Hania, the capital of the Prefecture of the same name, is not only the second biggest town in Crete with a population of 60.000 but also one of the nicest with beautiful architecture.
The Public Market, in the town centre, is an impressive building; built at the beginning of last century it includes grocery stores, butchers' shops, a fish market and vegetable shops all under one roof. Those in search of shade can find it in the lovely Public Gardens next to the market.
The old city, still surrounded by the Venetian built defence walls and bastions, has preserved to a great extent the distinctive atmosphere and charm of the Venetians, One of the most significant buildings is the large Venetian church of Agios Frankiskos that was turned into a mosque during the Turkish years, today houses the Archaeological Museum of Hania.although the Turkish signs are not missing both in the architecture and in the mosques. Picturesque narrow streets dominated by the oldest quarter of the city, Kastelli that during the Venetian epoch was the fortified citadel. The old town leads to the harbour, where more Venetian and Turkish buildings can be admired. At the entrance of the harbour, on the north-western corner, an old Venetian house hosts the Maritime Museum.
The Venetian lighthouse, built on the 16th century and restored by the Egyptians is another nice feature of this city.
The harbour is protected by a Venetian breakwater, built of huge stones. At the centre of the breakwater are the ruins of a fortress.
In the surrounding area, beautiful the views over the city and the bay from the hill of Profitis Ilias, where is the tombstone of Eleftherios Venizelos a Cretan politician.
Driving west from Hania you will visit the Akrotiri peninsula, a beautiful calcareous territory full of Carsic phenomena. There are lots of places worth seeing, in particular the Samaria Gorge within a National Park of Greece that starts at the village of Omalos, at an altitude of 1227 m. and ends after a walk of approximately 18 Km to the beach of Agia Roumeli. It was formed by a river running through the White Mountains, it is spectacular with vertical walls as high as 300m with passages as narrow as 2m in some stretches. The Gorge is open from May to the beginning of October and it takes between 5 and 6 hours walk to reach.
Hania offers a large selection of hotels and other accommodation type such as self catering apartments, guest houses and hostels.
The old town is full of restaurants and taverns, housed in renovated houses, or even in the open-air remains of old buildings. There are also plenty of bars and night clubs, in fact Hania has a very lively nightlife.
The town is served by the airport located only 14 km away; daily ferry trips connect the bay of Suda that serves as the port of Hania to Pireaus.