The Samaria Gorge (Greek: αράγγι της Σαμαριάς) in the western part of the island Crete is one of the longest and deepest gorges in Europe.
The rock walls rise up to 400 m almost vertically, at the narrowest point the gorge is only a good 3 meters wide. The gorge is inaccessible until early summer because, due to the snowmelt, it leads a raging mountain river to the sea from the "White Mountains", which are up to 2450 m high. In summer the watercourse is reduced to a babbling brook.
getting there
In the street
From Heraklion it is 176 km by road, for which it takes 2:47 hours by (rental) car. The roads and the junction from the expressway in Chania towards Sougia and later in detail towards Omalos are well signposted, e.g. However, some only in Greek, i.e. without Latin letters. Be careful after the village of Lakki, as the road to Omalos branches off to the left. From Lakki herds of sheep and goats in the middle of the street during the day and at night and block them - even behind tight bends! There then also stones and rocks (!) From falling rocks in the middle of the road.
From Lakki often driving in the cloud fog, as you drive up to an altitude of 1,230 m in Omalos.
At the entrance to Omalos with about 8 (eight) houses in total, two clearly visible on the right and a hotel on the left, then after about 400 m on the right a fourth hotel - all in a simple standard with about 35 to 50, - € for double rooms with FS. The hotels each have a tavern, their own free parking lot and a shuttle bus to the gorge entrance approx. 5 km away.
The one-day "excursions" into the Samaria Gorge offered from Heraklion and the local bathing suburb of Amoudara should be forgotten. The departure is only there from around 7:00 a.m. and the buses collect the inexperienced tourists for hours before the actual journey starts. The buses then often do not arrive at the entrance to the gorge until 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. - much (!) Too late to be able to hike through the gorge sensibly and with pleasure and reach the last ferry to Sougia in Agia Roumeli at 5:30 p.m. to be able to.
It is better to rent a rental car for around 80 - 90 € for two days, visit Retimo in the morning and drive to Omalos in the afternoon to spend the night there and the next day after FS at 7:00 a.m. by car Drive up to the gorge entrance and park there for € 5 in the fenced parking lot or free of charge on the street in front of it and start the tour from opening at 7:30 a.m. or later in the heat of the torture. In the afternoon from 5:30 p.m. back to Sougia by ferry from Agia Roumeli. In Sougia the KTEL buses are waiting for the ferry - you have to walk about 1 km in Sougia to get to the KTEL buses with the ticket booth there. The bus leaves about 18:15 - 18:45 in Sougia from direction Chania or only to the entrance to the gorge or Omalos, where many have parked their cars. Most of them park their cars directly at the entrance to the gorge. Buses also only go to Omalos / Schluchteingasng - the passengers are only assigned to Omalos or to Chania in Sougia directly on the buses. The buses from Sougia to the gorge entrance / Omalos 40 km away for 2.60 € take about an hour, longer in cloudy / foggy conditions.
When driving back in the suburb of Chania in front of the bridge over the road (this is the four-lane national road above) into Chania - the junction to the four-lane national road to Rethymon-Heraklion is only signposted with a very small sign in Greek immediately before the bridge and you think that leads to an industrial park.
By bus
From Chania MO - SA 05:00, 08:45 (via Omalos), 13:45 and 16:00, SUN 08:45 (via Omalos), 13:45 and 16:00. Travel time about 1:45 hrs, price 7.80 €.
By boat
background
Tourist Attractions
- Hike through the gorge (walking time downhill for the "experienced" at least 5, but for the majority of visitors more because of the heat, drinking breaks and photo breaks 6–7.5 hours).
The gorge costs admission (adults: € 5 in 2018). The hiking times for the individual sections and in total on the gorge map, which is available free of charge, are clearly too short.
Real mountain boots or at least ankle-high hiking boots are definitely recommended! You walk mainly over creek rubble and rubble stones of the gorge rocks.
activities
Hike through the gorge
A hike through the Samaria Gorge is usually done from top to bottom, although the constant downhill walk puts a lot of strain on the knees and ankles.
The entrance to the gorge is at the end of the road on the Omalós plateau at an altitude of 1,227 m above sea level and leads down to the bottom of the gorge for about 10 minutes via a kind of wooden staircase and then 50 minutes via steps.
One of the two pairs of vultures nesting in the gorge circles directly at and above the entrance.
The first 8 km you hike mainly on a path along the stream. About 40 minutes from the entrance is the first guard station with radio to the control center for rescue measures in the event of accidents and with Muli for the transport of accident victims. Again and again you come across places where you can fill up your drinking bottle with spring water until you arrive in the abandoned village of Samariá, where you can also consume other refreshments and refreshments. The residents had to leave the village in 1962 when the area was declared a national park; since then nobody has been allowed to stay in the gorge at night.
In the second part, the path mainly leads through the river bed, which is full of large and small rocks. Paths and footbridges only help occasionally, the stream has to be crossed several times. You have to pay attention to the barely visible path markings, which are kept in different colors, because of the turns across or along the river bed, otherwise you will end up on a steep wall and have to turn back. The distance and kilometer information such as 6, 8, 11 or 13 are probably longer "Greek" kilometers as a straight line, not as foot kilometers.
At this point, at the latest, you will be grateful if you have followed the advice to wear sturdy, ankle-high shoes. This part of the hike also takes place at lunchtime - if you start early in the morning - and the high sun shines mercilessly between the rock faces down to the canyon floor. In this section, however, the most fascinating views of the grandiose backdrop of the rock faces open up, between which the hikers look downright dwarfed.
About 3 km from the sea, the gorge releases the hiker after an impressive experience of nature in a wide plain, which has to be traversed in the shadowless midday heat for about 3 km to the village of Agía Ruméli.
At the end of the ravine, the number of hikers is registered by handing in their tickets at the guard's house in comparison to the tickets sold daily, in order to have to search for victims, for example. Immediately afterwards there is the first snack bar with drinks and snacks for a break. However, only those who have enough time and strength for the last 3 km to the ferry should rest there - otherwise you will become stiff when sitting for a long time and cannot get up from your seat.
About 600 m behind the first snack bar (not only 200 m according to the sign) is the next snack bar in front of the church - there, tickets for the bus for € 2.00 to Agia Roumeli with the ferry port, about 2.7 km away . The ticket sale for the ferry is then in Agia Roumeli just down the street, first street on the right on the left corner.
In Agia Roumeli numerous taverns, inns and restaurants of different price ranges invite you to refresh the thirsty and exhausted hikers. However, there is no pharmacy on site, so the soothing gel for stressed muscles and joints must be thought of before the hike.
It makes a lot of sense to pack your swimwear in your backpack. After the hike, you can relax on the beach in Agía Ruméli. The beach is black fine gravel, the water of the Libyan Sea is warm even in October. Anyone who goes not only bathing but swimming should consider muscle cramps in the legs / thighs as a risk because of the previous significant and one-sided muscle strain and not swim too far out.
kitchen
There are no places to eat directly in the gorge. But you can stop in the village of Agía Rouméli by the sea.
accommodation
In Omalos four simple hotels with a tavern directly and unmistakably on the street - around 38 - 50 € per double room with FS and parking.
security
In the gorge there is sometimes a risk of falling rocks. Licensed hiking guides wore protective helmets several times in September 2018. At at least three guard stations, radio for rescue and Muli for transporting away casualties. In Samaria heli point for helicopter transport by winch - so it is not a landing site.
There are many speed cameras on the Heraklion-Rethymon-Chania national road - the high fees are then paid to the car rental company.
Practical advice
It is not recommended to do the hike as part of an organized one-day tour: The bus or a shuttle bus to the actual bus picks up the hiker or many hikers from the hotel or, more correctly, from many hotels He takes him to the plateau and picks him up in Chóra Sfakíon (where a ship goes from Agía Rouméli, there is no road connection) to return to the hotel.
Due to the (too) late descents and the resulting late arrival at the gorge entrance only 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., there is a clear risk on such tours that hikers already at the first guard point after 40 minutes of steep descent back up to the Receipt because they obviously can't make the hard way to the closure of the gorge - especially not the last ferry at 5:30 p.m. to Sougia for the bus.
It is therefore cheaper to plan the excursion individually with a rental car over two days and to spend the night in Omalos on the first day. Then take a hotel bus, rental car or public bus to the upper entry point into the gorge.
The tour is not only 13 and not only 16 km long - according to our own measurement in September 2018, it was 19 km with photo detours and walks in Samaria at the end, with the last 2.7 km being taken by bus to Agia Roumeli and not in the 19 km.
Because of the constant running or hiking over scree and rock debris, the tour can easily become an ordeal in the heat
trips
From Agia Roumeli on two different mule paths very (!) Steep in about 1.5 - 2 hours, depending on the condition and heat, to the Turkish fortress high above Agia Roumeli.
Several boat taxis from Agia Roumeli in about 1 - 4 km away various lonely beaches by the sea, partly. with cave (s).
More comfortable tourists walk in the gorge from the coastal town of Agia Roumeli only slightly uphill through the narrow point to Samaria and turn back there - even this significantly shorter and easier route is often underestimated in terms of its character with scree and rock debris as well as in the heat.
