Walking in Western Crete

Western Crete, 10th edition (2023); updated 6/05/2025

Updates for walks and car tours (drives) in Western Crete given below supplement those provided in the guidebook. It is vital that this Update is read in conjunction with the text of the book, but note that the Update applies only to the edition stated and not to any earlier editions. (If you have an older edition of this book you can “upgrade” to the latest edition at half price)

Information has been forwarded to us by users of the book, and Sunflower Books offers the data in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any misleading or inaccurate content in the Update. Unless indicated otherwise, what appears here has not been verified by the author or publisher, so please allow due caution when new or amended routes are suggested. Each piece of information is dated; bear in mind that some of the older observations may have since been overtaken by events or further changes. If, during your holiday, you are using the current edition of the guide and are able to provide any additional updating to add to this page, we will be pleased to hear from you. Please send information, preferably by e-mail, to info@sunflowerbooks.co.uk.

Buses: KTEL operated a much reduced timetable during the pandemic. New timetables, valid for the duration of this edition, were not available before we went to press. We urge you, if you are taking the buses, to go to the nearest station to your base and get up-date-information. [Sunflower]

Walk 2: We walked this yesterday. The GPX downloads are a great help partnered with the ViewRanger app. We found a problem at waypoint 3, where the path recommended to the stepping stones is impenetrable. By continuing further on the same bank (as others seem to have done) about 100m, just before a stock control fence, it is possible to descend to the stream and cross over some stepping stones, and regain the path to the bridge. (User, 5/19)[Sunflower: paths like this one change from year to year.] • Short walk 1: Mostly fine, I was a little bit worried by evidence of new building work (that looked industrial) where you cross the stream on stepping stones, but we were still able to walk by the side of the new fence. (5/23)

Walk 5: For the Short walk, pick up the notes at (1), not (2)! (Sunflower, 2023) We parked at the Georgia taverna, though there’s few spaces. It looks as though it’s been closed for a few years. The outward path is well waymarked and not overgrown, so pleasant and easy to follow. After point 5 we located the path right with water pipe easily and there were plenty of waymarks, and again not very overgrown. We could see we were parallel to the road after some minutes, so all was fine. There were plenty of clear red/white waymarks close to a new-looking boundary wall and fence, which we followed. But we never found the point at 6 closer to the road. We continued along the waymarked path (with lots of loose rocks and undergrowth) which eventually leads through a farm with peacocks and out to a drive leading back to the main road to reach the car about 200m further along. (User, 5/23) [Sunflower: It’s good to know that the paths have been cleared and waymarked. The reason she did not reach waypoint 6 is because there is a newly cleared path, not shown on our map, which is directly beneath where we show the waypoint. It runs about 80m east of the bend in the road. It seems that after the farm this user turned left on the road – walking about 2km (not 200m) back to her car. She did not go into Exopolis.]

Walk 6: We parked in Georgioupoli as suggested and the route was fine.  However with hindsight, we may have been better parking south of the lake at the car symbols  indicated on the map near Kavalos. This would’ve removed a lot of rather boring asphalt road walking, and according to a local ex-pat we spoke to, is where the main centre for the lake is. I found the lake rather underwhelming from the main walk’s access point. Walking from Georgioupoli wasn’t worth it, so is just to facilitate bus access, I guess. (User, 5/23)

Walk 8: Abandoned due to low cloud, rain showers, and an exceedingly slippery, steep descending path from our start point in Chronomastri. We decided it was unsafe to continue. (User, 5/23)

Walk 9: Here is a new suggested circuit for motorists (about 7.5 miles): Drive to Agia Irini, where, just before the monastery (seen on the cliff top on your right) there’s a large parking area on the left side of the road.  From here, follow the main walk to the bus stop in Myli.  Directly opposite the bus stop, take the very steep concrete footpath that emerges in front of a house on a bend.  Keep slightly right, following the road to a wider area and go ahead right to find a lane on the other side of this ‘square’. This becomes a track that joins the main road back to Roussospiti.  Follow the main road, choosing right turns towards Roussospiti to rejoin your outward path in the village, all the way back to your vehicle. (User 5/23)

Walks 9 and 10 combined: We did 8 and 9 as a circular walk, starting and ending in the old city of Rethimnon. This was 21K and took us 6-3/4 hours and avoided the inconvenience of fitting in buses etc. we are both 74 so any of your younger readers should manage! (User)

Walk 11: Full of interest, very good. (User, 5/23)

Walk 15: Everything was clear and correct until reaching Agios Athanasios (number 4 on the walk). At that point, we could not find any way down into the stream bed and the beginning of the gorge.  The guide says ‘a well defined path runs diagonally back to the stream bed.  Leave by the gated fence on the far side of the church.’  Neither the path nor the gated fence were apparent. We made four attempts: 1) We went around the church, but the faint trail led uphill away from the stream bed; 2) We entered the stream bed by the initial mesh fence before the church, but the way down the stream bed was made impassable by logs and leaves; 3) We went to the church, and tried to exit from the far side. But no ‘diagonal path’ was evident. Once in the stream bed, the way was securely blocked by fencing reinforced with branches, barring the way; 4) Finally we made our way along the left hand bank of the stream bed, but then could not get down to the stream bed after that. (User, 5/25) [Sunflower: We wonder what went wrong? Looking at our GPS track of the walk (and other users’ GPS tracks), we wonder if this users was on the right track when he wrote ‘We entered the stream bed by the initial mesh fence before the church, but the way down the stream bed was made impassable by logs and leaves.’  We think the text may be misleading in saying ‘on the far side of the church’, because everyone is going through a gate before the church, then going directly to the stream bed (where there are numerous red dots). We hope we will hear from users who do this walk successfully!] Perhaps the text should read: If you visit the church of Ag Athanasios, walk back to the gate in the fence where you entered; on the far side of the gate is the path down into the gorge…

Walk 22: It is currently under close monitoring due to the death of a tourist on September 18th, therefore in case of bad weather forecast it is closed. The decision can be taken any time even at 6:00 am (when the last weather report is recorded), or during the visit itself — causing the evacuation of the tourist inside. I would suggest to insert at page 112:
* quote the web site https://samaria-tickets.necca.gov.gr/checkout for hikers to check the possibility of visiting it and buy the mandatory ticket online
* correct the entrance time ( gorge opens at 7:00 )
* suggest the use of helmet to protect from falling rocks and highlight the importance of hiking in a proper way
* gorge lenght is 16,7 km of which 3 are the distance from the exit to Agia Roumeli port – this information is important to calculate the time to reach the port and not to miss the only ferries which leave at 5:30 pm one towards Paleochora and one towards Hora Sfakion
* on page 149 ( bus Timetable) I would add the bus web site https://www.e-ktel.com/en and the Ferries web site  https://anendyk.gr  to check real-time timetable updates. (User, 10/24)

Walk 23 ( which I did in reverse): in this walk I would underline:
* carry  plenty of water as there are no springs or other possibility to find it;
* the part which stretches between Marmara beach and Lykkos is a cliff path where you scramble over rocks
* the part close to Agia Roumeli is along the beach, in the middle of boulders with no waymarking at all
* main way marking are: stripes yellow/black, or  a simple pole or a red spot or a blue stripe (the latter closer to Loutro). I saw the E4 sign only once!
* along this path there is only a possibility of exit at the point where there is  the fork which leads to Agios Ioannis (very well marked )
(User, 10/24)

Walk 26: I would just add that the Aradena Gorge has become crowded as it is the ‘alternative’ to Samaria when it is closed. So sometimes buses arrive with a huge flow of tourists. (User, 10/24)

Walk 24: I did the alternative not described in the guide, ‘Loutro – Marmara beach – Aradena  until the iron bridge’ ( I came back by taxi from the small snack bar over the bridge). For this walk I would underline that:
* it’s for expert (a ‘hike’ that in Italy would be ‘EE’ ) — therefore you must have the right equipment
* carry  plenty of water as there is no possibility of supply
* the main and most useful waymarkings are the green and red
* due to landslides many waymarkings are not visible
* the only two exit points are  at the forks which lead to Livaniana
* close to the Iron bridge the path shows a passage of 10 metres which has to be negotiated via two iron ladders, one chain and one rope; walking up it is import to keep the left in order to return to the main path. There is also an alternative to these ladders: before getting into the leg which leads to them on the left there is a path which goes up on one side of the rock and down to encounter the main path again (you can see from below the handrail). (User, 10/24)

Walk 30: Very enjoyable, particularly the frescoes in the little chapel in the cemetery at point 3.  I could see them better on the photos I took with my phone than with eyesight! (User, 5/23)

Walk 32: Because there are lots of interesting things to see, the route is a bit more than the GPX files think — so don’t be put off thinking the walk is too short. Crossing the stream bed between 3 & 4 was tricky as the bank has eroded away and the stones were very slippery.  But we both managed without mishap. (User, 5/23)

Walk suggestion: Palea Roumata is a pleasant village with a busy taverna, a very large church and a little park which sets off a group of olive trees which are reputed to be 3000 years old. The drive down to the village offers spectacular views. There is a short gorge walk from near the olive trees. As you return from the olive trees towards the village centre take the first opening on your right which goes through what appears to be a private courtyard (it is not). You will know you are on the right path when you come to an old well on your left with a roof and a seat nearby (in about 50m). Just follow this path which leads to the (dry in summer) river and keep left to follow the stream bed up. You are soon amongst plane trees and occasionally have to cross the river bed but never leave it. Eventually the gorge forks and make sure you take the left hand branch. There are picnic areas and soon after a large one on the right the path leads up to your right and out of the gorge. It leads to the hamlet of Vavouledo where there is a small taverna where you may get a drink and perhaps a very modest snack courtesy of the host. You may get a meal at weekends. Since this is a short walk this does not matter as the walk back to Palea Roumata along the road is short and comes out at the taverna. Total distance about 5km. (User, 10/17)

Walk 28: After reaching the car park at waypoint 3, we found we couldn’t join the path to turn left because there’s a new, metal gate, electrically operated and quite high. We saw a paved footpath to the left of the fence along the vehicle access road which would’ve allowed access to the path, but I don’t know where the access from the car park end was since we’d followed the instructions to leave at the vehicle exit. We continued along the road and turned left along a dirt track about 50m further along that intersects the path between 2 fences described. At the point they met we found a blue sign to Moni Preveli. We did carry on in the direction of the path but had to climb the fence in a place others had done before. The path has been obliterated and we had a similar problem the other side of the field, but took the same approach. After this, apart from water damage, the path was fine. Very good walk! (User, 5/23) [Sunflower: It might be better to keep along the road to the main road and turn left there, rather than climb over fences.]