Individual traveller or seasonal tourist?
We never know what'll come up during our travels.
Here is your Chania Public Services Guide by:
Crete is the largest of all the Greek islands.
Travellers of all interests from all over the world visit the island for its archeological sites - monuments - museums, the picturesque beaches, the breathtaking gorges & hiking paths and of course the Cretan gastronomy - local culture.
The large size of the island with the countless activities which travellers can experience, have created an average of overnight stays per person that is higher compared to other Greek islands. More specifically, the average stay of 9 nights between arrival & departure day on Crete are creating more chances for the visitors to be in a situation where they might need to get in contact with the local public services or need crucial information.
For this reasons, we have created this Chania Public Services Guide: including phone numbers, websites, google maps, unwritten local rules, all paired with 17 years of experience from living in Chania & working in its Travel sector. Feel free to share it with others [this guide, comes as a continuation of our How to get around in Chania guide].
With both guides available online, in our website, we support & encourage the individual travellers to come & visit the most beautiful part of Crete: Chania.
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 the urban bus (line 24), taxi or private car. It has just about all the health services required by a modern hospital. The hospital's website is easy to use but only in the case that you can read Greek, as unfortunately, there is no English version (at least we didn't find the one).
email: info@chaniahospital.gr
tel: +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. Moreover, it offers valuable material and information about local history, traditions, culture and the Cretan diet. The section about Chania's history is just outstanding. Their Happening Now section does needs to be updated.
3. Citizens Services Centers (Κ.Ε.Π. or KEP in English )
In the very likely case that you'll need to deal with the Greek public sector during your stay, to issue an authorization (ex: for a person 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 the Citizens Services Centers (called KEP for short, and ΚΕΠ in Greek).
There are two of KEP offices located in Chania's City centre & both of them operate:
Weekdays 08:00-19:30
Saturday 08:00-13:30
Sunday off.
email: d.hanion@kep.gov.gr
tel: +30 28213 41800
email: d.hanion@kep.gov.gr
tel: +30 28213 45900
*Always have your passport or ID with you when you visit them.
4. Post Office Services
Downtown Chania, there are two post offices with slightly different roles.
What they do have in common is that both go slowly!
The main post office of Chania and the busiest of all. Often, there is a queue waiting on the sidewalk due to the fact that everything goes so SLOWLY in there. Avoid it if possible.
Hours: 07:30-20:30
Weekends off.
tel: +30 28210 28444
Less crowded, specialized in boxes, parcels & courier services.
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 offer wrapping paper, boxes, or tape, even if you are willing to pay extra for them.
Hours: 08:00-20:00
Saturday 08:00-14:00
Sunday off.
tel: +30 28210 95592
5.Tourists Information Office
A small office of the Greek National Tourism Organization in the town centre, with a mission to provide all kinds of information to Chania visitors. The level of services & information is very acceptable. They also offer free city maps.
Address: Kriari str. 40
Hours: 09:00-14:00.
Weekends off.
(*Maybe there are no travellers during the weekends in Chania? Who knows...!)
tel: +30 28210 92943.
6.International Airport of Chania (CHQ)
Chania's International Airport - Ioannis Daskalogiannis, took its name from the famous rebel who 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.
It was 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 second busiest airport on Crete & the sixth overall in Greece. You will not find free parking space inside the airport area but you might be lucky and find some parking space just outside.
The airport is connected with Chania city with the green KTEL busses.
tel: +30 28210 83800
7.Souda Port
Souda Port is located 6,5 kms East of Chania's city centre and it is the biggest natural port in the whole Mediterranean Sea.
A few years ago, a couple of new docks were created and slowly-slowly the port became very attractive to the Cruise Ships companies (for better or for worst?).
Daily, there is at least one ferry boat connection with the Port of Piraeus (the port of Athens) and during Summer high season, two.
The Port is connected with Chania's centre with the urban blue busses.
tel: +30 28210 89240
*Big Disadvantage: no indoors passenger station.
*Big Advantage: free parking space inside the port.
8.Emergency Contacts
Chania Police Station
All services contact: +30 28210 25700
Emergency call: 100
Address: Leoforos Irakliou 23
Chania Fire Station
All services contact: +30 28210 79340
Emergency call: 199
Address: Grigoriou E 14
Chania Ambulance
Emergency call: 166
Chania Port Police & Coast Guard
1. Old Venetian Harbour
All services contact: +30 28210 98888
Emergency call: 108
Address: Akti Tobazi 21
2. Souda Port (Central)
All services contact: +30 28210 89240
Address: Souda Port
Our Chania Public Services Guide, together with our: How to Get Around in Chania are a complete guide, that provides basic & useful information to all the travellers of Chania.
We tried to keep all information simple & clear. Please bear in mind that public services & their contact information keep updating as time passes on. In case that any update on the above information comes to your attention, please do not hesitate to contact us.
*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 looking to experience life moments - authenticity & sustainability at the core!
It has become crystal clear that nowadays, massive tourism is not the answer to our everyday problems and travel needs. Quality is more important than quantity.
This approach is becoming more & more popular, even from the top touristic destinations like Venice & Barcelona, where they are creating very specific travel rules & law frames,
in order to ''survive'' the over tourism waves.
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check our Non-touristy, Small groups Beer & Food Tours on the beautiful island of Crete.
Cheers!
-- Clyde
Vroom vroom! Toot toot!
So useful for anyone traveling to Chania. Thanks for putting this together, super useful!