Karpathos Airport Mini Guide
Where is Karpathos Airport?
It’s on the beautiful island of Karpathos in the Dodecanese island chain in the southern Aegean Sea. The island is equidistant from
Rhodes and
Crete. In its history the island has been a dominion of Genoa, Venice, Byzantium, Greece and Turkey giving a range of flavours to its culture and traditions. The island’s authorities have a strong desire to preserve old Greek traditions and Karpathos is visited by many who hark back to the hospitality and traditions of the Greece of centuries past. Notable examples are the traditional wedding celebrations and that of Orthodox Easter.
How do I get to Karpathos Airport?
Almost all flights are seasonal apart from the scheduled domestic routes that go there from Athens, Rhodes and Crete. There are no direct flights from the UK so you will need to fly to either Athens, where low cost flights can be obtained from easyJet, or fly to Amsterdam where many low cost airlines fly and then get a connecting flight. You can also fly to Rhodes or Crete from the UK and catch the ferry which will take you to Karpathos on a journey of a couple of hours across the azure Aegean attractively dotted with emerald islands. If you are hiring a car, follow this
weblink to see reviews of all the car hire companies in Karpathos and Greece.
What’s the airport like?
It’s tiny and looks more like a small municipal building than an airport. It gets very busy in peak season and scenes at the airport can then be a little chaotic when more than one flight is arriving or departing. Facilities are poor but because the airport is so close to the resorts, short transfer times reduce the expectancy to be entertained at the airport.
What can I expect when I arrive?
Depending on the time of year, the airport is likely to be crowded. There are not many ways to lose your bearings but if necessary, there are staff around who will happily point you in the right direction. Collecting your luggage is reasonably quick, even if there is a squash around the carousel. Once though the cursory passport control you can look up accommodation on the airport notice boards or ask a taxi driver to recommend a place to stay. There is a bus service from the airport to the main towns but it is slow and sometimes unreliable. It is better to take a taxi or hire a car from one of the companies represented in the arrivals hall. The airport is on the southern tip of the island with two roads out, turning north west you’ll come to Arkasa or north east to Karpathos town.
When I leave Karpathos?
Expect more chaos. After checking in, there’s only a very small kiosk selling packaged snacks and drinks plus local newspapers and you would be well advised to take food and drink with you to the airport. After security there is a small duty free area but no further refreshments. Understandably perhaps, Wi-Fi is unavailable at the airport.
Karpathos is a beautiful island. It’s small, only 15 miles long by 10 miles wide, but it has so much to offer. Use car hire from Karpathos Airport to explore the 10 villages that make up the island community or to visit all the beaches dotted around the coast, from the white sandy south coast to the shingly east coast of Karpathos.
Venture inland to scale Mount Lastos at nearly 4,000 feet. You can also travel by small ferry over to the sister island of Saria whilst other ferries take you to Rhodes or for the longer distance traveller to Athens. Karpathos Aiport car hire is limited so advance booking is recommended.