Samaria Gorge, Crete Island

They claim it's the longest in Europe - that may be debatable, but by god it's beautiful! I've been down it three times and will do it again before the ould legs give out altogether. The tragedy for a lot of visitors who make the trek (about a five hour hike walking comfortably) is that they emerge on what to me is the most beautiful part of the island, only to be whisked in buses back to the touristic north! The last time I did it I booked a seat on a tour bus from Chania but said I'd quit the trip in Chora Sfakia on the south coast. This meant leaving my bags on the bus at Omalos at the head of the gorge and meeting up with them again after the hike and a ferry trip from Aghios Romeli, where the gorge emerges on the coastline. All went well - a beautiful walk and relaxing ferry ride later I made it to the bus compound in Chora Sfakia as arranged and waited - and waited - and waited. No bus! Apparently it had left early with another tour party, our party were being transferred to a new one! I booked into a pension next door to the bus stop and for the next three days kept an eye out for my poor old bus' return, making the odd (and in Greece pointless) phone call to the tour company, who denied ever having seen me or my bags in the recent past and wished me a pleasant - if lighter - stay in Crete. So I adopted the Greek attitude - after all I still had all my essentials - and decided I didn't need to be lugging all those darned clothes around in any case. I decided to move on to my next destination and checked out of the pension. As I waited for Dimitrios to add up the bill (for some reason this always seems to take quite a while) I happened to glance over towards the open front door. There, proudly perched in the darkest corner of the pension was my rucksack! Dimi then kindly explained that a rather flustered bus driver had asked could he leave it there some days previously as he had to go back to Chania in a hurry, and that some poor eejit would probably be looking for it later. So the poor eejit and his luggage were reunited in typically Cretan style, with a shrug from the Greek man, a shrug from the Irish man, an exchange of expressions signifying 'Oh well, there you go' and a brief but heartfelt 'Yassas'!

Not for the faint hearted. After quite a descent down you will trek through quite a terrain, and its very hot !

Samaria is the longest and one of the most beautiful gorges in Crete... Go there and see...

You can find more photos and info on my special Samaria page.

Beautifull hike through a impressive montainsides. Start early (5:30) and do it organized to avoid hazzle and a tired drive back to your hotel.

If you travel to Crete you must see Samaria Gorge.
The biggest gorge in Europe.
In spring you will see beautiful flowers.