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By plane: During summer time the airport of Heraklion (the main city of the island of Crete) is well connected with most of the European countries through daily charter flights. The only problem you may encounter is the “flight only reservation” since most of the times charter flights are sold together with hotel reservations for locations whose life style is far away from the Xerocambos reality. |
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However the classic way to reach Crete is through Athens. Olympic Airlines and Aegean Airlines have daily frequent flights (50 minutes journey) to the island, but they are very difficult to book during week-ends. From Athens there is also a three times a week flight to the city of Sitia which is only at 50 minutes drive from Xerocambos but the flight leaves from Athens at about 11am and this means for most the need to overnight in Athens. |
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By boat: If you have more time available you can also reach Crete by boat. Minoan Lines and Anek Lines have daily services between Pireas (the port of Athens) and Heraklion, from Pireas there is also Lane Lines which 5 days a week connects Athens with Sitia. The trip between Athens and Heraklion takes about 7 hours, |
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while to Sitia it takes about 15 hours due to smaller ships. Once arrived in Heraklion you can choose different means of transportation. The most economic is the Leoforio, public bus leaving from the airport terminal (rarely provided of air conditioning) which in 3 and a half hours will take you to Sitia at the cost of 12 euros per person. |
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From Sitia you can take a taxi (the stop is in the main square) to Xerocampos which will cost about 40 euros. The directions for Xerocampos is to take the road to Ierapetra and after passing the tiny village of Papagiannades on the left hand side you will find the directions for Handras - Ziros - Xerocampos. Here you will also find Etia, a “ghost” village with an ancient Venetian Villa. |
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From Ziros the road encounters the small traditional village of Hametoulo, unfortunately nearly a ghost city, and from there starts the enchanting view of the panoramic road which overlooks the valley and beaches of Xerocampos. From the Airport of Heraklion you can also take a taxi directly to Xerocampos, which will take about 3 hours (depending on the traffic) and will cost around 140 euros. Finally you can rent a car directly from the Airport (please visit |
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the Car Rental connection) for prices and reservation requests. In this case the shortest way is from the Airport take left for the New National Road direction Agios Nicolaos, Ierapetra, continue towards Makrigialos and prior to the small village of Papagiannades you will find the directions as listed above if coming from Sitia. IMPORTANT: there are no gas stations in Xerocampos, therefore remember to fill up the tank before accessing the |
