Collect your car at Nikos Kazantzakis airport and drive straight out to the coast. No deposit options, free cancellation, licensed Cretan suppliers.
Nikos Kazantzakis International Airport is the busiest airport on Crete and the arrival point for most visitors to the island. It sits about 5 km east of Heraklion city centre, which makes it the shortest transfer of any Greek island airport.
Almost every road trip on Crete starts here. The island is long and narrow, roughly 260 km end to end, and public transport thins out quickly once you leave the north coast. A rental car collected at arrivals is what turns a week on Crete from a hotel stay into an island trip.
Speed Rent a Car is a comparison service rather than a rental company. We show live offers from licensed suppliers working at Heraklion Airport, and the rental agreement is concluded directly with the supplier you choose. Every condition — the deposit, the fuel policy, the insurance cover — is stated in the voucher you receive after booking.
Handover at HER is normally arranged as meet and greet: a representative waits in the arrivals hall with a name board, or directs you to the car park a short walk from the terminal. Very few suppliers on Crete keep a permanently staffed desk inside the building.
Returns work in reverse: the car is dropped at the same car park and checked with the representative. Leave more time than you think in July and August, when the terminal is at its busiest.
The deposit is the part of an airport rental that catches travellers out. It is not a payment but a hold placed on the main driver's card at pickup, released after the car comes back undamaged. On Crete in high season that hold can compete directly with the rest of your holiday budget.
Part of the fleet at Heraklion is listed with no deposit at all, and some suppliers accept a debit card instead of a credit card. Both are supplier-level conditions rather than a site-wide promise: they appear and disappear with the season and with the model, so filter for them and read the condition on the offer you are about to take.
The amount held is shown in the offer conditions before you book, not at the desk. That is the whole point of comparing first.
The airport exit joins the northern coastal highway directly, so most resorts are reached without crossing the city.
The north coast highway is fast and well surfaced. The roads that need care are the ones climbing inland — the Lasithi plateau, the approach to Zaros, and the descent to the southern beaches — where hairpins and single-lane sections are normal.
Availability at Heraklion is deepest of anywhere on the island, but it is also where demand peaks first. In July and August the cheapest categories sell out weeks ahead.
Yes, part of the fleet at HER is listed without a security deposit. Availability changes with the season and the model, so use the filter in the search form and check the condition stated on the offer before booking.
In the arrivals hall or in the car park beside the terminal, depending on the supplier. Most work on a meet-and-greet basis with a name board. The exact meeting point and a contact number are printed on your voucher.
Heraklion handles charter flights well into the night in summer, and suppliers schedule handovers around arrival times rather than office hours. Provide your flight number so a delay does not cost you the booking.
One-way returns to Chania, Rethymno or a hotel address are offered by some suppliers, usually with a relocation fee. Set the drop-off point in the search form before booking, because both price and availability change once it differs from the pickup point.
An EU licence is enough on its own. Licences issued outside the EU are normally accepted together with an International Driving Permit, and the requirement is stated in the conditions of each offer.
Heraklion Airport is the largest pickup point on the island, but not the only one. If your base is further west or you are flying into a different terminal, start from the page that matches it: car rental across Crete, Heraklion city, Chania, Rethymno, Hersonissos or Malia.
Conditions that apply wherever you collect the car — documents, deposits, insurance — are the same across Greece and are covered on our no deposit car rental page.