Hi. We have a cruise stop at Chania in Crete and I was planning on renting a car and driving to Falasarna beach. Then I was told it isn't a good idea to skip Chaina for the beach. What do you all think?

I have no idea how I accidentily tagged Albania!

Chania has lots of charm, with the feel of a Venetian port town. But I guess the bottom line is, how important is it to you to get to a beach as opposed to spending the time in an historical town?

Falasarna is a very nice beach, it would take about an hour to get there. What you can do there is lying on the beach and maybe have lunch in one of the nearby restaurants.

Being in a marvelous city like Chania, i personally believe that it would be a pity not to visit the city, which has a lot of offer. If you want to swim, there are nearby beaches, that can be reached with a bus within 15 minutes.

Is it easy to get a cab from the cruise port in Souda into Chaina? I was told the cab drivers in Athens are very aggressive and don't want to merely shuttle tourists, but also give tours. Will we encounter this from cab drivers in Chaina, too?

When cruise ship calls at Souda, the city of Chania provides continuous shuttle buses from Souda port to Chania's old town center for 3Euro/pp round trip. You'll not need a taxi, and will have a good time visiting Chania.
We were just there in May on a Saturday, we also walked through a bountiful produce/fruit/meat/seafood outdoor market on the streets to the east of the old town center. However, I don't know if it was a daily market or just on Saturday.

The choice is yours. If I only had half a day, much as I love beaches, I'd do Chania. It's a lovely and interesting town. And shuttle bus or no shuttle bus, you won't have a problem with taxi drivers, I don't think.

I can't imagine wanting to fuss around with renting a car, driving to Falasarna, driving back, returning the rental, all in a half day. Chania is lovely and well worth the visit.

I agree with all posts - you wont have enough time. Chania is great - there is shopping, the harbor, good food - plenty to occupy your time for a 1/2 day.

While the pictures of the Crete beaches look so nice, I am very glad we chose to stay and explore Chania.

It is a great small town, with interesting narrow streets and a picturesque harbor. I also liked the small archeology museum there.