In the past our customary method of getting to Chania from the Kolymbari area has been to drive into the city centre, park using the i-PARK CHANIA app, and then proceed on foot to the required destination. Being increasingly reluctant to do the former because of the traffic congestion in Chania, and the latter because of the summer heat, we investigated the KTEL urban bus network, with which we had hitherto only a minimal acquaintance.

Getting around by bus
The Chania Urban Bus website (https://chaniabus.gr/en) has a lot of basic information, and some useful interactive functions. The Tickets page provides information about the prices of tickets in the two different zones (A and B), and has maps of the boundaries of the two zones as well as of ticket sales points throughout the network. The Telematics page has a map on which one can select a particular stop to receive information about the bus routes which serve it, the time of the next departure, and a full schedule for that route for every day of the week.

Equally useful while on the move is the Chania Urban Bus app, available both from the Google Play Store and Apple, which uses the Google Maps interface and allows one to choose a location (using the phone’s location function if desired), to find the nearest bus stop. Information about the stop then appears, with a list of the different bus routes serving it, the times of the next buses, and a map of the route with intermediate stops. The listed locations are limited to those where there is actually a bus stop, so one cannot choose any particular address as one can on Google Maps. However the app does show the different possible modes of transport (car, bus, on foot), with timings, and for those going on foot there is a “preview” function which will show the best pedestrian route and the distance on the map. Selecting the “car” option will produce a map with step by step instructions as on the familiar Google Maps interface.

Registering for an account will add certain features, including the ability to buy tickets online- though we have not been able to test this, our attempts so far only producing an error message: “server is unreachable”.

It should be noted that the app’s range appears to be limited. Thus, searching for a bus from Kolymbari to the Agora in Chania produced no result – the first result inwards to Chania was from the Kalamaki bus stop in Platanias.

Finding a taxi
There are a number of taxi ranks in Chania. Ones we have used include:
– at the Agora, between the Plateia Markopoulo and Daskalogiannis street;
– on the north-east side of the Plateia Eleftherias (Dikastirion).

Finding a taxi there is a matter of luck and they are particularly scarce during the mid-morning rush. One is most likely to find a taxi at 1866 Square, which is a central point for hotels, and during the summer there is a steady stream of taxis picking up mainly tourists. Strict queuing is observed and queue-jumpers who try to pick up a taxi before it reaches the stand on the east side of the square will be ignored.

Taxis can be booked by phone or online, but many companies are geared more to airport and hotel transfers rather than short hops within the city. For the latter, a widely used company is Hermes Taxi Services, which is part of the national 18300 network. There is an 18300 app which appears not to work very well, and a local number to call which is claimed to operate 24/7: 28210 98770.

Links
Chania Urban Bus app (Greek title: Αστικές Συγκοινωνίες Χανίων)
Links to both Google and Apple at: https://chaniabus.gr/en