Somewhere between the second coffee and the last pastry on a Chania harbor terrace, the question comes up: how do we get to Balos? The lagoon is the beach that fills the photos on every hotel lobby wall in town. The short answer is that you leave Chania by road or by sea, and the driving papers you carry matter if you choose the wheel.
How do you get from Chania to Balos?
You get from Chania to Balos by heading out of the city on the island’s northwest coast and then either driving the rest of the way yourself or handing the journey to a boat or an organized excursion. Chania sits on the northwest coast of Crete and is the capital of its regional unit. That makes it a natural starting point, since the lagoon belongs to the same part of the island.
The morning begins in town, so it helps to know what you are leaving. The old town is a tangle of stone-built alleys with Venetian mansions, old hammams, minarets, churches, bougainvillea, and fountains with Ottoman inscriptions. Many travelers walk through it at breakfast time, then collect a car, a seat on a bus or a place on an excursion.
If you drive yourself
Driving puts the day in your hands. You leave Chania when you like, stop where you like and return when you decide the beach has had enough of you. The one thing that cannot be improvised is paperwork: a U.S. visitor driving in Greece carries a valid U.S. driver’s license and an international driver’s permit.
That permit applies even if the rental company never asks to see it. Plan the errand before you fly, because it is arranged in the United States and not on the island.
If you go by sea
The other way to reach the lagoon is by water, on a boat that carries you along the coast instead of over it. For many people this is the appeal. You trade the steering wheel for a deck, and the first sight of the lagoon comes from the water, with the coastline unrolling beside you.
Boat departures, operators, schedules and fares are not something to guess at from a distance. Ask the people who sell the crossing about their own timetable and their own conditions. What stays constant is the idea: a trip by sea ends at the lagoon, and you walk off a boat onto the beach.
If you are starting from elsewhere on Crete
Not everyone begins in Chania. Rethymno lies about 43 miles east of the city, and Heraklion about 90 miles east of it, so a traveler based in either town first has to reach Chania’s side of the island before the Balos part of the day even starts.
That is worth keeping in mind when you pick a base. Staying in Chania itself means your day starts at the harbor and the old town, and the long stretch of road comes after a night’s sleep and not before it.
Which options are there?
The options come down to three kinds of trip: your own car, a boat, or an excursion that bundles the journey for you. Each one changes what the day feels like more than where it ends, so it is worth choosing by temperament and not by a schedule.
A car of your own
A car suits someone who likes to wander. You can stop for coffee in a village, turn around at a viewpoint that looks promising or linger over lunch without watching a clock. The cost of that freedom is that you do the navigating and the parking, and you carry the responsibility for the papers.
A traveler who drives needs the U.S. license and the international permit together. With those in the glove compartment, the rest of the day is about the road, the coast and the lagoon at the end of it.
A boat to the lagoon
A boat suits someone who would rather watch than steer. The coast passes beside you, the day has a clear start and a clear return, and nobody has to find a place to leave a car. It is also the choice for travelers who would rather skip the permit errand altogether.
Details such as how the boat is booked, when it leaves and what it costs belong to the company that runs it. Before you commit, ask that company directly for each of those points and compare what you hear.
An organized excursion
An excursion packages the whole thing, so you meet a group, follow a plan and are brought home again. It appeals to people who dislike logistics, who are traveling alone, or who want one less decision in a day already full of them.
An organized excursion, and treat the choice as one of style: a car gives you freedom, a boat gives you the water, and an excursion gives you company and a ready-made plan.
What should you know before you travel from Chania to Balos?
Before you travel from Chania to Balos, the most important thing to know is what you need if you intend to drive: a valid U.S. driver’s license and an international driver’s permit. Everything else, from the beach itself to the choice of boat, can be decided on the day.
The driving papers
U.S. visitors driving in Greece carry both documents, even if the rental company does not ask to see the permit. The two papers travel together, and having only one of them is not the same as having both.
The permit has to be obtained at home. The U.S. Embassy in Greece does not issue international driver’s permits, so the place to get one is in the United States, from the American Automobile Association or the American Automobile Touring Alliance. Doing this before you leave means the counter in Chania is a formality, not a problem.
Choosing a base
Chania is a pleasant place to sleep before a day at the lagoon. The old town rewards an evening walk, with its Venetian mansions, its minarets and its fountains carrying Ottoman inscriptions, and Choosing a base.
Starting the Balos day from here keeps things simple. You wake up in the city that anchors the northwest coast, you decide between car, boat and excursion over breakfast, and the rest follows from that decision.
What the day asks of you
Balos is a day built around a beach, so the questions are practical ones. Decide how you will get there before you go to bed, settle the permit question if a car is involved and keep your plans loose enough to let the lagoon set the pace.
, and keep the tone of the trip where it belongs: a long day by the water at the end of a morning in one of Crete’s most atmospheric old towns.
Good to know before you go
Greece uses the euro, so a day trip out of Chania is paid for in euros, whether the money goes toward a rental car, a boat seat or lunch near the beach. The one document worth sorting out at home is the international driver’s permit, which has to come from the United States. Beyond that, the day is yours to shape around the lagoon.
Sources
- Visit Greece (GNTO), Chania (https://www.visitgreece.gr/islands/crete/chania/), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Chania (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chania), checked October 12, 2026
- U.S. Department of State, Greece travel information, travel and transportation (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Greece.html), checked October 12, 2026
- Hellenic Train (https://www.hellenictrain.gr/en), checked October 12, 2026
- Wikipedia, Egnatia Odos (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egnatia_Odos), checked October 12, 2026