Things to do in argostoli and chania crete.

Will be visiting these ports in November! Is there any must see or do in either of these ports? I haven't found any shore excursions that appear to be worth the expense. We have 8-9 hours in each port!

Thanks

Dave

The town of Chania is nice to walk around and explore. But it's not overly memorable or quaint. You'll find some shoppes, cafes, a market, a nice waterfront, etc. If nothing else comes up, it's worth a few hours. You're probably actually docking in Souda and will need to get transport to Chania in some way. When I was there a few years ago, Chania offered low-cost busses to/from the port that took about 10-15 minutes each direction. It was only a few Euros.

We tendered at Chania.

Like MeHeartCruising we found it "nice" but neither "overly memorable or quaint"

When we return there soon, we are looking at taking a ship's tour to a near bye village.

We tendered at Chania.

 

Like MeHeartCruising we found it "nice" but neither "overly memorable or quaint"

 

When we return there soon, we are looking at taking a ship's tour to a near bye village.

Thanks to both of you for your response! I didn't find the shore excursions to be appetizing, was the reason I asked for opinions on this forum. With 8 hrs in port we will have to find things to do in Chania. I am still researching to see if a private tour would be of interest.

Dave

We took the local bus from the ship to downtown Chania. It was nice to look at the shops and just stroll along the pedestrian ways. We had excellent Greek food at a cafe overlooking the harbour. I think the bus runs every half hour all day.

We took the local bus from the ship to downtown Chania. It was nice to look at the shops and just stroll along the pedestrian ways. We had excellent Greek food at a cafe overlooking the harbour. I think the bus runs every half hour all day.

Thanks! I have been doing research on Chania and find exactly what you said.

The local bus is reasonable and the town though small has quite a bit to see in one day.

Dave

My advice is "get outta town" :D

On both our visits to Crete (Souda port/Chania) we have done a private tour with Lefty. His email address is elnikigr@yahoo.com.

He first took us to a park overlooking the coast for some photo ops. There was a monument, a small chapel and a nice park-like atmosphere.

We then headed to Chania and explored the harbor area, the market was interesting (and somewhat smell = lots of fish !) We then headed into the countryside. It is really beautiful and we enjoyed the ride. We headed to Akrotiri, some Roman baths and a Ventian fort way up on a hill. We had a short time in each location. We then went to an olive oil press and had a private tour of that. We also visited a winery. In there somewhere we had a lunch at a small taverna in a wonderful and tiny village. It was wonderful.

Our second visit we did the same in the beginning but then headed to a monastery in the countryside…… we did not do the olive oil or winery tours that time but still had lunch at that wonderful taverna !!!!!

While I agree that Chania doesn't have a lot of specific things, it does have charm and a beautiful harbor area……. but the countryside is the real Crete to me.

We spent a couple of weeks in a hotel in Platanias, just west of Chania, during May 2014. We saw the cruise port and that is not far from Chania itself.

We had car hire for a week and drove quite long distances over that time with the only real memorable, local place, being the Theriso Gorge, which is just inland of Chania. There was some good walking terrain on a headland a bit further west again from Platanias, but we did do a very long walk the day we went there. However, this was all from a land based holiday, with no constraints on difficulty of transport and making sure you get back to the ship on time.

The whole coastline near to Chania consisted of, (fairly shabby in places), tourist accomodation and restaurants, with our hotel probably being the best of of about two or three good standard hotels around and, even then, we would not return to it, or the immediate area it was in.

Chania, was a tourity town with a smallish bay lined with tourist restaurants, but there were other bits of seafront which were less tourisy and there was quite a large, pleasant, old town area there with some restaurants etc. I would not call Chania shabby. Hence I would suggest you would be much better just spending the day strolling around Chania itself - it is touristy, but not as large or spoilt as most tourist resorts in the Med.

If you have a strong wish to get out of town, the only place I would recommend is the Theriso Gorge, which was impressive, but would need car hire, a trip of some kind or a local noddy train to get there. The noddy train would take quite a while to get there and back, you would have a very limited amount of free time in the gorge from the train and it leaves from the surrounding hotel areas and I am not sure even sure that it would be easy to get to, from a cruise ship.

He first took us to a park overlooking the coast for some photo ops. There was a monument, a small chapel and a nice park-like atmosphere.

We then headed to Chania and explored the harbor area, the market was interesting (and somewhat smell = lots of fish !) We then headed into the countryside. It is really beautiful and we enjoyed the ride. We headed to Akrotiri, some Roman baths and a Ventian fort way up on a hill. We had a short time in each location. We then went to an olive oil press and had a private tour of that. We also visited a winery. In there somewhere we had a lunch at a small taverna in a wonderful and tiny village. It was wonderful.

 

Our second visit we did the same in the beginning but then headed to a monastery in the countryside…… we did not do the olive oil or winery tours that time but still had lunch at that wonderful taverna !!!!!

 

While I agree that Chania doesn't have a lot of specific things, it does have charm and a beautiful harbor area……. but the countryside is the real Crete to me.

Akrotiri? I think you may mean Argiroupolis -- there are Roman baths there and in the vicinity of Rethymnon, the old Venetian town with the fort at the top on a high hill.

I didn't think Chania was too impressive. I did like Rethymnon, but it's a bit of a ride there and back.

Akrotiri? I think you may mean Argiroupolis -- there are Roman baths there and in the vicinity of Rethymnon, the old Venetian town with the fort at the top on a high hill.

 

I didn't think Chania was too impressive. I did like Rethymnon, but it's a bit of a ride there and back.

Thanks to all of you for your input! We have decided to take a leisurely day in Chania. It is small enough to be able to see everything we deem of interest and enjoy a meal and beverage on the waterfront.

We are also sailing into Argostoli Greece on the way back to Venice. Still waiting for someone who has experienced this port to provide their opinion.

Dave

Akrotiri? I think you may mean Argiroupolis -- there are Roman baths there and in the vicinity of Rethymnon, the old Venetian town with the fort at the top on a high hill.

 

I didn't think Chania was too impressive. I did like Rethymnon, but it's a bit of a ride there and back.

Oops. Mental moment - sorry. I meant Aptera. At least they both start with an "A" LOL We visited the ancient Minoan amphitheater (altho there wasnt much left) as dh is fascinated by Minoan history……..

We have actually entertained the idea of an extended land based visit to Crete we liked it so much. Not on the books yet but still being entertained :D

If you have a strong wish to get out of town, the only place I would recommend is the Theriso Gorge, which was impressive, but would need car hire, a trip of some kind or a local noddy train to get there. The noddy train would take quite a while to get there and back, you would have a very limited amount of free time in the gorge from the train and it leaves from the surrounding hotel areas and I am not sure even sure that it would be easy to get to, from a cruise ship.

I have to ask……what is a local noddy train ?

Sorry that may be a British term. You may call it a 'road train', or a 'tourist train', but you have probably seen something similar. Basically it is a train engine style vehicle that pulls train style carriages that are open at the sides. They travel fairly slowly along roads and are often used to convey tourists around hotel or tourist areas.

Noddy is a character in a series of childrens books which were very popular in the 50's and 60's over here, that depicted a toy town type of village. It is not a form of transport we would normally use and I must admit we were very surprised to see one used on inland roads in Crete and travelling the distance it was doing.

This is the sort of thing I mean:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackless_train

Sorry that may be a British term. You may call it a 'road train', or a 'tourist train', but you have probably seen something similar. Basically it is a train engine style vehicle that pulls train style carriages that are open at the sides. They travel fairly slowly along roads and are often used to convey tourists around hotel or tourist areas.

 

Noddy is a character in a series of childrens books which were very popular in the 50's and 60's over here, that depicted a toy town type of village. It is not a form of transport we would normally use and I must admit we were very surprised to see one used on inland roads in Crete and travelling the distance it was doing.

 

This is the sort of thing I mean:-

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackless_train

Ok…that is what I thought you meant but the term Noddy threw me off…….

We usually call them trolley trains……thanks

What did you end doing in Chania and Argostoli. I will be there this November (hopefully :) )

Thanks

Argostoli is a small city of Kefalonia island. You can't miss melisani cave(A magic place!), Myrtos beach (stunning view and wonderful sea) , asos or assos (a small traditional village next to the sea) and Fiskardo. Just search these places in google.Kefalonia is a unique island is Greece and very different from Santorini and Mykonos.

Any recommendations for young children? Four years old. The trolley train may be of use.

Texancruzer

We stayed for a week in Crete in June 2014 and loved it. We flew into Heraklion which us quite a distance from Chania.

We booked the Hotel Miramare in the small resort of Sissi, which we really liked. We had a hire car, so we're able to see a lot of the island. The central plateau is lovely as it is pretty and reasonably unspoilt.

The area around Aghios Nikolaus is also nice and Elounda is popular too. I had been to the western side of Crete some years ago, but think I preferred the eastern part.