Three weeks in Crete

If you’re referring Agios Nikolaos, and you’re driving in a rental car, skip it and continue east to Sitia. On our trip in September 2019, heading to Sitia, we passed through Agios Nikolaos. It was swarming with pedestrians, all heading to the beach, toting tons of pool toys, and other accessories. Way too many people.

We later continued to Kato Zakros, on the southeast coast. It has Minoan ruins, a hikeable Gorge of the Dead (caves in the gorge were used for burials thousands of years ago), and black sand beaches with much, much, much fewer people. It’s a bit farther from the cities, but worth the effort.

Chania is a very good location for day trips. Lovely place too.

We stayed in Archanes not Heraklion and liked it a lot. It is much smaller.

We stayed in Sougia not Hora Sfakion. We took a bus from Chania to Hora Sfakion and then a ferry. There is no road for this part of the coast. You can stay in and/or visit towns along the coast. We hiked from the bottom of the Samaria gorge this way which I would recommend over starting at the top which has a huge decent. My husband had torn his acl and descents like that are problematic. We loved Sougia. It is the kind of place people return to. We then took the bus back to Chania where we rented a car. We didn’t have a car in Chania but we didn’t make day trips either. We moved instead.

We later stayed in Zaros but didn’t like it very much. It was 2022 so still effects of pandemic so maybe better now. There was only one restaurant we could find and it was a buffet which we didn’t want to do. We walked around and could find nothing other than a little cafe where we ended up having obviously reheated pizza. It does have a good location which is why we stayed there. And I really liked the hotel we stayed in. But still there are so many nicer places in Crete that I would not linger.

Will you be renting a car? If so you need to research what car rental company will rent a car to a 70 year old some do not. If you are planing to use public transportation the KTEL bus service is frequent and inexpensive.

We are going to be on Crete the same time as you. This is what we plan to do. Arrive Chania and stay 8 nights. Chania is a Venetian era walled city with an old town and harbour. Its in West Crete. We plan to do day trips either by bus or excursion to destinations in west Crete including the boat excursion to Balso and Gromvousa. You get a shipwreck a 14th century Venetian era Fortress and two great beaches. We plan to take a day trip to the lovely beach at Elafonissi by KTEL bus. There are several interesting small group day tours by Wanderlust tours that will give you the opportunity to explore the countryside and see Monasteries, Olive and wine tasting experience.
We are going to visit Rethymnon another Venetian era city. It too has an old town plus Venetian era Fortress. From there we plan to go south to Plakias a village with severl excellent beaches within a 5 km radius.

I believe Beth mentioned the ferry along the south coast that visits several remote villages and gives you the opportunity to hike the less strenuous parting of the famous Sameria gorge. We will end up in the tiny village of Sougia a delightful hidden treasure with hikes, sea caves and mountain views.

You can spend a month in west Crete and not see it all.
Some images
Chania Sougia and Plakias 2019
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/albums/72157711266062752

Heraklion is a city and Chania is what you'd expect of Greece. It is beautiful, with narrow streets in the old port. Also, if you're in the mood for a fun evening and great Cretan food then check out the greek cook out for a bottomless buffet and plate smashing!

Thanks everyone for replying. This is great information and very helpful. A couple of follow-up questions if I may:

Beth – You mentioned that you were not very enamored with Zaros. Was there anyplace in that general area that seemed like a better choice?

Stan – It looks like you would be able to follow your itinerary without renting a car. Is this your plan or are you renting a car at some point?

For anyone – Do you know anything about hiking the Imbos Gorge as opposed to doing just the bottom part of the Samaria Gorge? Its supposed to be beautiful and much less crowded.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Greek friends recommended we have a southern Crete experience in addition and told us to stay in Loutro which we did. Lovely place, nice beach, good food!

Indeed we will be doing this trip by KTEL bus. Too old to drive now.

Dave-not really. I would just stay the length of time you need and not linger. We may have been tainted also by some police thing that was going on while we were there. Lots of men in uniform with guns in procession going by our hotel as we sat outside having breakfast. It was a bit intimidating. But still I am not sure where else we could have stayed and been as well located.

The hike at the bottom of the of the Samaria Gorge is relatively flat. We took the morning coastal ferry from Sougia to Ag Roumeli and walked up the path to the bottom entrance to the gorge. It was about 3km but interesting sights with some old buildings a turkish fort and farms along the way.
The gorge is absolutely empty except for a few other people who also were starting at the bottom, We hiked up to the Iron gates and then continued to the last rest stop ( last one for the hikers coming down) Its called Christo its shaded with benches a river a church and a bathroom. We had the place to ourselves until the first set of hikers from the top arrived, They had a goal of being the first to the bottom and they were very surprised to see us ahead of them. They said how did you get here ahead of us and my naughty side said we just hiked.
They did not even stop for a rest just barged strait through.
It was another 20 minutes before the next hikers arrived and thats when we turned around and hiked back to Ag Roumelli. All that to say the crowds are at the top of the gorge. The bottom hike is peaceful and if you see 20 people I would be surprised.
One tip for you. There is now someone who for a fee wild drive you from Agia Roumeli to the bottom gate. Thats about 3km saved and you still get the experience of the sites on that section of the path when you hike back.

You can search the forum and find some mention of Imbros gorge. We considered it but decided from looking at you tube videos that Samaria was more visually stunning. You also have to figure out how to get back to your vehicle. I don’t think you could do it without renting a car. We did not have a car for this portion of our trip.

We stopped where Stanbr mentioned which is an easy pleasant hike but continued all the way to Samaria. About half way past Christos to Samaria, people started coming down the other way. The trail still wasn’t that crowded. There were, however, a lot of people at the ruins of Samaria but we found a place to sit on a wall to eat our lunch. On our way back, lots of people passed us. We had hiking shoes and hiking poles but much of the “path” past Christos is going from smooth stone to smooth stone. We were in our early 60s and were quite deliberate about it but younger hikers just jumped from one stone to another. It was quite crowded at times but then we just stepped aside and let people pass.

The way we did it, the distance is the same as one way the entire trail but just skips the step decent. It also has the advantage that you can decide how far to go and just turn around when you want.

But certainly Imbros Gorge has its fans.