Samaria Gorge in Crete

Hello,

Yes, I recommend getting a tour. That's what we did when we hiked it in 2018. We were staying in Chania and walked down the street to a local travel agency to book it. But I just checked and Get your Guide lists one for $36. That sounds about right.

As the $36 one says, they pick you up in town. Then they drop you off at the top of the gorge. A guide walked down also, but you will be walking at your own pace. You will have time to swim or wade in the ocean at the bottom and get something to eat. And then the guide will help make sure you get on the ferry.

The ferry ride to where the bus picks you up is gorgeous.

The only negative for us was on the return. Back towards town, they stopped at a LOT of hotels before ours and that felt like it took Forever.

Of course, we were pretty tired. And I gotta say, we were sore for a few days. 😀

Also, we bought a set of hiking poles to share while we were in Chania. If you do that, be sure to use the rubber tip, not the pointy sharp kind.

Hope this helps. Enjoy!

Admittedly this was a while ago but we did it independently and it was very simple. There were I believe two or three different buses leaving for the top of the gorge at different times in the morning so you can decide how much time you think you need. Once at the bottom we had time for a swim (there was also a place to get drinks and snacks) and then the ferry took us over to the next town where the bus was waiting. It’s all timed to make it easy for people to use public transport. Of course you may have other reasons you prefer to use a guide. Good luck, it’s a beautiful walk!

It has been a while, but we did it on our own as well. Bus to the top, ferry to the second town, bus back to Chania. Basically, the whole way, you are just following the crowd. I get the security of having a seat, but a tour really only gets you a couple bus rides, but maybe that is enough.

Do wear sturdy shoes, being a downhill hike sounds easy, but there are steep sections, and much of it is broken rock that you are walking on, not smooth trail (unless they have vastly improved the trail).

Thank you, SunnyBlueFlax, CatVH, and Paul for your responses. We're in our early 70's and like to hike at our own pace without a guide bringing up the rear, so that's our concern about the guided tour. We're fairly confident that we'll complete the hike (we did the Tour du Mont Blanc hike a couple of years ago), and we'll start early so that we won't miss the last ferry. If we do this alone, is there any chance that the ferry and/or the last bus to Chania will be sold out. We fly out of Chania early the next morning, so we definitely need to make it back that evening.

I think you can book the tour or the bus/ferry/bus once you get to Chania. It is called a tour, but really it is more of a 'one stop shop' for the bus, boat, bus tickets. The 'guide' was there to give us some information and answer any questions. Definitely not for making sure folks walked fast enough.

Also, our hotel was very close to the pick up spot for the bus, which was nice since it's an early start. I think that might help you decide --- where will you catch the bus? One choice might be better than the other for that. Also, I think there are a few different companies who offer these 'tours'. So one might be more convenient for your hotel.

It is a very slippery hike because it is all river rock. Whenever we tried to go a bit faster, we worried that we would slip. We did not have good shoes, just regular sneakers.

I would make sure you have hiking shoes (not necessarily boots) and poles. We were in early 60s and found that critical as much of the trail is stones.

My husband has issues with his knees and beginning is steep decline so we ended up doing hike from bottom to Samaria which is same length. Realize once you start hike from top, it is difficult to do anything but the whole hike. I would look at some you tube videos and make sure the hike is something you are comfortable with. That was how we decided against doing the trail from the top.

Thank you all for your responses regarding hiking the Samaria Gorge. We decided to do it on our own and purchased tickets for the buses and the ferry the day before our planned hike at the bus station in Chania. It was very easy to do. The following morning we arrived at the bus station a half hour before the 7:45 am departure only to learn that the Samaria Gorge was closed for the day because of weather. However, we learned that there was a parallel gorge, Ombros Gorge, which was a bit shorter and less strenuous than the Samaria Gorge and was open that day. Fortunately, we were able to exchange our tickets for the next bus that left for the gorge at 8:15 am. The hike was fantastic. I strongly recommend taking hiking poles whether or not you think you're going to use them. I twisted my ankle a third of the way down, and it would have been nearly impossible to complete the hike without my poles. At the end of the hike, we took a taxi to Chora Sfakion and from there the original bus we were scheduled to take back to Chania. What could have been a disappointing day with the closure of the Samaria Gorge ended up being a wonderful day hiking the Ombros Gorge.

I'm glad you were able to have a great day and thanks for reporting back. Your experience/report will help others!