Chania

This trips up first-time visitors, so it is worth saying plainly: ferries dock at Souda, not at Chania's famous Old Venetian Harbour. The postcard harbour with the Egyptian lighthouse is a small, shallow basin used today only by fishing boats, wooden kaikia and yachts. Big ferries stopped using it generations ago. Souda, about 6.5-7 km east around the bay, is a modern commercial and passenger port that doubles as a NATO naval base, so expect an industrial, workmanlike feel with warships alongside the ferry quay rather than tavernas.

You cannot walk from Souda to the Old Town, but connections are easy. A city bus links the port with central Chania roughly every 20 minutes; the ride is about 15-20 minutes and costs only a couple of euros. It drops you near the Agora (covered market), a short walk from the harbour. A taxi covers the same distance in around 15 minutes for roughly 10-15 euros. Taxis queue at the port on ferry arrival, but a full boat can clear the rank quickly, so join it promptly or pre-book if you land at dawn with luggage. Long-distance KTEL buses also call at Souda if you are heading straight on to another part of Crete.

On an overnight crossing your ticket type matters more than on a two-hour daytime hop. There are three broad choices:

• Deck / economy (unreserved): the cheapest fare, giving you a seat in a common lounge and access to the decks. Adult deck tickets start around 37-52 euros. Fine for tough sleepers or short-notice budget travel, but you are not guaranteed a proper place to lie down.
• Reserved airplane-style seat: a numbered reclining seat, from roughly 41 euros. A modest upgrade that guarantees you a spot, though sleeping upright for nine hours is a compromise.
• Cabin: the option we recommend for the overnight run. Cabins come as 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-berth, plus beds sold individually in shared cabins, and you can pick an interior cabin or an exterior one with a window or porthole. They have proper beds and an en-suite bathroom. Cabins start around 86 euros and are worth it: you arrive rested for your first day.

Because the overnight ferry effectively replaces a night's hotel, a cabin fare is genuinely competitive with flying once you factor in accommodation saved. The catch is availability. Deck seats are usually there right up to departure, but cabins sell out first, especially in July and August, so book them as early as you can.

Crete is huge and its best corners, the west especially, reward having your own wheels, so the Piraeus-Chania ferry is a popular way to bring a vehicle. Car decks are standard on these conventional ships. Indicative one-way vehicle fares are roughly 85 euros and up for a car, from around 28 euros for a motorcycle, and about 157 euros for a motorhome, always on top of the per-passenger fare.

The critical rule is to book vehicle space early: car decks on the Crete routes fill fast in summer and a sold-out deck cannot be squeezed. If you would rather fly yourself and have the car meet you, note that unaccompanied vehicle transport is offered on the Piraeus-Heraklion line rather than to Chania, so that means collecting it at Heraklion. For most western-Crete trips, driving your own car aboard the overnight Chania boat is the simplest plan.

Crete has two main ferry gateways from Athens, and choosing the right one saves hours of driving. The rule of thumb is simple: arrive at the port nearest where you actually want to be.

Choose Chania (Souda) for the west: Chania Old Town, the Samaria Gorge, and the show-stopping beaches of Balos, Elafonisi and Falasarna. The Piraeus-Chania service is essentially the overnight conventional boat described above.

Choose Heraklion for central and eastern Crete, the Palace of Knossos, or if you simply want the widest choice of sailings. Heraklion is Crete's primary maritime hub, sits mid-island, and is served by both conventional overnight ferries and, seasonally, faster high-speed vessels, with crossings from Piraeus a touch shorter at around 7.5 hours. If your base is the far east, around Agios Nikolaos or the Lasithi coast, consider that Sitia has its own long-distance ferry link too. The two north-coast ports are about a 2.5-hour drive apart, so landing at the wrong end of the island is a real time cost, not a minor one.

The Piraeus-Chania line runs year-round, typically with 1-2 daily crossings. Frequency and demand swing hard with the calendar:

• July and August (peak): the busiest window. Passenger deck tickets remain easy, but cabins and vehicle spaces sell out well in advance, often two to four months ahead. If your dates are fixed and you want a cabin or car space, book as early as your plans allow.
• Shoulder season (May-June, September-October): the sweet spot. Daily sailings continue, the crossing is calmer and cooler, and you can usually secure a cabin a few weeks out.
• Winter: the route still operates most days but with reduced frequency, and rough Aegean weather can occasionally disrupt schedules. Off-season, booking a month ahead is generally plenty.

Fares are dynamic, so the same cabin can cost noticeably more on a peak Friday than a quiet Tuesday. Base deck fares hover in the mid-30s to low-50s of euros, with cabins layered on top. The earlier you commit, the better the price and the more likely you are to get the berth type you want.

The Athens overnight boat is not the only ferry serving the Chania region. Two smaller ports widen your options:

• Kissamos (Kastelli), about 40 km and 40 minutes' drive west of Chania, runs seasonal ferries down the western seaboard to the island of Kythira, tiny Antikythira, and Gythio on the Peloponnese, usually a few times a week in summer. It is a useful backdoor if you are combining Crete with the southern Peloponnese rather than Athens.
• Paleochora, on Chania's south coast, is the departure point for the little ferries to remote Gavdos, the southernmost island in Europe, several times a week in season, along with the scenic coastal boats to Sougia, Agia Roumeli (the foot of the Samaria Gorge) and Loutro.

For classic Greek-island hopping, remember that Crete sits at the bottom of the map: direct high-speed links to the Cyclades run mainly from Heraklion, so pairing Chania with Santorini or Mykonos usually means routing via Heraklion or back through Piraeus. Plan those legs around the overnight Chania boat rather than assuming a quick daytime hop straight from Souda.