Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
It's thanks to these cruise boats (with up to four daily summertime departures) that the
lagoon feels far from idyllic between 11am and 4pm in the peak season. The only way to
avoid the crowds is to get there by car before or after the boats arrive. The 12km dirt
road picks up near the village of Kalyviani and ends at a parking lot with snack bar from
where a 1.2km trail leads down to the lagoon. Umbrellas and sunbeds rent for about €7.
Nondrivers could try hitching a ride or walk, although you'll be eating a lot of dust from
passing vehicles.
Cruise boats are operated by
Gramvousa Balos Cruises
( 28220 24344;
www.gramvousa.com
; adult/child €25/12)
and leave from Kissamos port around 10am, re-
turning around 6pm with two two-hour stops each on Imeri and at Balos. Book online for
discounted tickets. Reasonably priced food and drink is available on board.
SAMARIA GORGE ΦΑΡΑΓΓΙ ΤΗΣ ΣΑΜΑΡΙΑΣ
7am-sunset May-late-Oct)
(sah-mah-rih-ah) is considered one of the 'must do' experi-
ences in Crete, which is why you'll never be without company. In peak season, up to
3000 people per day tackle the stony 16km-long trail, and even in spring and au-
tumn, it's rarely fewer than 1000 hikers. The vast majority arrive on organised
coach excursions from the big northern resorts. You'll encounter a mix of serious
trekkers as well as less experienced types attempting the trail in flip-flops.
Nevertheless, there's an undeniable raw beauty to Samaria, whose vertical walls
soar up to 500m high and are just 3m apart at the narrowest point. The hike begins
at an elevation of 1250m just below the Omalos Plateau and ends in the coastal vil-
lage of Agia Roumeli. It's especially scenic in April and May when wildflowers
brighten the trail. Samaria is also home to thekri-kri, a rarely seen endangered wild
goat.
Hiking the Gorge
The trail begins at
Xyloskalo
, a steep and serpentine stone path that descends
some 600m into the canyon to arrive at the simple cypress-framed Agios Nikolaos
chapel. Beyond here the gorge is wide and open for the next 6km until you reach
the abandoned settlement of
Samaria
whose inhabitants were relocated when the
gorge became a national park. Just south of the village is a 14th-century chapel
dedicated to St Maria of Egypt, after whom the gorge is named.
Further on, the gorge narrows and becomes more dramatic until, at the 11km
mark, the walls are only 3.5m apart. These are the famous
Sideroporta
(Iron
Gates), where a rickety wooden pathway leads hikers the 20m or so across the wa-
ter.
