Fly into Athens, jump on the train, arrive within 1 hour at the port (Piraeus)

From around 0600 (6AM) in the morning until about 2200 (10PM) every day the New train service runs in one direct route.

There are two trains each hour.

The evreyday low price is 6 Euros each way.

Makes flying in to Athens and tracking along to the port, to sail to your favourite – or soon to be disocvered – Greek island, easy as pie !

A new bridge allows you to glide gracefully in an unhurried manner, above and across the traffic fighting itself around the port of Piraeus (Pireos) - Athens’s port – as you cross from the Metro suburban railway station to the port enclosure.

You can arrive less shaken and stirred, the readier to relax on your ferry to the island of your choice.
Gone and banished is the need to steel yourself to sprinting with hefty luggage, in front of aggressive drivers bent on casting you aside as they race around the port while you humbly, try to cross the road.

The new bridge, complete with elevators (“lifts” for the Queen’s subjects) spans the main road from the Metro station to the port area.

Starting by at least June 17 this year, a new “Flying Dolphin” mega-sized Catamaran will come into service offering a 4.5 hour travel time from Chania to Piraeus and vice versa. This is a new route for Hellas Flying Dolphins.

Planned schedule is:

Piraeus-Chania departure at 15.45 hours, arriving Chania at 20.15 hours
Chania-Piraeus departure at 20.45 hours, arriving Piraeus at 01.15 hours (why couldn’t it be at a more civilized time of day, I ask? )

But look at the improvements, the coming of age of travel in Greece…..decent travel times ( and judging by the similar services already existing….higher standards of service).

There will be Economy, Business and VIP class (sign me up for VIP now…) sections.

The daily sailings will accommodate over 800 passengers and 150+ cars.

Prices have not been announced yet…

Check at www.dolphins.gr or our friends at www.ferries.gr in a week or two, for prices.

Of course the guide to Crete http://www.cretetravel.com will have more info as soon as we receive it…or prize it out of Hellas Flying Dolphins! Hi boys…!

The good ship “Westerdam”, one of the largest cruise ships in the world arrived at Heraklion’s long-harbour-walled port for the day, on 28 October. The day was also a major national holiday, the “Ochhi” day, commemorating that day in history when Greece said NO to Mussolini.

The Westerdam at 286 metres length, sporting up to 1800 passengers papmpered by a crew of over 800 puts the luxury cruise into port in Crete.

Many American and Dutch visitors took a sprint out to the most famous of archaeological sites – Knossos. A quick view of Heraklion’s bustle and perhaps a cafe or shopping visit was all that could be accomplished – the ship arrived in the morning and left the same day. Cruising on my friends!

Three other cruise ships, smaller but not without their own glamor, also displaced harbour volume.

You see October is cruise season for Crete. Much to the delight of taxi drivers and local guides and hopefully even more delightful for our visiting guests.

Lucky weather. Crete has had a good stretch of mild, actually somewhat warm October weather….more than two weeks of days reaching 26-28 degrees (this is a truly large island, so temperatures can vary quite a bit from North to south, east to west).

In case you feel like delving into a bit ot weather history and current temperatures in Crete – key in the following: http://www.cretetravel.com/weather

For a look at Heraklion and its central and peripheral delights see http://www.cretetravel.com/Heraklion

A warm November is predicted by the weather guys…yes please!