Chania Greece

The most unforgettable & unmissable part of Chania is the Old Town & Venetian Harbour. You will be able to get a public bus from the port for just a couple of Euros. It will drop you off at the Agora (covered market). From here you will stroll down the small lanes behind the market, past the cathedral, Leather Lane area (does what it says, great for wallets & bags, belts etc), & down to the harbour. It is a beautiful place for just strolling & sitting at a café for a coffee/ beer. There are many tiny lanes with renovated Venetian houses to wander around, or you could walk around the harbour wall to the lighthouse.

You could also walk (in 15 mins) to the town beach, Nea Hora, which is OK & has nice fish tavernas.

If you want to get out of the city on a tight budget, then you could walk from the bus drop-off to the bus station (5 mins), where you could get a bus to another part of the region. Timetables are on KTEL Chania website, the number of buses rises dramatically in summer, so you should look just before you travel.

In Chania visit the covered market, fun to just wander around but also to find souvenirs - locally made olive oil soap is my favourite. Buy some cheese, bread and olives from the market for lunch. Visit the archaeological museum which is a lovely old church. The mosque of the Janassaries at the Venetian Harbour is now an art gallery and worth a visit. The Naval museum, also on the harbour is interesting, especially for the exhibits relating to Crete in World War II. If you prefer to eat at a restaurant there are many around the harbour. All display menus so easy to find one that meets your budget. Expect to spend at least an hour over lunch - one of the delights of Crete and indeed Greece itself, is long lunches and or dinners!

It’s important to note that cruises come into the docks at Souda, just outside the city. So you do need to bus or taxi into Chania itself. Souda Bay is beautiful so be sure to be on deck when coming into and out of it.

I hope you enjoy one of my favourite places.

Edit: Naval instead of Maritime Museum. Also look out for a number of archaeological sites as you wander around the streets. Some date back to Minoan times, this is an old city!

Really good information so far. Chania old town and harbour is an exceptional experience. You can easily believe you have stepped back into time particularly as you wander through the maze of back alleys.
On our last two visits to Chania there were cruise ships anchored right outside the harbour and were tendering guests into the old town.
Others do dock at Souda but there are public buses lined up to take you into town to the central market.
This is a cruise stop that does not have to cost you much money at all.
You can see one of the cruise ships in this album
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157671465596275
Chania http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632117917828/

Loved Chania. The Naval Museum is the one with affecting WW II Battle of Crete displays, but the nearby Maritime Museum has a knock-out, full-size working replica of an ancient Minoan ship. It sailed! from Crete to Athens for the Athens 2004 Olympics ceremonies. The museum's housed in the shipyards built during Venice's reign, 1200's-1645. The Naval & the Maritime kinda bracket the small harbor: lots of restaurant & bar terraces looking out over the marina & the Venetian lighthouse & breakwater. Drinks there'll be more expensive than the museums' admissions - 2 or 3 EU five yrs ago - but great for R&R; cushioned couches! Up the main street there's a sweet Orthodox church with both a bell tower & a minaret, from the Ottoman empire days. That upper area has the busy real-life commercial stuff, good hole-in-the-wall souvlaki stands better & cheaper than harborside, & a big indoor municipal market. Great sit-down restaurant: Doloma, on a quiet side street between the harbor & the Maritime, leafy terrace, no view but friendly & very reasonable; we got invited into the kitchen to peruse the cooking, & neighborhood kitties napped under our table; at Kalergon 8. Behind the Naval Museum are photo-op quiet cobbled backstreets (pedestrian) of artisan & souvenir shops - think flowering vines, doting grandpas & wobbling toddlers, striking jewelry, gorgeous stonework. All this was summertime - crowds of tourists (I raise my hand) around the harbor & main drags, but calm otherwise. Look at Lonely Planet's excellent Crete book, good Chania info & street maps.

I totally agree with just catching a bus in to Chania town and exploring the Old Town area, the harbour and taking a walk out to the lighthouse.

Chania is great.

We enjoyed the archaeological museum that is directly across the square from the biggest church.

You can walk about 20 minutes towards the west for a nice beach, too.