers wildly different boats. On Heraklion–Santorini it means either a 1h35 catamaran or a 5-hour ship, at roughly €80 difference. Always check the vessel, not just the route.
3. Winter is a different network. From roughly November to March, high-speed services largely stop and the smaller Cycladic routes go with them. Piraeus, Santorini and the Dodecanese run year-round; most of the rest does not.
4. Book July and August ahead. Cheap fare classes sell out well before the sailings do.

Planning a Route

If Crete is the first leg of a longer Greek trip, the sequence matters — and it is not the one most people pick. Our guide to Crete to the Cyclades island hopping covers which island order actually works, how many nights each deserves, and where the ferry gaps bite.

Arriving from western Crete? Because Souda has no Cyclades connections, the standard move is to fly into Chania, travel east, and sail from here. Our sister site maps that out at Crete island hopping itinerary, and explains the port constraint in island hopping from Chania.

Sailing early? See hotels near Heraklion port — high-speed departures start around 07:30, with check-in 30–45 minutes before.

Keep reading

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