Heraklion Transportation

International flights from all over Europe will bring you to the airport of Irakleion (in the east) and one in Chania (west).
By bus, motorcycle, taxi or ...hire a car if you dare! My husband has been driving as I was too scared to drive. My God, I loved the Greek, but their way of driving is just a little different from mine and I was never feeling at ease !
You want to know why ?

Main airport is in Irakleion. Lots of international scheduled flights, and a terrific summer traffic made of charter flights from anywhere in Europe.
Buses go almost everywhere. Car hire is easy, but I'd rather book it in advance if you're planning your holidays in July-August.

Anek and Minoan Lines operate ferries every evening(weather permitting) each way between Iraklio and Piraeus. Anek lines is a better bet for deck class travelers. It offers dorm beds with plastic covered mattresses. Get to the ship early if you hope to nab one of the deck class beds. I booked a cabin on the way back to Piraeus in a female room and was glad that I did.
Most of the Minoan sites require a short bus ride.

By plane. There are airports in Chania and Herakleion. Look at http://www.olympic-airways.gr/ (Olympic Airways).
By ship. Look at the http://www.minoan.gr/ (Minoan Lines) and http://www.anek.gr/ (ANEK).
Use the public bus service KTEL: http://www.ktel.org/

There are two international airports operating in the island in Heraklion and in Chania. The island is connected with most of the airports in Greece, many European countries and Cyprus, with regular or charter flights.
The main road in Crete is the national road that follows the north seashore of the island from East to West. This is a fairly good road that handles most of the traffic of the island. The rest of the roads range from smaller asphalt roads to all kinds of dirt roads.

Rent a car, its not too expensive, most places have special offers eg; rent a car for 2 days and get one day for free. You can rent a bike to see the island, but it takes more time, you won't see as much as going by car, and as most roads have holes and no lighting at night its hard to ride there. The difference in price between a bike and a car is not much.

maps of the main cities
Detailed maps of Crete

And a photo that i like

I have been in Matala so KTEL Buses is the best choice how to get to the capital of Crete :)
Ticket costs around 6 Euro and Heraklion itself has 4 Bus stations so be careful about that.