Bus travel in Heraklion

We begin our vacation year 2025 with a visit to the significant Minoan cultural sites on the Greek island of Crete. But before we can visit the historically significant archaeological sites, we must tackle the first challenge of the Greek infrastructure, specifically the bus system in Heraklion. Of course, I do some research beforehand and am impressed by the frequent bus schedules. I also download the app funded by the European Union onto my smartphone and register. However, before the vacation starts, the ticket purchase in the app doesn't work; I trust that it will function on the island. That was a mistake, as upon landing in Heraklion, there is no Wi-Fi at the airport. I quickly book a small data package, but the ticket purchase in the app still doesn’t work: 'Server connection error.' There are no tariff information or route maps at the bus stop. Searching for stops and lines in the app is chaotic and cumbersome: I struggle. Eventually, I have enough and recall the bus lines from memory. Almost all buses go to Freedom Square, and from there, the other bus number 2 departs for our vacation rental. Now on to the ticket purchase. Two ticket machines are available, and both provide ticket information in Greek characters, which are practically unreadable for me. The modern machine rambles on about Smart Cards and only gives two-digit prices, which must be for weekly and monthly passes. So I switch to the older machine, whose weak display now shows small prices, but what for? That must remain a mystery for me, so I decide on the eye-catching red-bordered ticket for 1.20 euros. Thankfully, I have some cash with me, as only that is accepted, and with the two tickets, we rush into the next bus. To my dismay, the grumpy bus driver tears the tickets in half, and we head towards the city center. Probably, being 'grumpy' is a prerequisite for bus drivers here, as will later become evident. The heavily aged bus seems to have previously operated in Germany, as German labels like 'Door Open' are attached, and a yellowed German advertising poster hangs in a frame. Nobody has removed that either. At Freedom Square, we now switch to the second bus. Since my tickets are torn, I need new ones. I look around, but there's no machine in sight at the stop. Here comes the bus, and I don’t want to waste any more time. So, I ask the bus driver, who sells us two tickets for 4 euros in cash. However, he can’t give change for a 5-euro note, but fortunately, my wife has coins to assist with the payment process. The bus driver indicates the machine in the roundabout across from the other stop, which I hadn’t checked so far. The upcoming minutes on the bus are spent more in the heavy city traffic than moving, but we finally reach our destination and find our accommodation. By the way, after reinstalling the app, I manage to buy tickets with my smartphone after all, although each purchase requires a new confirmation in the credit card app. However, the QR code of the ticket causes issues when being scanned by the bus driver. Some drivers try with my smartphone themselves and also get frustrated; some wave us through after unsuccessful attempts, while others stubbornly insist on a thousand scanning attempts. I didn’t see a single person during our entire bus ride using the mobile ticket. Some show a yellow card, others a plastic card; most people give the bus driver a paper slip like our ticket at the airport, which he tears up. I haven’t seen the mobile ticket system paid for by the EU in use by other people.

The photos show a few impressions from the city center of Heraklion.