Getting from Chania to Antipaxos

If you are heading to Antipaxos from Chania you are making your way from the most intimate of Crete's three main cities to a tiny island just south of Paxos in the Ionian Sea, on the opposite side of Greece. It has beaches of a quality that would be famous if they were anywhere more accessible.

Getting there by air

Antipaxos has no airport. The nearest airport is Corfu. Chania has an international airport with connections from Athens. Flying from Chania to Athens and then Athens to Corfu, followed by the ferry from Corfu to Paxos taking around 1 hour 30 minutes and then the sea taxi from Gaios to Antipaxos taking around 15 to 20 minutes, gives a total journey time of around 6 to 7 hours. In Greece, airlines do not operate direct inter island flights.

Take the ferry

There are no scheduled ferries from Chania to Antipaxos. Antipaxos is accessible only by sea taxi from Gaios on Paxos. Getting there by sea means taking the overnight ferry from Chania to Piraeus, which takes around 8 to 9 hours, and then traveling northwest to Igoumenitsa by road for the ferry to Paxos and then the sea taxi to Antipaxos. The total journey takes the better part of two days.

Your best option

Fly from Chania to Athens and then fly to Corfu and take the ferry across to Paxos, then the sea taxi to Antipaxos. It is the most practical approach. Antipaxos is most rewarding as a day trip or overnight from Paxos rather than a standalone destination as facilities on the island are almost nonexistent. If you are traveling with a car, take the overnight ferry from Chania to Piraeus and drive northwest to Igoumenitsa for the daily car ferry to Paxos from there.