HOLIDAYS TO CHANIA- THINGS TO DO

Chania

Chania , the capital of Chania

Chania is located on the north coast in western Crete and is the capital of the Chania Prefecture.
The prefecture of Chania is the western Crete and combines many beautiful beaches , small fertile plains , high mountains and deep gorges , like Samaria Gorge .
The Prefecture is considered the greenest area in Crete as the Mountains White Mountains are responsible for the increased rainfall compared to the rest of Crete .
Chania is one of the oldest towns in Crete , with a rich and eventful history . Today is the second largest city of the island , a city that has preserved its traditional architecture and maintains most of monuments from the time of the Venetians and the Turks.
The Venetian harbor with its lighthouse and the old city center have given in Chania the reputation of the most picturesque town in Crete, which hosts thousands of visitors every year.

How to travel to Chania

In Chania you can travel by air, with domestic flights from other airports in Greece, but also international charter flights from many European countries. The airport “Ioannis Daskalogiannis” Chania located in Akrotiri peninsula, 14 kilometers east of the city and connected to it by bus and taxi.
Chania from Piraeus port. There are daily ferries from Piraeus to Souda port, located 7 kilometers east of the city. The journey from or to Piraeus takes about 10 hours and the ferries depart in the evening (9 pm) and arrive early in the morning (5:30 a.m.). Passengers can sleep in a cabin or in air armchairs (cheapest fare), while the ship operated restaurants and cafes. During the summer months there are daily and routes.
Also, winter and summer are fast ships (super fast ferries) traveling to and from Chania in about 4.5 hours, leaving at 4.30 pm and arriving at 8:30 PM.

Chania, the new city

Chania could be said to consist of two cities: the old and the new, which coexist in a single set. The new town embraces the old and spreads ever wider. The layout is fairly good near the center and it will not be hard to find your way. Unfortunately, this picture is changing in the suburbs, where it is easy to lose your way.
A common finding is that very easily find the way to enter in Chania coming from other regions, but will hardly manage to leave the city. Maybe course and may not want to leave easily, because Chania is a city that easily captivate you.

The old town of Chania

The old town of Chania is still the core of Chania, with its narrow labyrinthine alleyways and listed buildings from different periods, where you will enjoy romantic walks. Many of these buildings are now used as small hotels, like restaurants, shops or homes.
Feel free to wander around the old town and look for beautiful images waiting to be discovered. Your essential companion should be your camera, and Chania are considered one of the most photographed cities in Greece.
The old city extends parallel to the Venetian harbor of Chania Fortress Bastion and Maritime Museum, to the Gate of Sand after the dockyards to the east. This is the part of town surrounded by Venetian walls and includes Byzantine Chania, those that was surrounded by less extensive Byzantine walls. The Byzantine walls protected the fortress of Kastelli, the hill which was first inhabited in the Neolithic era Chania.
Kasteli Hill is one that rises above the Turkish mosque in the Venetian harbor. There were the citadel of ancient Kydonia, the Minoan Chania.
There it also built the first Byzantine fortress, the Kastelli, surrounded by walls with many towers and bastions. Then there settled by the Venetians in 1252 they reached the seat of retouri (Governor of Chania), while in the same place were the lodgings of the pashas during Ottoman rule. The last years of Ottoman rule in Kastelli inhabited by aristocratic families of Christians. Most of the district was flattened by bombing during the Second World War, and was lost forever the medieval aspect. Today only the base of the wall from the north.
What has also maintained the main street that ran through the current Canevaro Street with its imposing mansions.

Tour Chania

Our tour will begin from Chania Municipal Market downtown. Then we enter the old city and will head to the Venetian harbor. We will walk the entire length of the Venetian harbor, we get to the Gate of Sand and return through the Strait of Splantzia the point from where we started. Of course the route is purely indicative and will be better to make installments on 2 or more days, so you do not have the pressure of time.