Walking the Akrotiri Monastery Katholiko Trail, Crete

Start & Finish: Gouverneto Monastery, Chania 731 00, Greece
Distance: 2.8 km (1.7 miles)
Elevation change: +/- 164m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Katholiko-Stavros
Links: Akrotiri, Agia Triada Monastery, Gouverneto Monastery, Arkoudiotissa Cave

The Akrotiri Peninsular, not to be confused with the one in Cyprus, sticks out of the north coast of Crete to the east of Chania. We took a day trip at the end of our holiday to drive round the edge and visit the beaches. The monasteries in the mountains to the north are worth a visit as is the short but steep walk to the Katholiko ruins. The Katholiko was opened in the 11th century and abandoned in the 16th century due to pirate raids.

To get to the walk, drive to the Holy Trinity (Agia Triada) Tzagaroli Monastery. This is an interesting place to stop and visit the church and museum. From here follow the road for 4.2 km to the car park next to the Gouverneto Monastery. This monastery was closed when we got there so we did the walk to the Katholiko first.

There’s a very obvious path from the monastery down to the ruins. After 1km you’ll reach the Arkoudospilio Cave, also known as the Bear Cave. The name comes from the large bear-shaped stalagmite that is ready to drink water. The legend is that the Virgin Mary turned the bear that was stealing the water of the monks living nearby into stone.

After another 400m you’ll reach the ruins of the Katholiko Monastery. There’s another trail that we considered walking that joins from town of Stavros to the west. Another option is to descend further along the trail to the beach. Both options were tempting but it was a very hot day so an out-and-back from the Monastery to the Katholiko was enough for us.

The Gouverneto Monastery was just opening by the time we got back there at 17:00. We were just in time to observe the service in the church. If you visit note that you can’t enter wearing shorts but you can borrow a skirt at the entrance to cover your legs.

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Richard gower9 October 2022Trek, Mountain, Coast, Crete, GreeceComment

Walking the Samaria Gorge, Crete

Start: Samaria Gorge Trailhead, Μονοπ. Φαράγγι Σαμαριάς, 730 11, Greece
Finish: Ferry dock, Agia Roumeli, Hora Sfakion 730 11, Greece
Distance: 16 km (10 miles)
Elevation change: +442m / -1,657m. Net -1,215m
GPX File: get via Buy Me a Coffee
Other routes touched (walk): Papoures Trail
Links: Samaria Gorge, Lefka Ori (White Mountains), Agia Roumeli, Sougia

If you’re a fan of hiking and the outdoors in general then Samaria Gorge is a must-do for a trip to Crete. Wife and I had planned to do it together but she was sick for the first half of our holiday. We decided that I should do it alone while she recovered. This turned out to be the right plan as you really need to be on top form to do the trip.

The trailhead is an hour from Chania, the nearest large town. Unless you stay near the start overnight you’ve got at least 2 hours of driving time to get there and back. The gorge walk is a point-to-point from the entrance at 1,230m elevation down to Agia Roumeli on the coast. There’s no road access to the town so you need to get a ferry to Sougia and a bus back to the start. From leaving my hotel (90 mins from the trailhead), I was back 13 hours later.

It’s definitely worth it though. The whole of the gorge walk was stunning with photo opportunities at every turn. The first section, a steep descent through pine forest, reminded me of parts of the Inca Trail. The path is narrow and can be difficult to overtake other hikers at times so it’s good to go when it’s quiet. I was there in early October, just out of peak season. My first hour, starting at 10:00, only had a handful of other hikers on it. It got busier when I caught up with a bus party who had spread out a little formed a convoy along the path.

There’s several water and toilet spots along the route. You’ll need to take enough food and your own toilet paper if you don’t want to risk the supplies on the route. At around 7 km in you’ll reach the old village of Samaria which is a great place to stop for a while and have lunch before the final sections.

I found the path to be quieter after the old village. This was probably as I was on a brisker pace than most and only took a short stop for lunch. This second half is less steep and has a different, more barren environment. There were also more people coming in the opposite direction, presumably doing an out-and-back between the coast and the village.

The final few kilometres are a highlight as the route criss crosses the flowing river across rickety wooden bridges. The walls of the gorge close in funnelling you through some tighter, more dramatic sections.

At the end of the walk you’ll find another booth where you give them half of your entry ticket. This is so that they can tally the numbers to check that no one is left in the gorge at the end of the day. There’s a couple of cafes immediately outside the National Park boundary but, unless you’re starving, it’s better to get to the town for food.

From the end of the trail it’s an extra 2.5 km to the coast. There’s a private shuttle bus operating the last 2 km for 2 euros each. As ready for a rest as I was I wasn’t tempted by the bus. I’d completed a 15km gorge walk so I wasn’t going to take a bus for a flat 2 km.

The main option to return to the start is to get a ferry to a Sougia then the bus to the trailhead. Ferries were fairly infrequent when I was there so I had to wait 3 hours for the 17:30 boat. Although the town is small and seems to exist only for the ferries, I was glad of the time for a long, slow lunch and a rest at the end of the walk.

You’ll need to buy your ticket ahead of getting on board but there’s a few options to do so. You can book online, as I did, and get an email confirmation. Alternatively you can buy them at the trailhead cafe or at the ticket office on town’s main street. Don’t expect to buy them on the boat though, as one couple found out when they were left behind by the last ferry of the day.

You can buy your bus tickets either at the trailhead or Agia Roumeli ticket offices or at a small booth in Sougia. Personally I wouldn’t risk leaving it until Sougia so I bought mine at the trailhead. The bus operation is very efficient with several of them waiting near the ferry terminal, departing shortly after the boats arrived.

The ferry takes 50 mins for the larger car and passenger ferry or 25 minutes for the smaller passenger only ferry. The bus takes 50 minutes to return to the trailhead and drops off next to the main car park. Although you can park for free at the side of the road leading up to the trailhead, the car park is safer and saves you another walk at the end of the day back to your car.

If you don’t have a car there’s several options to go with an organised tour. The options were around 40 euro per person as a part of a large bus tour or in in the hundreds per group for a private tour. If you do have a car then getting to the trailhead yourself is by far the cheapest and most convenient option.

My costs for the trip, excluding hire car costs and petrol were:

Parking: 5 euro
Gorge entrance fee: 5 euro
Ferry ticket: 13 euro
Bus ticket: 4.80 euro
Total 27:80 euro