All day hiking!

The gorge of Samaria is the biggest, most imposing and beautiful gorge in Chania and in Europe, and that is why it is internationally renown and mostly visited, since more than 300000 people have the opportunity to cross it each year. It has a wonderful landscape with rare geo-morphological formations. It is a unique biotope with particular richness in fauna and flora. It has a rich mythology as well, that goes back to pre-historical years and a tumultuous history during the difficult years of Crete. It was proclaimed National Park of the White Mountains of Crete in 1962, date at which two or three Sfakian families still lived in the village of Samaria, in the middle of the gorge, who were mainly busy with cattle-breeding and woodcutting. The surface covered at the time was 48.500 sq.m., whereas the expansion of the Park is promoted today on 250.000 sq.m. that will include the remarkable portion of the White Mountains. The length of the passage to the limits of the park is 12,800 km and the distance to the coast of Agia Roumeli is then another 3,200 km. Its crossing at a good pace can be done in five or fewer hours, but it is preferable not to walk less than 6 to 8 hours in order to enjoy its incomparable beauties. The gorge can usually be visited from the beginning of May till the end of October, unless there are bad weather conditions. There are guardhouses of the State’s Service of the Park (Forest Inspection Service) at the beginning of the gorge (in the village of Samaria) and at its end. A doctor is also available to serve the visitors of the gorge, as well as a helicopter airport in Agia Roumeli.