Old Venetian Harbor
One of the world's most famous pink beaches in Crete.
A small harbour may have existed in the past at the base of Kastelli hill but the harbour of Chania as we know it was built by the Venetians over a period of 300 years, starting in 1320. It has two distinct basins: the West basin was mainly used for unloading goods that were stored in warehouses. The eastern basin was used to build and repair ships and was effectively the docklands. It was lined up by arsenals on one side and protected from storms by a long mole leading to the lighthouse.
Old Town Restaurants
Scrumptious restaurants, not always looking directly at the port (but looking just a little further)
Chania restaurants are found almost anywhere: in the heart of Chania Town, at the old port, along with the beaches, even in small mountainous villages you will find a tavern at the square. There is no way you taste bad food in Chania and generally in all Crete. The island is famous for its amazing cuisine and all dishes are made using fresh local products.
You are sure to experience the famous Cretan tradition and warm hospitality in Chania restaurants. Do not hesitate to try some exceptional regional dishes, such as gamopilafo, syglino, tsigaristo or certainly the famous dakos salad. Also, kaltsounia is a unique delicacy served throughout Chania, in both salty and sweet version.
What are the best restaurants in Chania?
We have hand-picked the best 35 ones and marked our favorite ones with a ❤. Some restaurants propose online reservations. Just click on .
Old Town shopping
Find your way around Chania's narrow, winding streets.
The 'new town' of Chania has all the shops that you'd expect in any city (food, clothing, electric goods to name a few) and not many tourists will venture in it because the 'old town', besides being much more pleasant, traffic free and picturesque, has a huge variety of shops that are more interesting to tourists. You will find just about everything from tourist junk to very creative jewelery and pottery, imported goods from India or Indonesia, local crafts, traditional Cretan knives, olive wood, natural products made with local herbs, oils and plants and that's just to name a few! Chania is a great place for shopping and there are some real bargains to be had.
It is difficult to say exactly where you should go for shopping as there are small shops tucked in all corners of the old town (and many interesting shops are in unlikely corners) so it's best to just walk around and look. The busiest streets are Halidon (the main tourist street which descends from the Square 1866 to the harbour), Zambeliou (a small alley off Halidon at the harbour end) and Kondilaki (running parallel to Halidon) and of course "Leather Street" which is probably the busiest of all. Those streets are also the most commercial so it's definitely worth exploring elsewhere too .