This post is not sponsored or affiliated.
My partner and I visited Western Crete (Greece) for a week long vacation in spring (late March to early April) 2026. Our base was in the charming city of Chania, where we spent mornings on our roof terrace, and afternoons and evenings strolling around town. Later in the week we rented a car and ventured up in the mountains and out in nature.
This post is an inspirational post to visit Crete outside the busy summer season and explore what Crete offers beyond the beaches, restaurants and bars. I will not be covering Balos beach (I’ve never went there!), which I read is basically ruined because of huge crowds in a once-pristine lagune.
While summer in Greece can be tempting for many, the hot and dry climate does not offer good conditions for exploring nature and going hiking. It is far better to visit Crete during spring, and you will discover that the tall mountains are covered in snow, and wild flowers bloom all around. It is also a chance to visit Crete with much fewer crowds, although your beach time gets compromised because of less warm weather.
I have visited Crete around five times before with my family before I turned 18, so it had been a while since – but this was my first time to visit Crete with my own agenda!
Table of contents
Chania and our fantastic rooftop terrace
We spent a week at a charming hotel on the busy Old Venetian Harbor in Chania, in the first row with a gorgeous view of the harbor. On the mornings where we did not have rain, we followed the life of the busy harbor from the rooftop terrace.
I had booked the cheapest room of the hotel, but for some reason we got promoted to one of the rooms at the top floor – with hamam and the terrace!
Things to do in Chania, Crete
There are so many charming, narrow streets and alleys around Chania. Some of them are filled with mostly super touristic souvenirs, especially the parallel roads from the main bus station down towards a fountain near the old port. It’s fairly easy to find souvenirs with this big of a selection!
Near our hotel, there were many ceramics shops with cute homemade ceramics. I visited some of them 3-4 times before deciding on what ceramics I wanted to bring home! I bought the prettiest little espresso cup and a small milk container.
On rainy days you can visit the Maritime Museum in the Old Venetian Harbor. It is mostly about the maritime war history, but also features a nice collection of shells. We spent probably 1.5 hours at the museum and then had coffee outside at a local café.
Stroll around the Old Venetian Harbor in Chania
Most of the buildings of the Venetian style are freely accessible and are integrated in the infrastructure. There are the east and west Venetian walls, and fortresses and old dry docks and the old mosque from when Crete was occupied by the Ottomans.
Midday break and lunch at Kipos Café
Kipos Café in Chania is a hidden gem. It has a cosy vibe and is generally a polished place where the locals also enjoy a quiet time or taking meetings over coffee or lunch. Opt to sit inside the fireplace heated hall, or enjoy your meal or beverage outside if the weather allows.
Car rental in Chania
After a few days of strolling around in Chania, we decided to rent a car for four days.
I use the website ‘rental cars’ to compare deals from different providers. It’s possible to get some good last minute deals outside the busy tourist season. We had a great experience with our car rental!
Hike around Kolymbari
On our first day with the car, we were treated with really pleasant and sunny weather. I had studied some books I had borrowed from the library to find a good-and-not-too-difficult hiking route for us, where we could see some birds as well (cross checking with ebird.org observations!).
We decided to drive to Kolymbari, one of the peninsulas west of Chania, and parked our car at the ferry parking lot.
Then we walked on the winding paved road along the ocean. Not too many cars passed at this time of year during our hike.
We hiked along olive groves and citrus trees, and we met some free-roaming sheep along the way. We enjoyed some gorgeous views of the snow-capped mountains and were rewarded with some birds of prey that I had difficulty identifying 😅.
Because we visited during the off-season, the temperatures were pleasant and we could hike during mid-day. But when we reached a mountain village, the restaurants and small shops were still closed for the season.
Instead we had our lunch at a restaurant in Kolymbari, once we had returned from our hike.
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Chania backcountry: Mountains and lakeside birding
I had checked eBird.org for local birding hotspots close to Chania, and it turned out ‘Agia artificial lake’ was ranking as the number one hotspot for number of bird species. In a couple of hours I managed to identify only 18 species (out of 181 total) – which I blame on the season 😉
We came by a bakery (which was full of locals!) and bought some breakfast (feta pie and croissants – yum!) and coffee to-go. Then we continued to Lake Agia. We planned on having breakfast or lunch at one of the two cafés which are located right at the lakeside, but they were unfortunately closed. After birding around the lake, we continued by car up in the mountains north of Chania, where I was hoping to spot some vultures and maybe go for a light hike.
Sarakina Gorge – off the beaten path of the Samaria
Close to the village of Meskla we found the entrance to the Sarakina Gorge, an intriguing place for a hike. (Not to be confused with the Sarakina Gorge of south-western Crete, near the coastal town of Myrtos!)
This hike is not very well known. I’ve always wanted to hike in the Samaria Gorge, but during March it was not safe to visit the Samaria because of the poor road conditions and unpredictable weather during this time of year.
On this website, it is stated the Sarakina Gorge by Meskla is a short and fairly easy hike – but we did not go very far, and therefore I cannot speak of its’ condition or difficulty. We met several people older than us that seemed well prepared to go for it. There was cool water flowing through the rocks in the ravine and we did not feel a strong desire to push through, and therefore we only went for a small peak. Now that I know it is a short and easy hike, I will be prepared if I would be back another time 🙂
We experienced a Sahara sandstorm!
On the day we visited an olive mill west of Chania, I was planning for us to continue driving in the mountains. But for safety, I checked my weather app, Windy, and the radar showed that a massive rain storm was heading our way! So we quickly decided to drive back to Chania for safety. On our way back the visibility was suddenly much reduced, and it turned out not to be a rain storm – but a sand storm with sahara sand!
We decided to end our road-trip adventure, then parked our car and took a relaxing afternoon in our lovely room at Belmondo. Later we decided to venture outside to experience the sandstorm, but it was not comfortable (and probably not healthy) to be outside, at least without a face mask.
The colors of the images below are extremely exaggerated. It does not at all depict what it was like to be in Chania – yes it was like a thick dusty cloud was covering the sky, but the color was more yellow-beige than this otherworldly orange.
The following day we had to return our car to the rental company – and discovered how dusty all the cars of Chania were! Luckily the rental car guy did not ask for us to wash the car, as he had to wash all the other cars anyway. Phew!
Final thoughts and wrap-up
It was a walk down memory lane for me and my partner to visit Chania again. We have both been here separately as children with our respective parents, and both share past melt-downs from spending way too much time at the bus station in Chania. It was difficult to recognize the bus station, it seemed much smaller than I remember!
It was such a joy to experience the mountains of Western Crete again, especially cloaked in white snow and sometimes lush green trees and bushes. My only disappointment was not seeing any vultures at all… I think I have to go back during warmer times of the year and spend even more time in the mountains. I was lucky that my partner drove us around in the rental car, I would not have the courage to do that myself in Greece!
Have you visited Chania, or have you gone road-tripping in the mountains of Western Crete? Let me know what you think of this post, or share your insights in the comment below 🙂
*None of the mentioned places or experiences in this post were sponsored.
© All photos are my own unless stated and may not be used without permission.
