Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
owners are a fount of information on local hikes and other outdoor activities and
can also shuttle you to the Samaria Gorge.
Getting There & Away
Most people hike the gorge one way going north-south on an organised day trip
but, with some planning, it's also possible to do the trek on your own. There are
daily early-morning public buses to Omalos from Hania (€6.90, 45 minutes) and
Rethymno (€15, 1¾ hours) as well as thrice-weekly service from Sougia (€4.20,
one hour) and Paleohora (€6.40, one hour). At the end of the trail, in Agia Roumeli,
ferries take you back to Sougia and Hora Sfakion where they are met by public
buses. From Hora Sfakion, buses go to both Rethymno (€7.30, two hours) and
Hania (€7.60, 1¾ hours), while from Sougia there's only service to Hania (€7.10,
two hours).
Organised bus tours can be booked in every sizable town and resort in Crete.
Note that prices listed usually don't include the €5 admission to the gorge or the
€10 boat ride from Agia Roumeli to Sougia or Hora Sfakion.
SOUTHWEST COAST
The stark and muscular Lefka Ori (White Mountains) meet the sea along Crete's corrug-
ated southwestern coast indented with a handful of laid-back beach communities, some
of them accessible only by boat and therefore completely untouched by mass tourism.
You can walk to perfectly isolated little beaches or soak up the majestic scenery and fra-
grant air on a scramble through wildy romantic gorges away from the busy Samaria
Gorge, which ends in Agia Roumeli.
Getting There & Around
leohora on a seasonally changing schedule, also stopping in Loutro, Agia Roumeli and
Sougia. Boats make extended stops in Agia Roumeli to accommodate Samaria Gorge
hikers. Ferries may be cancelled in bad weather, so be careful not to get stuck in land-
locked Agia Roumeli or Loutro. Some ferries carry vehicles (from €15, reservation re-
quired). There are also ferries to Gavdos Island from Hora Sfakion and Paleohora.
and Sougia from Hania and Rethymno.
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