Private tour to Balos or Elafonissi.

A private west-coast day from Chania is one big beach with a driver, either Balos or Elafonissi, and then back. The two peninsulas point in opposite directions. Balos is north of Kissamos, at the end of a narrow road and a steep path. Elafonissi is southwest, a longer drive through the countryside to a lagoon you can usually walk onto. Doing both is a day of roads with two short swims and a late return to town. A driver who lets you book both without an argument is not doing you a favour. Pick the one that matches the group, and leave the other for another date or for a boat.

Choose Balos with a driver when you want the lagoon and you do not want the boat, and when everyone can walk the path down and back up. The car stops above the beach. The last stretch is on foot, in the sun, with little shade. Gramvousa, the fortress island, is not included. If the fortress is half the reason, take the boat from Kissamos and skip the private car. Choose Elafonissi when you want a long sandy shallows, an easier arrival, and a beach that suits children better than a cliff path. The drive is the tiring part, not the sand. Seven to nine hours from a Chania hotel is normal for either, and most of that is the road.

The day suits people who want one west-coast beach done properly and would rather not drive the last kilometres themselves. It suits families better at Elafonissi than at Balos. It is a poor use of a private car if you are a confident driver with time to go slowly, because the route is not complicated so much as long. It is also the wrong booking if someone in the group cannot manage heat and stairs and you have chosen Balos anyway. Say which beach you want when you enquire. “West Crete highlights” is how both beaches end up on the same sheet, and then nobody swims for long.