Exporing Crete - Chania City

*Car hire was gifted by Kiani Beach Resort*

Our recent visit to Crete and stay at Kiani Beach Resort (read about our stay here) was our first time in Greece and we fell in love with the country and their amazing hospitality.  I have written about our stay in the resort but I wanted to write about the other parts of the island we visited and we spent a day in the city of Chania

Kiani Beach Resort is located around a 25 minute drive from Chania city and we hired a car from Kalives Travel and drove to the city on a Sunday morning.  We hadn't really paid attention to the days of the weekend and as we were leaving someone mentioned that not everything would be open on a Sunday but all the cafes and restaurants would be and we love wandering the streets exploring so we headed over.  We arrived at the port and immediately spotted the famous Venetian lighthouse.  You can walk along to see it up close along the paved wall and we loved stopping at the ruins along the way.  The walk gives you a different view back on the main port too and we spotted buildings we wanted to go and explore afterwards.

All along the sea front there are restaurants and cafes serving traditional Greek food as well as other cuisines and we found somewhere that catered for even our fussy eaters for lunch.  The buildings are bright and full of personality and we found ruins that have been preserved alongside a beautiful Mosque and plenty of space for the children to run around and play with the street cats.  

Walking along the port the children were fascinated by the floating shops selling shells, sea sponges and all manner of things made from shells.  We were passed every few minutes by horse and carts carrying tourists around the main areas.

In the main port there were all sorts of boat trips you can take and we decided to go on a glass bottom boat tour around the harbour and then out to a tiny island with an interesting history.  Cora fell asleep before we made it on the boat (making us wish we had brought a buggy with us!) but the boys loved heading out to see and watching the fish below, even more when the diver came under our boat with fish food to feed them in the clear waters.  All three boys were allowed some of the fish food to put in the water at the back of the boat to feed them themselves too. We paid 30 Euros for the six of us and the trip lasted around one hour.  

 The car we hired made getting home so much easier when everyone got a bit tired! (You might be able to see Finn asleep in the very back.)  They sorted out all the car seats we needed and delivered the car to the reception of the hotel for us.  I would really recommend a visit to the city if you are staying at Kiani Beach and with the close proximity you could go for just a few hours or a full day.