5 Breathtaking Gorge Hikes in Our First 8 Weeks
Crete is incredible for hiking and beaches. We have been living on Crete for 8 weeks and quickly realized how many gorges there are to hike on the island! Crete can be characterized by mountain ranges, stunning gorges, valleys, and natural bridges.
Exploring Chania
Before I share the hikes, I need to start with Chania, a tourist destination where you will find Old Town and the Venetian Harbor, which the Venetian Lighthouse protects. Leather Lane, also called Leather Street, is in Old Town and has many leather items like belts and purses. It dates back to where the leather shoemakers' workshops were located. You’ll find many options for lunch or dinner as there are many tavernas, street food cafes, and bakeries with most of the tavernas being on the water.
5 Spectacular Hikes near Chania
1. Katholiko Monastery and St John the Hermit’s Cave
Our first hike, an amazing trek down a stone pathway to the Katholiko Monastery and St John the Hermit’s Cave (almost four hours and 3.7 miles roundtrip) for this hike to the sea.
We continued past the Monastery down to the shore for a picnic by the sea! After some lunch, for energy, we did the trek back, which was pretty challenging once we were back on the stone pathway going uphill. I am slow on the uphill, and we did linger a bit at the ruins, caves, and at the water having lunch, so this could have been done in much less time.
2. Sougia to Lissos Beach
Our next foray into exploring this incredible island, we drove down the narrow winding roads to the quiet seaside village of Sougia on the southern coast.
Once in Sougia, we trekked to Lissos (about 2.5 miles and just over two hours), which boasts a gorgeous secluded beach and fascinating archaeological sites.
Rather than retracing our steps in the hot weather, we opted for the water taxi back to the village where we enjoyed a cold local beer!
Travel tip: Waze and Google maps works well, but they may take you down some side roads with roaming sheep or goats on and off the road!
3. Sarakina Gorge
With a bit of relief from the heat, our next hike was to the “small, but mighty” Sarakina Gorge (about 5.5 miles, just over four hours of hiking plus time for lunch). The trail starts in the village of Meskla where there is a church (this is where you park) and a taverna, and ends just over 2.5 miles later in the village of Zourva. There were some steep parts, but knowing there was a taverna at the top helped us push through!
Beautiful views, great food, and some new birds made this another successful Cretan adventure.
4. Imbros Gorge
Another weekend, another “Gorge-ous” hike! We could have hiked two miles down, and two miles back, which was our initial plan. However, once we started hiking, we did not want to stop so we opted for the longer all-downhill version (just over 4 miles, 2.5 hours hiking time plus time for lunch)! It was so beautiful and there was plenty of shade. We opted to have lunch at the taverna at the bottom and then shared a taxi with another couple for 14 Euros per couple.
This one is my favorite so far. I’m unsure if it was the gorge itself, the all-downhill, or the shade. I think it was all of the above!
Travel tip: If you want to hike this one, don’t stop at all the signs that say “Imbros entrance here.” Go to the main entrance next to a restaurant, with the sign shown in this blog! There is a mandatory 3 Euro charge at a kiosk at the entrance for trail maintenance. Hang on to your receipt as they will ask to see your receipt at the kiosk at the bottom! We also recommend you start early so you can park at the entrance and get to the restaurant for lunch and refreshments!
5. Kyklamino Gorge Loop
This one is only a few miles from downtown Chania but feels like a world away from the city's hubbub. Despite its proximity to town, we had the entire trail to ourselves! Bob found a suggestion to go clockwise instead of All-Trails™ suggestion to go counter-clockwise. I’m so glad we did! The most challenging part of this hike was the first half mile, which required some boulder scrambling. Thankfully, there are chains to help in the trickiest parts (5-6 of them).
The total distance was just under 3 miles, which took us 3 hours. This one was challenging, but again we were rewarded with some interesting ruins and incredible views of Chania and the sea at the high viewpoints.
These five hikes just scratch the surface of the hiking opportunities in Crete, as there are over 400 gorges and multiple mountain ranges that offer endless options for trekking and exploring! The allure of these five hikes is that they are relatively easy to moderately difficult, good for beginning hikers, and an easy drive from Chania to the trailhead.
So far, the trails have been very well-marked and mostly uncrowded. In fact, you can see the red and white paint on the rocks in one of our pictures. We can’t wait to add more awesome hikes to our “adventure” bucket list!
Ready to explore the stunning hikes of Crete yourself? Contact Adventure and Awe today to plan your dream hiking adventure! Email us at J.Schallmann@DreamVacations.com or complete the Contact Us form on AdventureAndAwe.com. So, where do you wanna go?
