Samaria Gorge Chania-rondleiding van een hele dag

Second time doing the gorge, forgot what a long day it was. The first stretch is the hardest as all down hill and quite slippery. Great challenge, very hot and exhausting. Once you leave the gorge it’s a long walk to the meeting point. Then there’s a long ferry trip and then back to resort. Long long day. Very rewarding once completed.

A wonderful trip to Samaria gorge- early start, hot and tiring but well worth it. Our guide Harry was helpful and well organised, everything was very smooth. Well, apart from a minor accident when the bus reversed the wrong way up a two lane road in Chania! (Would have been 5 stars without that!). Also good value considering the convenient pick up and drop off.

Our guide, Sara, was wonderful. It was a long, and at times, tiring for two 70+ year olds, but it was worth the effort.

The hike was amazing swimming in the ocean after a lung hot hike was spectacular. Yes the long day is really, really worth it. However, make sure that you get the full package somehow on Viator. I was steered long for the first time and then had to purchase my park pass and my ferry pass separately, which which is rather frustrating. You have to get the park pass and you have to get the ferry pass so I have no idea why Viator did not just include that. Our guide was great very organized.

Tour was great! Very well organized and great communication with the company. Pick up was easy and right on time. Our tour guide Sara was wonderful. Hike is beautiful but very hard on the knees!

Go in the spring- beautiful and perfect temperature and river not dried up Hire walking poles as it is difficult terrain and they make a huge difference - gives you 4 legs like one of the goats Carry one bottle of water and refill from the springs and river as totally clean and fresh Only make short rest stops and eat small snacks - don’t do a long picnic break as your muscles won’t want to get going again and you don’t want to feel full. Make sure you have plenty of battery in your phone, or 2 phones as you take so many photos it uses your battery fast Take a hat If you are struggling at the end, after you have walked 1km on exit there is a minibus that is 3€ that will take you to the village saving you 2km walk. The Kri Kri bar/restaurant is lovely- family run and we had a lovely late lunch/early dinner there, and sat drinking beer till we went for the ferry. Sarah was an amazing guide, really informative and stayed at the rear helping stragglers. Be aware it is the hardest walk I have ever done. I have walked far further than that, I walk every day, but this was hard because of the terrain. I did fall once because the rocks move- you need to be vigilant. Stop to admire the scenery, don’t walk and admire at the same time as you need to watch your footing. Viator and Elafonisi company were excellent.

After an early departure at about 6 am we first stopped at Omalos around 8 to have breakfast and then we headed to the entrance of Samaria National Park. Our guide was Christina who is very passionate about Samaria and has hiked the Gorge many times before. It is definitely a very demanding hike, about 15km mostly downhill walking on rocks that can be slippery and therefore dangerous. Once I slipped and fell and also twisted my ankle but got medical treatment (pack of ice, bandage, painkiller) by a licensed doctor at the next rest stop. I also met Christina there who kindly lent me her personal walking sticks that turned out to be very helpful on the remainder of the hike. I definitely recommend the tour if you're fit enough and have good hiking shoes because the scenery is breathtaking. Be aware it's a long hike where accidents can happen but you'll be awarded by the beautiful landscapes and a greek lunch (own cost) in Agia Roumeli. After the lunch we hopped on a ferry to Sougia where our bus was waiting to take us back to Chania. We arrived back around 10 pm, so it's definitely a whole day trip.

Our guided hike was amazing! Christina was a fantastic guide. She gave us the meeting points and times throughout the hike to meet with her, but also gave us the option to just meet her at the end of the trek for the ferry (which most of our group did!) We liked that transportation logistics were taken care of, but that we were really on our own for the hike if we wanted to be. We stopped for breakfast in the morning before the hike and had an ice cold beer at the end.

We had initially booked the “lazy” tour with access from the south entrance of the park. Due to some glitch, I found out the night before the event that our tour was the tough one with the full 16km hike through the canyon. We did not have the hiking boots required for this trip and were ready to cancel when Sarah made it possible that our bus would take us to Sougia after the serious hikers were dropped off at the northern park entrance. From Sougia, we and another “lazy” hiker took the ferry to Agias Roumeli from where we had an easy 3-hour hike through the Iron Gates, the most spectacular part of the gorge. Everything went without a hitch, and we were soon joined in Agia Roumeli by many very exhausted hikers. Thanks again to Sarah for being a great guide! I need to add that Agia Roumeli is in no way remarkable and feels more like a base camp than a romantic fishing village. Apparently, people stay there enjoying the unexciting pebble beach. Be aware that the original trip involves a ride on a big your bus through winding mountain roads in the dark for more than one hour each time. Our driver was an expert, yet we were not exactly comfortable on these narrow mountain roads.

Very well organized, but originally they told you to bring cash for the tickets for the Gorge, but you needed to buy them yourself not a big deal though. Sarah our tour guide was very informative and gave us a sheet with times to help keep track of our progress. The bus ride was a little hairy and he drove very agonizingly. Overall I would recommend this trip rather than doing it on your own. Also, do not be scared off of hiking the Gorge, I am in my 60’s in decent shape and it was really not a problem. I would recommend using hiking poles.