Individual traveller or seasonal tourist?
You never know what'll come up.
Here is your Chania Public Services Guide by
A new Travel Season is on. Summer is rising, while new travellers, visitors & tourists arrive every day on our beautiful island; Crete.
The large size of the island (the biggest of all Greek islands) together with a high number of historical sites, monuments, museums, beautiful beaches, gorges, hiking paths and of course the Cretan gastronomy & local culture, have created an average of overnight stays per person, that is higher compared with the other Greek islands..
More specifically, with an average stay of 8,2 nights between arrival & departure time, it is clear that the visitors of Crete have more chances of being in a situation where they might need to contact a public service department or need crucial information.
If your visit on the island is through a big Overseas Tour Operator, then you'll probably have the chance to get the information or the assistance you might need through your local representative at the lobby of your hotel.
For the rest; individual travellers, visitors, hikers or digital nomads, here is your
Chania Public Services guide, including tips, websites, google maps, unwritten local rules paired with 17 years of experience from living in Chania & working in its Travel sector. This guide, comes as a continuation of our: How to get around in Chania, guide which we released recently. With both guides available online, through our website, we support & encourage more individual travellers to visit the beautiful island of Crete & more specifically - Chania.
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Let's start with the basics.
1. General Hospital of Chania
Chania's General Hospital is located 4 kms. South of Chania's city centre & it is easily accessible by urban busses (lines 17 & 24), by taxi or your private car. It has just about all the health services required by a modern hospital.
The new hospital's website is easy to use but only in the case you can read the Greek language, as unfortunately, there is no English version (at least we didn't find the version).
You may contact them by email : info@chaniahospital.gr or
call at : +30 28213 42000 , +30 28210 22000.
Prepare to be patient with your telephone call!
2. Chania Tourism Bureau
The Chania tourism website has lots of useful information including monuments, beaches, gorges, museums, archaeological sites & many more. There are also local events, entertainment and activities taking place in Chania. Moreover, it offers valuable material and information about the local history, traditions, culture, the Cretan diet and the recent news of the Municipality. The section about Chania's history is just great.
3. Citizens Services Centers (Κ.Ε.Π. or KEP in English )
In the very likely case in which during your stay, you'll need to deal with the Greek Governmental public sector or you'll need to issue an authorization (ex: to a person in order to act on your behalf), to make a written statement (ex: you are permanent living abroad) and many more other bureaucratic procedures (we have many of them in Greece!). You will have to visit one of Citizens Services Centers (shortly called KEP, in Greek language: ΚΕΠ).
There are two of these offices that are located in Chania City centre & both operate:
Weekdays 08:00-19:30, Saturday 08:00-13:30, Sunday off.
email: d.hanion@kep.gov.gr
tel: 0030 28213 41800
email: n.hanion@kep.gov.gr
tel: 0030 28213 45900
Always have your passport or ID with you when you visit them.
4. Post Services
Downtown Chania, there are three post offices with slightly different roles.
What they do have in common is that all go slowly!
The main post office and the busiest of all. Sometimes there is a queue waiting on the sidewalk due to the fact that everything goes so SLOW in there. Avoid it if possible.
Hours, 07:30-14:45.
Weekends off.
Less crowded, specialized in boxes & parcels.
Make sure that everything you need to send is wrapped & taped ahead of time, as you may face an unpleasant surprise otherwise (they do not provide wrapping paper, packing boxes or tape, not even for an extra cost). Hours, 08:00-20:00
Saturday 08:00-14:00
Sunday off.
The smallest of all three.
Specialized in services with high priority, fast delivery & courier.
Good thing that there is an online games and betting shop just next door (the OPAP), where you can spend your time while waiting. Opening hours Weekdays, 07:30-14:45
Weekends off.
5.Tourists Information Office
A small office in the town centre, connected with the Greek National Tourism Organization, with as a mission to provide information of all kind, to the visitors of Chania. The level of services & information is very acceptable. They also offer free city maps.
It is open ONLY weekdays 09:00-14:00 but not on weekends (maybe there are no travellers during the weekends in Chania? Who knows...).
Address: Kriari str. 40
You may reach them by telephone also at : +30 28210 92943.
6.International Airport of Chania (CHQ)
Chania's International Airport - Ioannis Daskalogiannis took its name from the famous rebel that fought against the Ottoman rule occupation in the 18th century.
It is located 14kms away from Chania in the Akrotiri peninsula area.
The IATA code used for the international airport of Chania is CHQ.
Recently renovated and largely expanded its passengers terminal.
During the Summer season, it is highly busy. Charters, low cost, international & domestic flights are taking off or landing every few minutes. It is the 2nd busiest airport on Crete & the 6th overall in Greece.
You will not find free parking inside the airport area but you may be lucky and find some parking space just outside.
There is one official website & one unofficial website. They are both good with lot of information. The airport is connected with Chania city with the green KTEL busses.
7.Souda Port
Souda Port, located 6,5 kms. East of Chania City, is the biggest natural port in the Mediterranean Sea.
A few years ago, a couple of new docks were created and slowly-slowly the port became attractive to the massive Cruise Ships companies & agents (for good or for bad?).
Big Disadvantage:
no indoors passenger station.
Big Advantage:
free parking space inside the port.
Every day there is, at least one, ferry boat, connecting Souda & Piraeus Port (the port of Athens) and during Summer two to three.
No official website. The Port is connected with Chania's centre with the urban blue busses.
8.Emergency Contacts
Chania Police Headquarters
All services contact: +30 28210 25700
Emergency call: 100
Address: Leoforos Irakliou 23
Chania Fire station Headquarters
All services contact: +30 28210 79340
Emergency call: 199
Address: Grigoriou E 14
Ambulance
Emergency call: 166
Port Police & Hellenic Coast Guard
1. Old venetian Harbour
All services contact: +30 28210 98888
Emergency call: 108
Address: Akti Tobazi 21
2. Souda Port
All services contact: +30 28210 89240
Address: Souda Port
Our Chania Public Services Guide is the 2nd part of the guide Part 1: How to Get Around in Chania) which we created as an online information centre for all travellers of Chania.
We tried to keep all information simple, clear and to give an every day useful aspects.
Please bear in mind that public services & their contact information keep updating as time passes on.
On the other hand, the emergency three digit numbers ( 100 for Police, 199 for Fire Station & 166 for Ambulance) will not change.
We, at Bonnie and Clyde Urban Tours, believe that local societies can evolve for the better, as long as they invest in individual travellers and small groups of people that are looking to experience life moments - authenticity & sustainability to the core!
It has become more than clear in our days that massive tourism is not the answer to our everyday problems. Quality is more important than quantity.
This approach is becoming more and more popular, even from top tourist destinations like Venice, which now creates specific travel rules & law frame, in a place that used to have almost none.
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check our Non-touristy, Small groups Beer & Food Tours in beautiful Crete.
