Explore the majestic Crete!

Popular destinations & landmarks

Popular destinations & landmarks

Top things to do & see while you stay in Chania

1. Minoan’s World the 9D Experience

- Chania City -

According to multiple review platforms, Minoan’s World is rated one of the top things to do in Chania & Crete.

Experience the Minoan history like never before! Europe’s oldest civilization meets Europe’s first 3D Museum and 9D Cinema! We are a unique combination of a 3D Museum (non archaeological) with life-like statues made out of silicon and mesmerizing 3D art that comes to life through your phone’s camera, and a 9D cinema which will take you back in time with fully immersive special effects such as air blasts, rain, snow, bubbles and smoke.

Our epic movie has both a historical and mythological perspective. Multilingual movie system in 11 languages!

2. Elafonisi Beach

- Chania Prefecture -

One of the most popular and most visited places in Crete! The pink sands and the crystal clear waters make it unique! Definitely one of our suggestions for your vacation! Elafonisi is an oblong peninsula, which often breaks in two parts by water giving the impression of being a separate island.

The endangered loggerhead sea turtle and several more rare animals and plants find shelter on the island; it is strictly forbidden to remove any plants, animals, shells and sand from the area.

3. Old Market of Chania

- Chania City -

The Municipal Market of Chania is commonly known as the “Agora”. It was built between 1909 and 1913 and modelled on the covered market of Marseilles. It has a cruciform shape and space inside for a large number of shops. It was built on the site of a bastion of the Venetian fortification wall.

This was dismantled to fill in the moat and created a space to build the market on. It is still an active market and houses shops selling vegetables, fish, meat, herbs and spices, Cretan products such as cheeses, olives, raki and more. In the summer months many shops also sell tourist souvenirs. There are also a few good workmen’s cafés offering local food.

4. Balos Lagoon

- Chania Prefecture -

The famous lagoon of Balos is located approximately 56km northwest of Chania Balos is surely the mostly photographed beach in Crete, a very favorite subject of all tourist guides for Greece. Balos is famous for its turquoise waters, the wild natural beauty and the beautiful exotic scenery.

During the summer, it is visited by thousands of people, who arrive mostly by the ferries running from Kissamos port. Moreover, the area is a shelter for the protected monk seal and the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta).

5. Samaria Gorge

- Chania Prefecture -

The Samaria Gorge is the most famous trekking gorge in Europe and a part of the European E4 hiking trail. Thousands of tourists flock here daily in the summer season to walk from the top to the bottom.

For many visitors, it is the sole purpose of their visit to Crete. The length of the gorge reaches 14.5km and takes almost 5-7 hours to hike.

The gorge is locarted at the south of Chania Prefecture in the larger uninhabited area of Europe, where no roads even exist. It was created by the river flowing between the main massif of the White Mountains (Lefka Ori)

6. Loutro Village

- Chania Prefecture -

Loutro lies on the south coast of Chania regional unit in west Crete, between Chora Sfakion and Agia Roumeli, the exit to the Samaria Gorge. The whole area is known as Sfakia.

The village got its name from the Greek word for “bath,” for the many ancient baths found in the area. Loutro is peaceful – it is small and feels like a village even if 95% of the people here in the summer are visitors. No road leads here, the only way to get there is by the ferry.

7. Venizelos Graves

- Chania City -

Venizelos Graves, located in a small park on a hill. There you can enjoy the beautiful sunset with the view of the majestic city of Chania.
The spot on the hill of Prophitis Ilias (after the name of the 15th century church located there) is the resting place of one of the most illustrious Greek (and Cretan!) stateman, Eleftherios Venizelos and of his son Sophoklis.
 
The statue of Spyros Kagiales in the same park refers to a legendary feat of bravery that occured in 1897. Venizelos and a group of rebels had raised a Greek flag at that spot. The Ottoman forces had requested help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels, with the ships of the Great Powers fleet bombarding the rebel positions. A shell broke the flagpole and threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately by Kagiales.
 
Just below the small park there are two cafés (Nymphes and Koukouvaia) where you can enjoy the superb views of the bay of Chania and the White Mountains.

8. Falasarna Beach

- Chania Prefecture -

The exotic beach of Falassarna is located 59km west of Chania city. Falassarna bay hosts some of the most famous beaches in Greece, which has been awarded as the best beach of Crete and voted as one of the 10 best beaches in Europe several times in the past.

Falasarna spans a large area and consists actually of five consecutive beaches, with the two most central being the most favorite.

The sand in Falassarna is whitish, making the water color tropical. Indeed, if you’re lucky and be here on a day that is not blowing from the west (rare in west Crete) you will be enchanted by the beach and its turquoise waters.

9. Knossos Palace

- Heraklion prefecture -

Knossos is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe’s oldest city, because the Minoan civilization was the first in Europe! It was built around 2.000 BC and it is a multiple-level building with 1.500 rooms and more than 20.000 sq.m.

10. Seitan Limania Beach

- Chania Prefecture -

Stefanou beach named after the wild landscape, the steep cliffs and the strong sea streams which are considered dangerous. In the northern cove a tiny fantastic beach is shaped, with deep azure waters.

The fame of the beach has faced a rapid increase since 2010. There is a narrow steep path starting from the parking place and leading to the beach, so make sure you wear sneakers.

11. Omalos Plateau

- Chania Prefecture -

Omalos is located 38km south of Chania at an altitude of around 1,250 meters, surrounded by the high peaks of the White Mountains. The plateau is particularly beautiful in the winter, when it is frequently covered by snow.

At older times, the plateau of Omalos was the shelter of the locals and the base of rebels during the Turkish occupation & World War 2. Today, Omalos is the starting point for the thousands of visitors of the famous 18km long Samaria Gorge.

12. Therissos Gorge

- Chania Prefecture -

The gorge of Therissos is accessible along its entire length by car and has a length of 6 km with vertical imposing rock slopes and really lush vegetation.

A visit to it is combined with a walk in the village of Therissos (113 inhabitants) at the beginning of the gorge, which is built at an altitude of 580m. The heroic village of Therissos played a very important role in the modern history of Crete, as its inhabitants did not stop fighting relentlessly against the Ottomans.

In the village you can visit the Headquarters of Eleftherios Venizelos which houses the Folklore and History Museum of Therissos, but also the Museum of National Resistance of Therissos.

13. Lake Kournas

- Chania & Rethymno Prefecture -

Lake Kournas is the largest natural lake in Crete and is located in an enchanting landscape, between the west slopes of the White Mountains and the fertile plane of Georgioupolis and near the village Kournas.

Lake Kournas and its surroundings constitute a very important ecosystem for Greece, as the wider area of Apokoronas is one of the very few areas of Crete where plenty of fresh water is stored throughout the year. Moreover, visitors could either pedal or kayak in the lake. The name Kournas is believed to come from the Arabic word kurna for “lake” or “bath”.

14. Stavros Beach

- Chania Prefecture -

Stavros is a seaside village located at the Cape of Akrotiri. One characteristic feature of the area is the very steep camel-shaped mountain Vardies rising opposite the harbor of Stavros beach.

The mountain is famous, because there were filmed scenes for the film “Zorba the Greek”, where Anthony Quinn danced the famous Sirtaki Dance in 1964.

15. Chora Sfakion

- Chania Prefecture -

Chora Sfakíon or simply Sfakia is a town on the south coast of Chania in West Crete. It is the capital of the remote and mountainous region of Sfakia, and is a small town of almost 300 inhabitants. It has two small harbours, where ferries travel to the nearby coastal town of Loutro, the island of Gavdos and Samaria Gorge end-trail.

Chora Sfakíon is famous as one of the centers of resistance against the occupying forces of both the Venetians and the Turks. The impenetrable White Mountains to the north combined with the rocky beaches on the south helped the locals fight off all invaders. Anopolis, a village near Hóra Sfakíon, is the birthplace of one of the most celebrated Cretan revolutionaries, Daskalogiannis.

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