Samaria Gorge

The Samaria Gorge is the longest gorge in Europe and also the most famous. Thousands of tourists flock there daily in the season to walk from the top to the bottom. The length of the gorges reaches 18km and takes almost 4-7 hours to hike from Omalos to Agia Roumeli.

The gorge is in the South of Chania Prefecture. It was created by a small river running between the White Mountains (Lefká Óri) and Mountain Volakias. There are a number of other gorges in the White Mountains. While some say that the gorge is 18km long, this distance actually refers to the distance between the settlement of Omalos on the northern side of the plateau and the village of Agia Roumeli. In fact, the gorge is 16 km long, starting at an altitude of 1,250m at the northern entrance, and ending at the shores of the Libyan Sea in Agia Roumeli. The walk through Samaria National Park is 13 km long, but you have to walk another three kilometers to Agia Roumeli from the park exit, making the hike totally 16km.

The most famous part of the gorge is the stretch known as the Iron Gates, where the sides of the gorge close in to a width of only four meters and soar up to a height of 500 m.

The gorge became a national park in 1962, particularly as a refuge for the rare kri-kri (Cretan goat), which is largely restricted to the park and an island just off the shore of Agia Marina. There are several other endemic species in the gorge and surrounding area, as well as many other species of flowers and birds.

The village of Samaria lies just inside the gorge. It was finally abandoned by the last remaining inhabitants in 1962 to make way for the park. The village and the gorge take their names from the village's ancient church, Osia Maria ("Saint Mary").

A "must" for visitors to Crete is to complete the walk down the gorge from the Omalos plateau to Agia Roumeli on the Libyan Sea, at which point tourists sail to the nearby village of Hora Sfakion and catch a coach back to Chania. The walk takes 4-7 hours and can be strenuous, especially at the height of summer.