The island of Crete

The island

Crete is a small paradise in the southern Aegean, with golden sand beaches surrounded by crystal blue waters. A unique island ideal for couples, singles and groups of friends who want to escape from the usual holiday crowds. Whatever you are looking for, Crete provides a friendly, relaxed haven of peace and outstanding natural beauty. You can arrange daily trips to places with turquoise waters, ideal to forget the rest of the world, lay under the sun and feel the smooth wind breeze.

Along the streets of Chania town you will find cafes, taverns with traditional food and souvenir shops Following the streets to the old harbor you will reach the Byzantine, Arab and Venetian "heart" of this town, where everybody meets in the evening for coffee, chat, food and a drink.

History and Geography

The island of Crete (covers an area of 8,261 km² and has a shoreline of 1,050 km) is the largest island in Greece and the 5th largest island in the Mediterranean. It is divided in four counties (Chania, Rethimno, Heraklion and Lasithi) and has approximately 600,000 residents (2003). It is located in a significant geographical position between Europe, Asia and Africa.

The county of Chania lies on the west end of Crete. It is surrounded by the Cretan sea on the north, the Ionian sea on the West, and the Libyan sea on the south, while on the east it has a common border with the county of Rethimno. Its area is 2,376 km² and has a mountainous terrain. The main mountain range is Lefka Ori (White Mountains) which stretches for 45 km from East to West and for 35 km from North to South. It has 111 peaks ranging in height from 2,000 m to 2,453 m. The central part of these mountains ends up into the Libyan Sea to the South and is split by deep gorges and ravines (one of them is the famous Samaria Gorge). Also the coasts of the region are of great tourist interest with large bays and endless sandy beaches.

The town of Chania is the capital of the county and the second largest in population town (population 70,000) of the island after Heraklion. It is located on the north side of the county and is divided into the New Town and the Old Town. The New Town has an excellent city-plan with wide streets, fine buildings, an indoor market located in the center of the city, many squares and parks.

Activities

There are lot of activities which you can enjoy in Chania, such as:

• Explore the city by foot or bycicle. If you rent a vehicle, you can go further and discover the broader Chania area (there's a quite interesting 2,376 km² area to cover!)
• Make the island's round trip with a traditional boat.
• Hire a Windsurf or sea canoe that are available in every beach -not the remote ones though!
• Watch the latest movies of this winter under the stars of the open-air summer cinemas of Chania.
• Join the exciting nightlife.
• Do shopping.You will find traditional souvenirs and anything you need for your holiday.
• Enjoy the food. Crete is well known for its daily fresh seafood as well as its tastefull traditional dishes. Generally all the taverns and restaurants will satisfy you with quality, but we will be glad to offer you the very best in our own hotel!

Transportation

Chania has regular bus connection with the other towns of Crete and daily connections to Athens, Thessaloniki and other towns, by boat and by plane.

By airplane: The airport of Chania is located in Akrotiri, 15 km from the town of Chania. Every day there are several domestic flights to Athens and Thessaloniki. During the summer period Chania is connected to many international destinations through charter flights.

By boat: Souda bay, 7 km from the town of Chania, is daily connected by boat to Piraeus (approx. 6-10 hours). During the summertime both night and day trips take place, while in the wintertime only night trips. Furthermore, in certain days one could take the boat from Kasteli (40 km from Chania) to Peloponnese.

By bus: The intercity bus service (KTEL) runs several buses daily connecting Chania with Rethimnon and Heraklion. Also, several times a week one could travel to Thessaloniki by bus (the bus leaves the bus-station to Souda bay, then by boat to Piraeus, and finally by the same bus to Thessaloniki).

Weather

Air and Water temperature ranges during summer as the following table depicts (degrees Celcious):

You can check on-line the weather in our area by selecting the following links, which considered to be the most accurate. All of them will open a new window:

National Center for Marine research (Greece and Crete)
National Technological University of Athens (Europe and Greece)
Yahoo.com (simple forecast for the island of Crete)