Moovit
PartialThe best overall option, but partial. Covers Chania's city bus (lines 11-24), Heraklion's city bus, and the KTEL Chania-Rethymno interurban (west). Beyond those networks it knows nothing. That's already a lot for the west and the two big cities.
Google Maps
PartialReliable for walking and driving, shakier for the bus: it probably knows Chania's city bus (the official app delegates planning to it), but it's unreliable on the interurban KTEL coaches. Use it as a guide, never as a firm timetable.
Citymapper
Useless in CreteIn Greece, Citymapper only covers Athens. No Cretan city. No point installing it for Crete.
KTEL Heraklion-Lasithi app
UsefulThe official app of the central and eastern KTEL. Useful for the interurban links of that half of the island (Agios Nikolaos, Sitia, Matala, the north axis…), where there are no PDFs. It's your best tool in the east.
Chania city-bus app
Useless in CreteBest avoided: rated 2.4/5, not updated since October 2023, with documented payment failures. For Chania's city bus, prefer Moovit, the machines at the line heads, or buying on board.
The real answer: combine them
No tool covers the whole of Crete, because there's no open data feed (GTFS) for the island — timetables are published as PDFs (west KTEL) or via a search engine (east KTEL), and change often mid-season.
The combination that works: Moovit for the two big cities and the west, the KTEL Heraklion-Lasithi app for the interurban east, and — most reliable of all — the operator's official page for the day's timetable, checked the day before. Our route pages link straight to the right source for each trip.
Checked 16 August 2026. App availability and reliability change — check recent reviews before relying on any of them.